CLA News / Expressions of Interest: Implement the CLA Children’s Essay Competition in Your Jurisdiction

🌍 Expressions of Interest: Implement the CLA Children’s Essay Competition in Your Jurisdiction

Children sit at the very heart of every community. Through their connections with families, schools, faith groups and peers, they form powerful networks that shape the social fabric of society. When children learn about their rights, entire communities become more informed, engaged and resilient and changed.

The Commonwealth Lawyers Association (CLA) Children’s Essay Competition was created in 2025 with exactly this objective in mind: to encourage children — and the communities around them — to learn about and engage with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC).

Under Article 42 of the UNCRC, States have an obligation to promote awareness of children’s rights “by appropriate and active means” to both adults and children. While governments hold the formal obligation, meaningful implementation requires engagement across schools, civil society, legal communities and children themselves.

The CLA initiative supports this goal by fostering awareness, teaching, study and discussion of children’s rights — helping shape the future social norms of Commonwealth communities.

📚 About the Competition

The inaugural CLA Children’s Essay Competition was successfully piloted in Papua New Guinea in 2025, where it focused on a critical issue: birth registration and the right to identity.

The UNCRC recognises that every child has the right to:

1. Life
2. Education
3. Food
4. Health
5. Water
6. Identity
7. Freedom
8. Protection

Yet millions of children worldwide remain unregistered at birth, leaving them invisible to their governments and unable to access essential services such as healthcare, education, and social protection.

As noted by UNICEF, without a birth certificate children can be excluded from basic transactions later in life — including opening bank accounts, voting or entering the workforce.

The PNG pilot, delivered with local partners and supported by a tailored lesson plan, demonstrated how a simple educational initiative can spark meaningful community engagement on children’s rights and a thirst for further knowledge.

🏛️ Now Seeking New Jurisdictions

The CLA is inviting expressions of interest from individuals and organisations interested in implementing the CLA Children’s Essay Competition in their jurisdiction.

This initiative may be particularly suitable for:

1. Bar Associations and Law Societies
2. Ministries of Education or Justice
3. Schools and universities
4. NGOs and civil society organisations
5. Child advocacy groups

Participating jurisdictions will receive a project template and implementation guide, making it straightforward to adapt the competition to local circumstances.

✨ Get Involved

If you or your organisation is interested in helping raise awareness of children’s rights and contributing to a meaningful Commonwealth initiative, we would be delighted to hear from you.

📩 Contact the CLA Secretary General Brigid Watson at info@commonwealthlawyers.com to request the project template and implementation guide and to express your interest in bringing the CLA Children’s Essay Competition to your jurisdiction.

Together, we can help ensure that children across the Commonwealth not only have rights — but understand them.