What is the Impact of a National Plan for Action?

When a country has a National Plan, there is a vision and a path to follow. There are tasks to be carried out for which resources can be sought. There are goals to be achieved that can be measured.

The development and implementation of an NPA ensures that the care and protection of children is a priority for a given country. It will mean that they can become a national priority, along with economic development and debt reduction. It will make children visible in society.

A National Plan enables the difficult and taboo subjects, like sexual exploitation, to be discussed openly and faced for what it means to future generations. It enables the links to other issues like HIV/AIDS infection and education to be identified.

A National Plan is a tangible recognition by governments that children have rights guaranteed under the (almost) universally ratified Convention on the Rights of the Child.

A National Plan enables civil society to identify what should be done, what is being done and what can be done for children and challengers governments to live up to the intentions expressed in the plan.