The Institute

Created in 1995, the International Institute for the Rights of the Child (IDE) is :

  • A recognized children’s rights training center for all professionals working for and with children in Switzerland and abroad.
  • A Swiss private foundation active in a wide range of awareness-raising activities to promote children’s rights and ensure compliance with the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
  • A scientific center in demand by numerous networks of experts and institutions working to promote respect for children’s rights.

IDE obtained UN ECOSOC status in 2003, renewed in 2009, 2015 and 2021.

IDE’s three main lines of action :

  1. Training professionals working with and for children, so that children’s rights are better known, respected and implemented.
  2. Raise public and professional awareness of the existence, content and requirements of children’s rights, as defined by the Convention, its three additional protocols and other relevant international treaties and documents.
  3. Development of teaching materials and publication of scientific works.

Mission

IDE’s mission is to achieve the concrete implementation of children’s rights in the field,
by training professionals in contact with children.

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989) and its
additional protocols form the basis of IDE’s activities.

Jean Zermatten
Founder

 

Jean Zermatten was born in Sion (canton of Valais, Switzerland) in 1948. He studied law at the University of Fribourg. After graduating, he was hired as a clerk at the Juvenile Criminal Court of Fribourg, before being appointed President of the Juvenile Court of the canton of Valais, a position he held for 25 years.

In 1995, together with other pioneers, he founded the International Institute for the Rights of the Child in Sion (Bramois), an institute dedicated to the study of children’s rights, the dissemination and awareness-raising of these rights, and the training of professionals responsible for applying them. He was director of the Institute from its creation in 1995 until the end of 2014.

In 2005, he was elected to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, a position he held until 2013; he was Vice-Chairman of the Committee from 2007 to 2011, and then assumed the position of Chairman of the Committee (2011-2013).

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Alongside his work as a judge, he lectures at numerous institutes, universities and colleges in Switzerland and abroad.

In 2007, he was awarded the title of “Docteur honoris Causa” by the University of Fribourg. In 2014, he was awarded the title of “Docteur honoris Causa” by the University of Geneva. In September 2009, he was awarded the F.-K. Divisionnaire Rünzi. In 2016, the City of Sion honored his dedication to the cause of children.

Jean Zermatten has also initiated several academic programs and participated in the drafting of several national laws and bills; in particular, he is the author of the Concordat romand sur l’exécution de la privation de liberté des mineurs, was a member of the commission of experts to revise the general part of the Swiss penal code, and author of the preliminary draft of the federal law on criminal procedure applicable to minors.

He has written and contributed to several books on children’s rights, and is the author of a large number of articles and lectures around the world.

A word from the founder – Why set up an institute dedicated to children’s rights in Sion?

Creating a university institute dedicated to children’s rights in Sion was a challenge, and it took an ideal alignment of the stars to make it work.

The ingredients were :

  • meeting committed and determined people ;
  • the presence of the Kurt Bösch Institute, which at the time was looking for interdisciplinary subjects to work on;
  • the emergence of children’s rights as a subject for information, training and even research;
  • the need for professionals to familiarize themselves with the Convention, and above all with its content and the child’s new legal status;
  • the support of a major international organization, the International Association of Youth and Family Judges and Magistrates, a faithful ally of IDE;
  • the Swiss Confederation’s decision to financially support this adventure;
  • the favorable climate in a small Swiss town for such a creation;
  • the chance of favorable winds to propel this frail craft forward…!

Why children’s rights?

In 1994, 5 years after the promulgation of the Convention, there was a serious lack of knowledge of this text among professionals in the civil and criminal protection of children and the humanitarian organization community. What’s more, the text appeared to be a kind of fine declaration, with no concrete implications for everyday life. Switzerland had not yet ratified it, and many were wary of an “international” text. It was therefore time to take this subject seriously and fill a gap.

Why Sion, and not Geneva or Zurich?

None of the universities were eager to address the issue, nor did they see children’s rights as an academic subject. None of the existing organizations based in these large cities were aware of the potential of children’s rights, nor were they considering adding this theme to their objectives or work. The question of the child as a subject of rights remained a theoretical notion, with no direct present or future interest.

IDE immediately established itself as a unique center of competence, and from its very first international meeting (1995), was a great success, both in terms of the number of participants and their origins.

A publication followed to mark the seriousness and lasting effect.

One thing led to another, and for a long time Sion became the capital of children’s rights, with a strong influence on the surrounding area…

ASSOCIATION FONDS VEILLARD-CYBULSKI

The Fonds Veillard-Cybulski association, set up in 1986 to honour the memory and work of Maurice VEILLARD-CYBULSKI, had the following aims, according to its articles of association:

  • encourage scientific activities aimed at improving the legal protection of young people and families;
  • to support the realization of studies, surveys, research, treatises or works related to the themes of the congresses or seminars of the International Association of Youth and Family Judges and Magistrates (IAYFJM) or of any other collective member organization pursuing similar goals;
  • reward particularly meritorious work, especially that which makes an innovative contribution to perfecting methods of treating children and adolescents and their families in difficulty.

Since 1999, the International Institute for the Rights of the Child and the Veillard-Cybulski Fund Association have worked hand in hand, each pursuing its own mission, but both committed to the promotion and defense of children’s rights.

In this spirit, IDE housed the AFVC on its premises, and provided its secretariat and accounting services; while the AFVC pursued its two activities of awarding a biennial Prize and organizing fora, both focusing on Juvenile Justice, making it clear that these activities were carried out in close cooperation.

This approach has been recognized by both organizations as positively promoting the pursuit of their own objectives, while at the same time being largely complementary. During its 35 years of activity, the AFVC has awarded a dozen “Maurice Veillard-Cybulski” prizes, and organized numerous meetings of professionals, mainly in Switzerland. In so doing, it has honored the memory of the pioneering Swiss judge Maurice Veillard and his wife, Judge Henryka Cybulska, a renowned children’s rights activist at national level in her native Poland, and later at international level.

From 2020 onwards, it became difficult for the AFVC to continue its activities, particularly in view of the pandemic, major changes at the IDE and a significant drop in the number of paying members.

After consultation with members of the Association’s Committee and members of the Veillard-Cybulski family, it was decided to dissolve the Association in May 2022, and to transfer its remaining assets to IDE, which will continue to honor the memory of these two eminent youth magistrates, Maurice Veillard and Henryka Cybulska, and to promote all work relating to children’s rights, particularly in the field of juvenile justice.

MEMBER OF THE SWISS NETWORK
FOR CHILDREN’S RIGHTS

IDE is a member of the Child Rights Network Switzerland, an association of Swiss non-governmental organizations committed to the recognition and implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child in Switzerland. The network’s main task is to report to the Committee on the Rights of the Child, which regularly examines progress and obstacles to the implementation of children’s rights in Switzerland.

For further information: www.netzwerk-kinderrechte.ch

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