Policy brief: Institutionalizing national survivor councils

As governments prepare commitments ahead of the 2nd Ministerial Conference on Ending Violence Against Children, institutionalizing survivor leadership must become a global accountability priority.

Key priorities for immediate action include:

• Survivor participation must move beyond symbolic consultation toward co-governance and shared accountability.
• National Survivor Councils should become a baseline governance standard within child protection systems.
• Governments must invest in survivor-led monitoring and accountability mechanisms.
• Survivor expertise should be integrated across justice, health, education, and protection systems.
• Ethical, trauma-informed, and adequately resourced survivor participation frameworks are essential for sustainable reform.
• National pledges should include measurable commitments on survivor leadership and institutional participation.
• Meaningful inclusion must extend beyond representation toward shared decision-making power.

Survivors should not only be invited to speak about systems after harm occurs.
They should support shaping the systems designed to prevent harm in the first place.