The Iraqi Child Rights Network (ICRN) is an Iraqi non-profit alliance of non-governmental organisations and child rights activists that focus specifically on children and on the implementation of the rights of the child. The Network is guided by international human rights commitments and, particularly, by the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). Its mission is to raise the status of Iraqi children enabling them to enjoy a stable, safe, developed, and healthy life. In addition, its aim is to coordinate and work with official bodies to set in motion the laws concerned with children in Iraq, according to humanitarian standards and international conventions directed at children. The Network’s activities are principally carried out at a national level yet are striving to expand their focus to an international level.
The Network’s guiding objectives include: 1) Building the capacity of Iraqi NGOs working on behalf of children and their rights, as well as building Iraqi children’s trust in these organisations; 2) Advocating for children’s rights, creating and developing active channels for the realization and elimination of violations against children’s rights; 3) Establishing participatory, child rights-based mechanisms of development respecting Iraqi children’s rights; and 4) Contributing to the global movement in the realization of children’s rights.