Another pivotal moment came in 2007 when we began developing and adopting the Child-Friendly Communities (CFC) approach, a human rights-based programming framework for children at the local level. We deeply understood the essential components for delivering effective services and turned our attention to the ‘how.’ Our goal was to facilitate a cultural and professional transformation, ensuring that families and communities asserted their right to demand high-quality services from the government as active citizens. This emphasis on methodology became central to CINI’s mission, driving us to engage in extensive field experimentation while working to make existing institutions more child-friendly.

Since then, through intense years of programming and analysis, the CFC approach has been piloted in diverse deprived communities in rural, urban, and tribal areas, with adaptations according to local conditions and opportunities. The entire process of learning from the beginning has been consolidated in the CINI Method. This framework embraces a human rights-based approach (HRBA) that informs the programme design and our broader vision of a participatory, accountable, convergent, and preventive methodology. We aim to translate children’s rights into actionable development practices for children at all levels.

The CINI Method serves as a guide for developing Child-Friendly Systems. It offers a comprehensive framework rooted in a human rights-based approach (HRBA). It strongly emphasises capacity development, technical assistance, evidence-building, networking, advocacy, and policy influencing. It facilitates programme design and underscores a broader vision, highlighting the importance of participatory, accountable, convergent, and preventive methodologies. Additionally, it shapes our operational management and internal policies, making CINI an organization dedicated to being child-friendly in all aspects of our work.