An Assessment of Routine Data Collection Gaps in the Justice for Children Sector in Sri Lanka and Recommendations on Improving Systems and Addressing Data Gaps
Authors: Professor Dame Carolyn Hamilton and Dr. Amelia Smith
October 2023
This report presents findings of an assessment of routine data collection gaps in the Justice for Children Sector in Sri Lanka. The recording of children’s encounters with the justice system by authorities and service providers is essential in order to understand the profile and circumstances of children who come into contact with the justice system, and for monitoring and evaluating the performance of the child justice system.
The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child in its concluding observations to Sri Lanka’s 5th and 6th periodic report recommended that the government establish a comprehensive data collection system to assess the progress achieved in realising children’s rights and to help design policies and programmes to implement the CRC. Bearing in mind this recommendation, the purpose of this assessment is to contribute to the development of an integrated and coordinated child protection/justice for children information management system, and to inform the monitoring of policies and programmes to realise children’s rights.