Founded in 1994, the International Bureau for Children’s Rights — the “Bureau” or “IBCR” — is an international non-governmental organisation that has special consultative status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations (ECOSOC). Driven by the desire to build a world in which children’s rights are fully respected, the IBCR helps promote and protect these rights while remaining true to our values of responsibility, collaboration and respect.

Wherever we intervene, the IBCR adapts its work methods to the local context and the needs of our partners. We aim to leverage local knowledge and foster child participation with a view to creating a lasting impact. The IBCR’s headquarters are in Montreal, where some 30 professionals, backed by qualified interns, provide technical expertise to child intervention experts in the Americas, Africa, the Middle East and Asia. We also operate three satellite offices in Burkina Faso, Costa Rica and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Here, field coordinators and agents work alongside our partners.

The IBCR team also includes Canadian volunteers who are deployed to Latin America, the Caribbean and West and North Africa. IBCR's mission is for every child to have a full subject of law. Children have the right to express their views, to learn, to live free of all forms of violence, exploitation, abuse and negligence. Children have the right to have their best interests taken into consideration whenever decisions are made about them, directly or indirectly. The IBCR’s mission is to contribute to the respect and promotion of children’s rights, in accordance with the commitments outlined in the Convention on the Rights of the Child and its optional protocols. As a centre of technical expertise in children’s rights, the IBCR endeavours to strengthen the capacities of those who work directly with children by sharing knowledge and best practices or by developing tools and reference guides. The IBCR collaborates with social workers, members of security and armed forces, legal representatives, non-governmental organisations, government agencies and the formal and informal private sectors, with a view to helping them adopt child‑friendly practices. The IBCR also uses its expertise to raise awareness among decision-makers and encourage them to adopt laws and programs that uphold children’s rights more appropriately.