scholarly journals The Protection of Refugee Children in Africa: Post-Convention on The Rights of The Child

Fundamina ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 (1) ◽  
pp. 33-66
Author(s):  
Leah A Ndimurwimo ◽  
Molya Vundamina
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Exploitation ◽  
Children's Rights ◽  
Armed Conflicts ◽  
Children’S Rights ◽  
Refugee Children ◽  
Rights Of The Child ◽  
Displaced Children ◽  
Health Related ◽  
Women And Children ◽  
Rights Issues

The plight of refugees is currently one of the concerning global human rights issues. The refugee population is largely comprised of women and children who become displaced during armed conflicts; this is because the majority of persons killed or who become victims of forced disappearance are men. Forcibly displaced children face direct physical threats, as well as a variety of health-related problems. Although forcibly displaced children generally include those who are not refugees, this contribution is only concerned with refugee children. Refugee children are vulnerable to different types of abuse and exploitation, and often become the target of discrimination, sexual exploitation and social marginalisation in the refugee transit camps and countries of exile. Although the Convention on the Rights of Child, 1989 was adopted to protect children’s rights worldwide, the true impact of these provisions remains uncertain. This contribution examines the extent to which the adherence to the Convention on the Rights of the Child is promoted in Africa. This study compares the situation in South Africa, Tanzania and Zambia to pinpoint the legal and practical challenges that face refugee children in those countries. The contribution concludes with recommended solutions for effectively protecting and promoting refugee children’s rights in Africa.

The Evolution of the Children’s Rights Movement

2020 ◽  
pp. 31-48
Author(s):  
Jonathan Becker
Keyword(s):  
Child Labor ◽  
Sexual Exploitation ◽  
Children's Rights ◽  
Child Soldiers ◽  
Children’S Rights ◽  
Past Century ◽  
International Treaties ◽  
Rights Of The Child ◽  
International Laws

This chapter examines the evolution of the children’s rights movement and particularly the role of individuals and nongovernmental organizations in driving the creation of new international laws and norms and global campaigns to address the abuse and exploitation of children. Over the past century, child rights advocates have helped shape the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and international treaties addressing child labor and child soldiers, thereby influencing policies and practices related to education, child marriage, corporal punishment, sexual exploitation, and violence against children. The chapter also explores the role of children themselves as activists at the forefront of change.

A Critical Analysis of the Kampala Convention from a Children’s Rights Perspective

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charissa E Fawole
Keyword(s):  
Children's Rights ◽  
Legal Framework ◽  
Children’S Rights ◽  
Internal Displacement ◽  
Internally Displaced Persons ◽  
African Union ◽  
Internally Displaced ◽  
Rights Of The Child ◽  
Displaced Children ◽  
African Charter

Abstract A notable proportion of the persons living in situations of internal displacement in Africa are children. Despite the near-universal ratification of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the wide ratification of the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child among States in Africa, it is not clear the extent to which the ratification of these treaties has influenced the region’s legal framework for the protection and assistance of internally displaced children. This contribution addresses this issue through its analysis of the African Union Convention for the Protection and Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons in Africa from a children’s rights perspective. While the Convention does incorporate some principles of a children’s rights perspective, the analysis reveals that there are some inadequacies regarding the Convention’s overall incorporation of a children’s rights perspective. Based on the analysis, this contribution provides recommendations to use a children’s rights perspective to implement the Convention.

Educational Children’s Rights Research 1989–2019: Achievements, Gaps and Future Prospects

2020 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 183-208
Author(s):  
Ann Quennerstedt ◽  
Zoe Moody
Keyword(s):  
Knowledge Production ◽  
Children's Rights ◽  
Research Field ◽  
Children’S Rights ◽  
Future Prospects ◽  
Major Research ◽  
Systematic Analysis ◽  
Rights Of The Child ◽  
United Nations Convention ◽  
Rights Issues

Since the adoption of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1989, research into children’s rights issues in educational contexts has grown significantly. This paper takes stock of the evolution of educational children’s rights research, and provides a characterisation of the research field. By means of a systematic analysis of the published scholarship, the main achievements of the research are identified, as well as gaps in knowledge production. Major research foci are highlighted, the theoretical and methodological characteristics of the field are demonstrated, and concerns are identified. Based on the insights gained from analysis of the research field, future prospects are identified and discussed, and some possible routes forward for educational children’s rights research are suggested.

scholarly journals The Rights of Refugee Children and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child

Laws ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 20
Author(s):  
Jeanette A. Lawrence ◽  
Agnes E. Dodds ◽  
Ida Kaplan ◽  
Maria M. Tucci
Keyword(s):  
United Nations ◽  
Children's Rights ◽  
Children’S Rights ◽  
Refugee Children ◽  
Developmental Experiences ◽  
Refugee Child ◽  
Rights Of The Child ◽  
United Nations Convention ◽  
Life Circumstances ◽  
The United Nations

Refugee children are identified as rights-bearers by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), but their rights are not uniformly honored in the policies and practices of contemporary states. How the CRC’s safeguards for refugee children’s rights are honored depends partly on what it means to be ‘a refugee child’ and partly on how the claims of refugee children’s rights are recognized, respected, and implemented in international and national legal and bureaucratic systems. We examine the CRC’s affirmation of the rights of the child and analyze the CRC’s articles in relation to the rights related to the life circumstances of refugee children and state responsibilities. Following an analysis of resistance to the CRC’s mandates by contemporary states, we relate refugee children’s rights to their refugee and developmental experiences and argue for repositioning refugee children into the center of protection dialogue and practice, internationally and nationally.

UN-BLURRING THE MYTHS AND REALITIES OF WOMEN AND CHILDREN’S RIGHTS IN SOUTH AFRICA

2017 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 109-120
Author(s):  
T N Sithole ◽  
Kgothatso B Shai
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Children's Rights ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Children’S Rights ◽  
Vulnerable Groups ◽  
Great Awareness ◽  
Policy Theory ◽  
Rights Of The Child ◽  
The Status ◽  
Customary Practices

Awareness of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW 1979) and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC 1989) is relatively high within academic and political circles in South Africa and elsewhere around the world. In South Africa, this can be ascribed mainly to the powerful women’s lobby movements represented in government and academic sectors. Women and children’s issues have been especially highlighted in South Africa over the last few years. In this process, the aforementioned two international human rights instruments have proved very useful. There is a gender desk in each national department. The Office on the Status of Women and the Office on Child Rights have been established within the Office of the President, indicating the importance attached to these institutions. These offices are responsible for co-ordinating governmental efforts towards the promotion and protection of women and children’s rights respectively, including the two relevant treaties. Furthermore, there is also a great awareness amongst non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) in respect of CEDAW and CRC. This can be ascribed mainly to the fact that there is a very strong women’s NGO lobby and NGOs are actively committed to the promotion of children’s rights. Women are increasingly vocal and active within the politics of South Africa, but the weight of customary practices remains heavy. The foregoing is evident of the widening gap between policy theory and practice in the fraternity of vulnerable groups – children and women in particular.

The Health Rights of Children

2020 ◽  
pp. 366-385
Author(s):  
Ursula Kilkelly
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Children's Rights ◽  
Children’S Rights ◽  
Agenda 2030 ◽  
Rights Of The Child ◽  
Development Agenda ◽  
Development Goals ◽  
Health Rights ◽  
Missed Opportunity ◽  
Specific Health

Article 24 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) recognizes the child’s right to health and health care. Despite its importance, surprisingly little international advocacy focuses exclusively on child’s health. The Committee on the Rights of the Child has addressed health and health care issues in many of its General Comments, but it has been surprisingly slow to adopt a General Comment dedicated to Article 24. There has also been an apparent disconnect between children’s rights law and the global development agenda. While the UN Sustainable Development Goals address many of children’s specific health needs, they do not mention the CRC and are not framed in rights terms. Although progress continues in advancing Agenda 2030, it is not clear whether greater progress would have been possible were these goals expressed as a matter of children’s rights. Overall, this process appears to be a missed opportunity to advance the child’s rights to health.

The Best Interests of the Child

2020 ◽  
pp. 203-221
Author(s):  
Wouter Vandenhole ◽  
Gamze Erdem Türkelli
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Family Law ◽  
Children's Rights ◽  
Case Law ◽  
Children’S Rights ◽  
Best Interests ◽  
Rights Of The Child ◽  
European Court ◽  
Elusive Concept

The best interests of the child principle is considered a pillar of children’s rights law and, according to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), is to be a primary consideration in all actions concerning children. Yet best interests is an elusive concept and principle that has no single authoritative definition or description. Internationally and domestically relevant in such diverse areas as family law, adoption, migration, and socioeconomic policymaking, the best interests principle requires flexibility and is best served by a case-by-case approach, as has been recognized by the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child and the European Court of Human Rights. This chapter analyzes relevant international case law and suggests the use of a number of safeguards to prevent such requisite flexibility from presenting a danger of paternalism, bias, or misuse.

The Interrelated and Interdependent Nature of Children’s Rights

2020 ◽  
pp. 69-98
Author(s):  
Savitri Goonesekere
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
Ad Hoc ◽  
Holistic Approach ◽  
Children's Rights ◽  
Children’S Rights ◽  
Effective Implementation ◽  
Rights Of The Child ◽  
Global Agenda

The chapter analyses children’s human rights as universal norms and standards incorporated in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) that are relevant in diverse national contexts. Discussing national experiences and the quasi-jurisprudence of treaty bodies, the chapter argues that understanding the interrelated nature of the different groups of rights in the CRC is essential for effective implementation of these rights. It is suggested that the concept of the indivisibility of human rights and the global agenda of sustainable development reinforce the need for this approach. The chapter also discusses the interdependence, compatibility, and conflict between children’s rights and the human rights of other groups, such as parents, women, and a community with which a child connects as he or she grows to adulthood. The chapter argues that incorporating children’s rights in national constitutions, rather than ad hoc legislation, encourages this holistic approach to implementing children’s rights.

scholarly journals Children’s Rights in the Indonesian Oil Palm Industry: Improving Company Respect for the Rights of the Child

Land ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (5) ◽  
pp. 500
Author(s):  
Stephany Iriana Pasaribu ◽  
Frank Vanclay
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Child Labor ◽  
Palm Oil ◽  
Oil Palm ◽  
Children's Rights ◽  
Business Case ◽  
Children’S Rights ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
Rights Of The Child ◽  
Social License

Although companies have many direct and indirect impacts on the lives of children, discussion of the responsibility of business to respect the rights of children has primarily focused on child labor. Using UNICEF’s Children’s Rights and Business Principles as a framework for our analysis, we considered the activities of oil palm plantation companies operating in Indonesia. Our data come from key informant interviews and reflection on two programs established to promote respect for children’s rights in the Indonesian palm oil industry: one by Pusat Kajian Perlindungan Anak (PKPA) (Center for Child Study and Protection); and one by the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) in conjunction with UNICEF. We considered: how plantation company activities impacted children’s lives; how companies demonstrated respect for children’s rights; and how observance of children’s rights can be improved. We discuss four problematic issues: getting company commitments to children’s rights into policy and practice; having a strong business case for respecting human rights and children’s rights; contradictory objectives within companies; and complexities around children in the workplace. We argue that a children’s rights based approach should be applied to the activities of all organizations. This children’s rights lens is needed to overcome the invisibility of children in society and industry, and to address the root causes of human rights harms. We note that respecting children’s rights will likely contribute to getting a social license to operate and grow.

From “Perverse” to Progressive?: Advocating for Children’s Rights in Argentina

2012 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 72-89
Author(s):  
Amy Risley
Keyword(s):  
Child Protection ◽  
Social Issues ◽  
Children's Rights ◽  
Economic Reforms ◽  
Children’S Rights ◽  
Socioeconomic Conditions ◽  
Economic Rights ◽  
Rights Of The Child ◽  
The Social ◽  
United Nations Convention

This article argues that social issues are central to the children’s rights movement in Argentina. For more than a decade, child advocates have traced the plight of children to poverty, marginality, and neoliberal economic reforms. In particular, they have framed the issue of child welfare as closely related to socioeconomic conditions, underscored the “perverse” characteristics of the country’s existing institutions and policies, and called for reforms that accord with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. Although the country’s policies are gradually being transformed due to a landmark child-protection law passed in 2005, a dramatically more progressive framework for children’s rights has not yet been adopted. Given that policymakers have largely failed to reverse the trends that activists perceive as harming children, it is expected that advocates will continue to criticise the gap between domestic realities and the social and economic rights included in the Convention.

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