The Lanzarote Convention requires Parties to set up or designate independent national or local institutions for the promotion and protection of the rights of the child provided with specific resources and responsibilities. These institutions are generally accredited as national human rights institutions in accordance with the Paris Principles adopted by the United Nations General Assembly or are fully or partly in compliance with these requirements. A number of countries have created such bodies which are known by different names and involve different responsibilities and functions like Children’s Ombudsperson, Children’s Advocate, Child Rights Commissioner, Committee on Child Rights.

National human rights institutions and other national mechanisms are generally mandated to encourage ratification of/ accession to international human rights instruments, promote and ensure the harmonization of national legislation, regulations and practices with these instruments and their effective implementation. The Lanzarote Committee welcomes the approach that this competence is also applied to the Lanzarote Convention. The Convention has been in fact signed and ratified by the 46 Council of Europe Member States - the current status of ratification is available here. In addition, the Russian Federation has also signed and ratified the Convention; Tunisia acceded to it and thus became the first non-European State Party.

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