Mark your calendars for the 11th Children's Rights Summit! This year's Summit will be hosted in South Africa on Tuesday, 8 October 2024 under the leadership of the Johannesburg office of Baker McKenzie.

For more than a decade, our Firm’s commitment to advocacy for children has included the sharing of learnings, strategies and advocacy experience between members of the public and private sectors at our Children’s Rights Summits. 2024 marks our first Children’s Rights Summit in South Africa, examining issues of particular importance in this region. We will continue to unite dedicated advocates in the public and private sectors to commit ourselves to considering innovative and creative ways to realize the rights of children around the world and secure their best interests.

Baker McKenzie Johannesburg invites lawyers and advocates from the children’s rights and protection world, together with in-house counsel and others from the private sector to explore and exchange ideas about what children need to not only survive, but also to thrive in just and equitable communities.

We hope to see you there!


 



Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

What is the Children's Rights Summit?

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It is a uniting of children’s advocates and members of the private sector to examine challenges for providing children access to justice and identifying ways to realize the rights of children.

Who should attend?

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Invitees include experts in children's rights, child protection and child advocacy as well as in-house legal counsel who are interested in these issues and wish to engage to provide pro bono support to secure access to justice for children. Lawyers are welcome as well as other professionals from the business sector.

 

What will we do at the Children's Rights Summit?

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Activities at the Summit are a combination of many things:

  • Gaining insights from experts in child advocacy
  • Sharing thoughts and insights about barriers to access to justice for children
  • Experiencing the challenges children in the system through the Youth Experiential Learning Simulation
  • Learning from global luminaries including our keynote speaker

What follows the Summit?

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Our aim is to not only explore and discuss access to justice, but also to transform justice into action. From our discussions and efforts, we will identify pro bono opportunities for all participants to engage together following the Summit. As in past Children's Rights Summits, Baker McKenzie will organize and lead projects so that participant organizations and companies can work together in multiple areas of law and projects in many formats including representation, appellate advocacy, cases in human rights forums, research, policy and more.

How do I prepare for the Summit?

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You don’t! We invite everyone to attend to come and learn with us. No preparation necessary.

Children's Rights Pro Bono Across the World 

APAC

Children today, leaders tomorrow: Realizing the human rights of children
12-14 November 2024
Bangkok, Thailand

PILnet's Global Forum convenes around 400 lawyers and advocates from around the world to forge alliances and develop strategies for using the law to protect civil society and the communities they serve. The PILnet Global Forum features presentations, interactive workshops, social events, and structured networking opportunities for attendees to learn from one another and to form collaborations to help make our societies stronger and more resilient. Email us if you'd like to know more about PILnet: The Global Network for Public Interest Law.

Pro Bono Community Sprints
15-17 October 2024

Virtual

Register early for our upcoming series of Justice in Action Pro Bono Sprints! Join us for a virtual community half day of action that brings together volunteers from different entities to work on substantive pro bono projects. Volunteers are trained at the start of the session and then divided into small teams to work on specific assignments. The volunteers wrap their work after three hours, then come together to reflect on the substantive legal work. Project options will be available closer to the event date.