Children and Reparation: Past lessons and new directions (original) (raw)
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Publications produced by the Office are contributions to a global debate on children and child rights issues and include a wide range of opinions. For that reason, some publications may not necessarily reflect UNICEF policies or approaches on some topics. The views expressed are those of the authors and/or editors and are published in order to stimulate further dialogue on child rights. The Office collaborates with its host institution in Florence, the Istituto degli Innocenti, in selected areas of work. Core funding is provided by the Government of Italy, while financial support for specific projects is also provided by other governments, international institutions and private sources, including UNICEF National Committees.
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2019 signals the 30th anniversary of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC, 1989). From its inception the CRC was heralded as a “touchstone” for children’s rights, encompassing civil, cultural, economic, political and social rights (Lansdown, 2010). Children were deemed to be rights holders, entitled to protection, suitable provision and capable of making decisions about their own lives. Article 3 of The Convention prioritised the “best interests of the child” as the primary consideration governing all actions concerning children and Article 12 placed obligations on signatory states to assure that the child, who is capable of forming his or her own views has the right to express those views freely in all matters affecting them. Article 12.2 prescribed that the child’s views are not just to be listened to but to be taken account of and acted upon in all decisions affecting the child, and this obligation extends to matters of research. Modern theories of children and child...
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This volume brings together ethnographers conducting research on children living in crisis situations in both developing and developed regions, taking a cross-cultural approach that spans diff erent cities in the global North and South to provide insight and analyses into the lifeworlds of their young, at-risk inhabitants. Looking at the lived experiences of poverty, drastic inequality, displacement, ecological degradation and war in countries including Haiti, Argentina and Palestine, the book shows how children both respond to and are shaped by their circumstances. Going beyond conventional images of children subjected to starvation, hunger, and disease to build an integrated analysis of what it means to be a child in crisis in the 21st century, the book makes a signifi cant contribution to the nascent fi eld of study concerned with development and childhood. With children now at the forefront of debates on human rights and poverty reduction, there is no better time for scholars, policymakers and the general public to understand the complex social, economic and political dynamics that characterize children's present predicaments and future life chances.
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Over the last one hundred years, humanitarian agencies have considered children primarily through the lens of vulnerability. Advocacy for attention to children’s agency and for their participation has burgeoned since the 1980s without shifting the powerful hold that assumptions of vulnerability have had over the policy and practices of humanitarians. This article seeks to denaturalise the conceptualisation of children in contexts of emergency as primarily vulnerable (would-be) victims, placing it in historical and geopolitical contexts. It offers a critical analysis of both conventional humanitarian thinking about vulnerability per se and the reasons for its continued invocation in settings of displacement and political violence. Drawing upon examples from the Mau Mau rebellion against British colonial rule in 1950s Kenya, and current humanitarian response to the situation of Palestinian children living under Israeli occupation, this article relates the continued dominance of the vu...
In philosophy, historically, much attention has been given to the central question of philosophical anthropology, namely, ‘what constitutes a human being?’. However, it seems that the answers to this question are in fact answers to the question ‘what constitutes the adult human being?’, or even ‘what constitutes the adult, male human being?’. In discussing this question, an important group of human beings has often been left out, which currently consists of more than 25% of the world’s population, and this is precisely the group on which I want to focus: children. The uncertainty on the meaning of the concept of childhood is reflected in international law. For example in the 1989 Conventions on the Rights of the Child,“a child” is defined as every human being below the age of eighteen years, ‘unless under the law applicable to the child, majority is attained earlier’ (article 1). The main question for the research is ‘What is the meaning of the concept of childhood and how does it relate to children’s rights?’. It includes an analysis of the concept of childhood, based on mainly philosophical literature and field research. The second chapter focusses on the meaning of childhood in relation to international children's rights.
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One in five children lives in a country affected by conflict (Save the Children 2019). Despite concerted international and national efforts to protect children, these 415 million children face grave human rights violations that continue to rise. More political will and resources are needed from governments and parties to the conflict to prevent such violence against children and protect children in armed conflict. However, research confirms that out of 431 ceasefire and peace agreements, less than 18 percent of peace agreements included child protection provisions (Watchlist on Children and Armed Conflict). Often, peace-related documents that mention child protection issues do not mention integrating children's participation into peace processes, which is essential to understanding and addressing children's needs during and after the conflict. To end the cycle of violence against children, a paradigm shift must be made in the way peace agreements address children's issues and rights. Guided by the "Global Policy Paper on Youth Participation in the Peace Process," commissioned by the United Nations Envoy on Youth, this paper recommends that mediators and child protection actors employ three integrated but non-hierarchical layers for including child protection issues and children's participation in the peace process: "in the room," "around the room," and "outside the room" of formal peace negotiations. This multi-layered, inclusive approach may help achieve the desired results: preventing violence against children and reaching a sustainable peace. "Everyone talks about 'the impact of war on children.' But how do you measure the impact of war? Who suffers the greater horror, the child who is violated or the child who is forced to become a perpetrator? We are the victim, the perpetrator, and the witness, all at once."-Truth and Reconciliation Commission Report for the Children of Sierra Leone 2004.
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Working Papers are intended to disseminate initial research contributions within the Centre"s programme of work, addressing social, economic and institutional aspects of the realisation of the human rights of children. The findings, interpretations and conclusions expressed in this paper are entirely those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the policies or the views of UNICEF. The designations employed in this publication and the presentation of the material do not imply on the part of UNICEF the expression of any opinion whatsoever concerning the legal status of any country or territory, or of its authorities, or the delimitation of its frontiers. Extracts from this publication may be freely reproduced with due acknowledgement.