Institutional consultancy for data governance of children's data

In 2021 UNICEF published a Manifesto on Good Governance of Children’s Data, that set aspirational benchmarks to guide governments, the private sector and international organizations in developing data governance that take full account of children’s issues and rights. A working group of 17 global experts from the private sector, academia, think tanks and others worked with UNICEF to develop a Manifesto and carry out analysis on a range of topics related to children’s data. 

UNICEF Innocenti - Global Office of Research and Foresight is now embarking on a new initiative to promote the implementation of ten key action points from the Manifesto. These include the use of policy innovation and facilitation of cross-country learning in upholding children’s data rights at the national and local levels; development of fairer global data economy model that is inclusive of and empowering for children in the Global South and in Europe; and the need to protect children’s data and privacy rights in the school environment.

The key elements of the projects are:

1. Documentation of existing and emerging innovations in data governance for children and drafting of governance innovation case studies to inspire further development of good data governance initiatives for children and policy transfer among countries.
2. Guidance to regulators on children’s data management and processing by EdTech – especially in relation to privacy, data protection, sharing and accountable use – so that better regulations and policies can be developed and enforced.
3. Analysis of how children’s rights can be integrated into a fair data economy for children and development of a global framework that can guide corporate and government data sharing.

The Project will be run over 2 years in two phases. These terms of reference relate to Phase 1, whereas Phase 2 will be part of a subsequent call for proposals to be implemented in 2025.