Karin Arts

Twenty-Five Years of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child: Achievements and Challenges

The 25th anniversary of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child in November 2014 is an appropriate occasion for reviewing its record of achievements and challenges in protecting children’s rights worldwide. Clear accomplishments to build on are the comprehensive nature of the Convention and its capacity to accommodate the largely diverse contexts in which its provisions are to be realized. In addition, widespread and massive law reform is one of the most tangible achievements stimulated by the Convention. Finally, the existence and performance of the Committee on the Rights of the Child, charged with monitoring the implementation of the Convention, has been assessed positively. Most recently, this was rewarded with the entry into force of the third Optional Protocol to the Convention, which introduced communications procedures including individual and state complaints mechanisms. After having reviewed this record of selected achievements critically, four selected major challenges that still stand in the way of the fuller realization of the Convention will be presented more briefly. The main reason for this difference in emphasis is that, on the whole, the achievements speak more significantly to issues concerning the progressive development of international law while the challenges are, on the whole, more of a practical nature. The latter are: the persistence of poverty and other root causes of many child rights problems; difficulties in permeating into the private — including domestic and corporate — sphere where a considerable number of child rights violations occur but which are still hardly covered explicitly by international human rights law; and issues concerning the availability of data and resources.

The role of experts in international and european decision-making processes: Setting the scene

Analyses of the significance of knowledge in present-day society, also referred to as knowledge society, fuelled our curiosity about the role that experts play in international and European decision-making processes. This interest prompted us to ask the question reflected in the title of this book: are experts in these decision-making processes advisors, decision makers or irrelevant actors? A literature survey illustrated that, while analysis of knowledge utilization is and has been ’ readily available in the social sciences, there is only scant analysis of how experts relate to decision-making processes at the international and European levels. This realization in turn prompted us to bring together a group of, yes, ’experts’ to discuss the above-mentioned question at a two-day seminar held in June 2011, which is at the origin of this book.

Challenging the odds of vulnerability and resilience in lone migration: coping strategies of Zimbabwean unaccompanied minors in South Africa

ABSTRACT Childhood vulnerability attracts more societal and scholarly attention than child resilience. This article presents experiences of some Zimbabwean Unaccompanied Minors (ZUMs) in South Africa as an example of children who adapt to living as migrant minors separated from their parents. Using life history and aspiration interviews with eighteen ZUMs, we explore their coping strategies to test theoretical perceptions about childhood vulnerability and expand knowledge of how they are being affirmed and/or challenged. With research conducted in Makhado (Louis Trichardt), a non-border town in South Africa, the article highlights the nuances of ZUMs living in-shelter with catered needs versus ZUMs living out-of-shelter and fending for themselves. The interconnected effects of this on the children’s agency, vulnerability and resilience, now and potentially in future are also explored. In engaging the philosophy that some childhoods are inherently difficult, the study confirms that some ZUMs cope successfully despite being caught-up in tensions between structure-agency and vulnerability-resilience. The coping strategies of ZUMs reinforced some forms of vulnerability, while they camouflaged or silenced others. This cautions against the adoption of uncritical, or generic views about children’s agency and capabilities. The study concludes that individual and societal context matter greatly in discourses about child agency, vulnerability and resilience.

Reflections on human rights in the Netherlands

December typically is the time of the year when many people refl ect on the achievements and challenges of the past year, and look for renewed inspiration, objectives and strategies for the year ahead. Currently, in the Netherlands there is quite a bit of food for thought in terms of the state of human rights in the country. In 2015 the Dutch human rights record regarding children’s rights and racial discrimination was scrutinised by the relevant UN treaty bodies. Th e assessments and recommendations of the UN Committees on the Rights of the Child and on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination reached the Netherlands in a period in which issues concerning racial discrimination and the ongoing infl ux of asylum seekers had given rise to heated public debates. In this column I briefl y review these issues and the conclusions drawn by the two UN treaty bodies. Th is then serves as a basis for discussing some of the implications of the current debates and treaty body assessments regarding the role of the State in promoting and protecting human rights, which leads to a plea for greater engagement by the Dutch Government. Many in the Netherlands awaited particularly the assessment by the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination with special attention as they expected a position on the long-standing Dutch tradition of ‘Sinterklaas’ and ‘Black Pete’. Sinterklaas is an annual celebration, primarily for children but with many adults participating as well. Th e celebration culminates in gift s and special sweets on the eve of 5 December. While there have been some changes in recent years, the character of Black Pete, who is Sinterklaas’ helper, has been portrayed as not very smart and somewhat lazy. Black Pete is usually acted out by a white person with a painted blackface and big red lips, who wears a frizzy-haired black wig, brightly coloured clothes and at times golden earrings.1 In recent years, both national and international criticism of this tradition has become louder, condemning the stereotyped and discriminatory features involved, and insisting on adjustment. However, arguably, a

The Legal Status and Functioning of the United Nations Council for Namibia

In 1966 the General Assembly of the United Nations revoked the Mandate over South West Africa (Namibia) and thus terminated South Africas right to administer the territory. It furthermore placed Namibia under the direct responsibility of the United Nations. Administration of the territory was delegated by the General Assembly to a subsidiary organ, the UnitedNations Council for Namibia (UNCN). The author briefly describes the establishment, the structure, the functions and the powers of the Council. Special attention will be paid to questions concerning the legal status of the UNCN. Finally the major activities of the Council will be reviewed and appraised