MENA Preparatory Meeting Report for 2021 World Congress JWC

Between 2019 and 2021, a series of preparatory meetings were conducted at the regional and national levels both in person and virtually, in order to define key challenges and advocacy priorities in justice for children, share promising practices, and identify the most relevant themes and action-oriented recommendations for the 2021 World Congress on Justice With Children.

A total of 13 preparatory meetings were held, including 5 regional meetings and 8 national meetings. They were organised and/or supported by the consortium members of the Global Initiative JWC in partnership with the respective co-organizers of each preparatory meeting.

Participants of the preparatory meetings included state representatives (e.g., the judiciary, prosecution, law enforcement, public defender offices, ministries and commissions, and state/provincial governments), intergovernmental and supranational organisations (e.g., bodies of the European Union and the United Nations System), regional networks, civil society and legal aid organisations, development partners, academic and research institutions, law firms and legal practitioners, children and youth, and independent experts.

The participants demonstrated a particular interest in the implementation of Article 2 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child focusing on the child’s right to non-discrimination and equality, in particular for children in contact with the law in the most vulnerable situations, who may experience various forms of discrimination in the administration of and access to justice.

In response, the theme of the 2021 World Congress was set as “Ensuring access to justice for all children: towards non-discriminatory and inclusive child justice systems”. This report was produced primarily as a synthesis of the discussions held at the MENA's preparatory meeting for the 2021 World Congress on Justice With Children.