Policy Work
CWLC advocates for public policies, legislation and funding, to achieve a supportive, respectful, effective, coordinated, rational and accountable system of support for children and families.
To achieve this goal CWLC works with other national, provincial/territorial, local and Aboriginal organizations to identify shared goals to ensure that the needs of vulnerable children, youth and families are met.
As well, CWLC monitors Canadian public policy and legislative activities and proposes effective and accessible initiatives on behalf of all children and families.
In this section you can view the policy initiates undertaken by CWLC, often in partnership with others, on behalf of children and families. (All documents are in PDF format)
World Congress III against Sexual Exploitation of Children and Adolescents
To mobilize key actors worldwide once again to protect children more effectively from sexual exploitation, the government of Brazil, ECPAT, UNICEF and the NGO Group took on the task of organising the third Congress that was held on November 25-28 2008, in Rio de Janeiro.
The Draft Outcome document is the first draft eminating from the World Congress III; It was based on inputs gathered through regional and thematic preparatory meetings that were organised around the world. Regional preparatory meetings were held in six regions (Latin America, North America, Europe and CIS, East Asia and Pacific, Africa, South Asia) with the involvement and participation of government, civil society, UN agencies, children and adolescents, NGOs, private sector, academia and others. In addition several technical expert meetings, focused on specialized areas of the Congress, were also held over the past year. In all instances these forums provided opportunities for a focused and in-depth analysis and discussion of the key areas of the Congress and resulted in the articulation of specific recommendations for future action. In various regional meetings children and adolescents complemented the general recommendations with their specific proposals.
In addition each of the Congress organizers commissioned expert thematic papers which were presented to the Congress. These provided another source and foundation for analysis, planning on the action to be taken for guaranteeing the right to protection against sexual exploitation for all children. The thematic papers also provided another source of recommendations which have been consulted and integrated in this first draft of the outcome document.
Download the first draft of the Outcome Document.
Violence Prevention Alliance
The Violence Prevention Alliance (VPA) Annual Meeting was held on 2-3 December 2008 in Washington, DC, USA and CWLC was represented by Executive Director Peter Dudding. The meeting was hosted by the Pan American Health organization (PAHO) and opened by PAHO's Director Dr Mirta Roses-Periago. The 58 meeting participants included representatives from most of the VPA's 38 participant organizations, and observers from international and regional organizations, private foundations, and governments. The three main achievements of the meeting were: developing a strategy to generate political priority for violence prevention, preparing a plan for VPA participants to raise violence prevention on the agendas of Official Development Assistance agencies, and adopting three priorities for VPA work in 2009-2012. These priorities are: strengthening intersectoral collaboration for violence prevention (starting with enhanced public health and criminal justice/policing collaboration), enhancing national and local level violence prevention capacity, and developing a systematic approach to advocacy using narratives about how experiences of violence have shaped the lives of violence prevention professionals. CWLC will continue keep our members up-to-date on this initiative.
Global Thematic Consultation on Corporate Social Responsibility (Winnipeg, MB)
Co-hosted by CWLC, UNICEF Canada, Canadian Red Cross and Centre of Excellence for Youth Engagement
This preparatory event, for the World Congress III against the Sexual Exploitation of Children and Adolescents, focused on the role of the private/corporate sector and corporate social responsibility. Thematic preparatory meetings were held in all regions, bringing together key stakeholders and partners, to discuss recommendations and time-bound goals, identify gaps and strategies, shape the Congress agenda and panel selection, and provide input into the thematic papers.
At the preparatory meeting in Winnieg, key aspects surrounding the commercial sexual exploitation of children and youth were discussed, in particular the inclusion of the private sector – businesses, their suppliers and clients – as a partner in preventing further exploitation and abuse. Further goals included highlighting challenges; identifying good practices and exemplary responses; strategizing around new opportunities to curb the sexual exploitation through collaborative initiatives; and discussing recommendations and time-bound goals. Four panels were presented: norms and partnerships, travel and tourism, IT and finance, and the sexualisation of children.
You can download the program.
The Roundtable Discussion and Action Proposals are available for download.
The presentations from the Consultation are also available for download from UNICEF Canada's website. (scroll down for Consultation documents).
These results will contribute to the Science Program at the World Congress III against the Sexual Exploitation of Children and Adolescents. The World Congress III will be structured around 5 themes:
Theme 1 – Commercial sexual exploitation and emerging challenges
Theme 2 - Legal frameworks and enforcement
Theme 3 – Integrated and cross-sectoral policies
Theme 4 – Corporate social responsibility (Winnipeg, MB meeting)
Theme 5 – International cooperation strategies
CWLC is committed to working with its members and partner organizations to develop a national plan of action to address the issues surrounding the sexual abuse and exploitation of children and youth. Results from World Congress III and the next steps will be made available here on the CWLC website.
The World Congress III against the Sexual Exploitation of Children and Adolescents will be held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil from November 25 - 28, 2008. Visit the website for more details.
National Invitational Symposium on Youth Justice Renewal
The Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police (CACP), working in partnership with the CWLC and on behalf of the Coalition on Community Safety, Health and Well-being, received funding from Justice Canada to hold the National Invitational Symposium on Youth Justice Renewal from 27-28 March 2008. This national consultation brought together representatives of police services and organizations involved in child welfare, education, youth services, health and mental health, corrections, recreation, Aboriginal youth services, youth engagement and victim advocacy. The symposium report compiles the views expressed by this diverse group of stakeholders and offers suggestions for consideration by Justice Canada in its current review of the Youth Criminal Justice Act.
Le rapport est aussi disponible en français.
Report on National Invitational Symposium on Youth Justice Renewal
TAB 1: Participants
TAB 2: The Youth Criminal Justice Act: Summary and Background (website)
Proposed Amendments to the Youth Criminal Justice Act (website)
Spiralling Out of Control (MS Word)
D/Chief Christopher McNeill to Sandra Wright, 20 March 2008
D/Chief Christopher McNeill to Chief Frank Beazley, 17 January 2006
Peter M. Dudding, Executive Director, CWLC to the Honourable Rob Nicholson, 2 January 2008
TAB 3: Agenda
TAB 4: Evaluation Report (MS Word)
TAB 5: Biographies (MS Word)
