Children and young people have their own rights and are experts on their own lives. If you ask them how the implementation of children’s rights in Switzerland and Liechtenstein is going, various challenges and gaps come to light. This is shown by the results of the study “Children’s Rights from the Perspective of Children and Young People”.
1,715 children and young people between the ages of 9 and 17 from all language regions of Switzerland and Liechtenstein participated in the online survey from November 2019 to June 2020.
It should be mentioned that Switzerland and Liechtenstein were temporarily in (partial) lockdown during this period due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the extent to which the measures taken and the experiences of the children and young people influenced the outcome of the survey was not systematically evaluated.
We wanted to find out the following:
The study identified the following key findings and areas for action:
Right to support and wellbeing: less pressure to perform, more freedom
of the children and young people surveyed
of the children and young people surveyed
of the children and young people surveyed
Right to voice opinions and participate: schools and municipalities have some catching up to do
Right to protection and to grow up free from violence: combating violence, bullying and discrimination
of the children and young people surveyed
of the children and young people surveyed
of the children and young people surveyed
Vulnerable children and young people: ensuring equal opportunities
Children and young people who are particularly affected by poverty can only exercise their rights to a limited extent and do not have the same options and opportunities as other children and young people in Switzerland and Liechtenstein. They feel less secure in all areas of life, experience more discrimination and violence, and are asked less often for their opinion or included in decision-making processes.
Suggestions for change from children and young people themselves
Children and young people also expressed their views on what changes and improvements are needed to improve the implementation of children’s rights both in individual areas of life and overall. The responses of the children and young people can be categorized as follows:
The comprehensive study along with recommendations and a summary can be downloaded here:
In addition to the study, an alternative report was prepared using the data set of the children and young people from Switzerland that were surveyed. This report was prepared as part of the ongoing States parties’ reporting procedure in Switzerland and submitted to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child in Geneva. The results of the survey of the children and young people from Switzerland could therefore be directly incorporated and heard as part of the States parties’ reporting procedure.
