Child Rights Barometer
Representative study of the situation on child rights in Switzerland and Liechtenstein
The Child Rights Barometer is a new instrument enabling the comprehensive and regular assessment of the situation on child rights in Switzerland and Liechtenstein. It involves the participation of children and young people themselves.
Switzerland and Liechtenstein lack representative data on the situation with children and young people. They are seldom considered and almost never asked their opinions. Regular representative monitoring is necessary to respect child rights.
The Child Rights Barometer fills this gap. It supplies evidence-based information on the well-being of children and young people and shows where measures can be carried out to improve the child rights situation. Until now there has been no comparable study for Switzerland and Liechtenstein that so comprehensively includes the views of children and young people. The Child Rights Barometer is currently in development, with an initial survey planned for 2024. It is a joint project of UNICEF Switzerland and Liechtenstein and OST – Eastern Switzerland University of Applied Sciences
The most important information on the Child Rights Barometer in compact form:
- Flyer for adults
- Flyer for children and adolescents
About the Child Rights Barometer
The Child Rights Barometer is a representative study of the situation of children and young people in Switzerland and Liechtenstein. It surveys children and adolescents themselves about their well-being and their lives. The Child Rights Barometer shows how child rights are realized in Switzerland and Liechtenstein from the perspective of children and young people. Conducted regularly, it can identify changes over longer periods and help determine the need for action.
There is no representative and regularly collected data on the child rights situation of children and young people in Switzerland and Liechtenstein, especially from their own perspective. It is therefore unclear how they are doing and where the most urgent need for action exists.
The United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child stresses this problem regularly as part of the Monitoring procedure on the implementation of the Convention of the Rights of the Child in both countries.
The "KidsRights Index 2023" confirms this need for action. This annual global ranking measures how child rights are respected worldwide and to what extent countries are committed to improving the rights of children. Switzerland is ranked 30th out of the 193 countries assessed, while its neighbors are ranked considerably higher. No data has been collected for Liechtenstein.
The Child Rights Barometer is currently in development. The first survey is planned for 2024. Publication of the first study findings is planned for 2025.
The Child Rights Barometer should be as representative as possible. Care is therefore taken that the random sampling is representative of children and young people in Switzerland and Liechtenstein in all important aspects including age, gender, education, income and place of residence. It undertakes to survey young people from all language regions and cantons as well as young people in Liechtenstein.
The project involves the participation of children and young people across all of Switzerland and Liechtenstein in several project phases:
Young people are involved in workshops to develop the study, accompany the project as part of an advisory council, and be surveyed themselves as experts on their living environments.
Impressions of the workshops with children and adolescents
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Children’s and Youth Advisory Council
The Children's and Youth Advisory Council supports the Child Rights Barometer project. It consists of children and adolescents aged 12 to 15 who meet with the project team in St. Gallen about three times a year to give their views and input on the project. For questions about the Children's and Youth Advisory Council and to register, write to kinderbeirat@ost.ch.
News on the project
Project Team and Contact
UNICEF Switzerland und Liechtenstein
- Nicole Hinder (Co-Project Manager): n.hinder@unicef.ch
- Florian Hadatsch
- Désirée Zaugg
- Michaela Pulfer
- Mona Meienberg
OST – Eastern Switzerland University of Applied Sciences
- Mandy Falkenreck (Co-Project Manager): mandy.falkenreck@ost.ch
- Lara Hobi
- Nadine Burtschi
- Thomas Schmid
UNICEF Children’s Rights Newsletter
Our Children’s Rights Newsletter keeps you up to date about our work in Switzerland and Liechtenstein and about other exciting events and projects.
