Introduction

What are independent children’s rights institutions (ICRIs)? What do ICRIs have to do with children’s rights? Are they needed, or are they merely another bureaucracy for which government spending is unnecessary?

This volume is a contribution to scholarship on ICRIs, which are often known as children’s ombudspersons and children’s commissioners. The overarching purpose of this contribution is to advance knowledge about ICRIs. What do we have to learn about ICRIs? What do they do? Do we need them? Where do they work? How do they work?

Over the last century, off and on children’s rights have received attention from national and world leaders as well as child’s rights advocates. Despite this attention, it would be hard to assert that all young people are endowed with rights they can effectively exercise to improve their lives. In some societies, children enjoy higher qualities of living. In some societies, children’s interests and well-being are not forgotten, but taken seriously. Why are children and their rights considered important in some societies and not in others? Do ICRIs make a difference when it comes to children’s rights, interests, and well-being? What have been the experiences of people who have led ICRIs?