To meet the obligation for ex-ante child rights impact assessment (CRIA) as recommended by the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, UNICEF and the World Bank have recently developed and tested a CRIA process. This CRIA process has been drawn upon and adapted here to provide guidance on analysing proposed EC projects, programmes and policies in terms of their effects on child rights and well-being.

The UNICEF/World Bank CRIA assumes that many effects on children arise through a chain of direct and indirect, intended and unintended channels set in motion by a project, programme or policy change. These channels need to be analysed before implementation in order to mitigate against possible negative affects on the well-being of children and their households and to maximize positive outcomes. The areas of child well-being and rights realisation most often affected by reform are children’s nutrition, health and education, as well as their protection from discrimination, abuse, exploitation and neglect.