Indicator systems as tools to protect rights and inform decision-making: the experience of La Infancia Cuenta Paraguay

Abstract

This article presents the experience of La Infancia Cuenta Paraguay (ICP) as a civil-society-led indicator system for monitoring the rights of children and adolescents. Drawing on a qualitative case study and documentary analysis of technical and communication outputs from the Observatorio de Políticas Públicas y Derechos de la Niñez y la Adolescencia, it examines the usefulness of ICP in operationalizing international commitments—particularly the CRC and related monitoring mechanisms—by translating normative standards into situated, verifiable evidence. The article shows how the system integrates seven dimensions and over ninety continuously updated indicators, combining official statistical sources with independent analyses to expose persistent rights violations and to attribute public responsibilities. It also describes the institutional transformations that have accompanied its trajectory (2011–2025) and the resulting products (data books, bulletins, web platform, indices), as well as its influence on plans, laws, programs, and alternative reports before the UPR and the Committee on the Rights of the Child. Finally, the paper discusses structural deficits in the data ecosystem (continuity, disaggregation, interoperability) and challenges for strengthening child participation and data governance, proposing pathways toward a National Information System grounded in rights, gender, and territorial approaches.