Abstract
In order to examine systems in Japan for evaluation and monitoring of child policies, it is necessary to promote linkage between the perspectives and methods adopted in the relevant systems, each of which needs to be further improved: namely, (a) monitoring of the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child through the reporting system (at the international level); (b) sectoral policy evaluation under the Policy Evaluation Act (at the national level); and (c) project evaluation systems at the municipal level. For this purpose, it is urgently required to improve national and municipal evaluation systems on the basis of the PDCA cycle approach. In this regard, the efforts undertaken by Kawasaki City, Kanagawa Prefecture, is inspiring. Under the local Children's Rights Ordinance, Kawasaki City has conducted rights-based review of its child policies through the Kawasaki Children's Rights Committee. The Committee attempts to grasp, through surveys, questionnaires and other methods, to what extent children's rights are guaranteed in the city; it is also involved in dialogue with the administrative bodies and civil society on the basis of the administration's self-evaluation. These efforts are crystallized into proposals for further improvement of child policies. Throughout this process, emphasis is placed on the participation of civil society, including children themselves.
