Children

Following the killing, arrest and beating of children during the protests against the death of Mahsa Amini in Iran, the passivity and silence of international mechanisms and organisations have been criticised. The establishment of a fact-finding mission to investigate human rights violations in Iran may turn out to be an effective international measure for accountability, but more needs to be done urgently.

Since their takeover of power in Afghanistan, the Taliban have made several decisions to radicalise the education and higher education systems, on the basis of an extremely conservative interpretation of Sharia. The consequences are dire and far-reaching, affecting certain disadvantaged groups more than others. The most affected are young girls whose access to secondary education is banned.

As Nelson Mandela said: ‘Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world’. Reshaping the Balkans’ partitioned schools to focus on inclusion and human rights could help challenge societal divisions and prejudices.

There is no adequate protection without meaningful participation: we cannot protect children at any time, but arguably especially in emergencies, if we do not listen to their experiences and engage with their views.

The term ‘intergenerational equity’ relates to the rights of ‘future generations’ which is often taken to refer to those ‘yet to be born’. Child/youth climate activists are however demonstrating that present children intersect with future generations, and that intergenerational rights are children’s rights.

Experts have been ringing the alarm bells about children’s privacy online for some time, but the pandemic exacerbated the need to focus on children as right bearers in the digital age. So, what steps need to be taken in order to ensure that children are treated as such and we can build a society resilient to the digital crises of the future?

Technology played a significant part in traffickers taking advantage of COVID-19's second wave in India. A number of children lost both their parents and for a few weeks, 'COVID orphan adoption' messages proliferated across social media. State institutions and civil society were unprepared for this challenge.

Children’s rights activists and international aid agencies in Lebanon and throughout the Middle East North Africa (MENA) region claim school closures, rising poverty rates and lack of legal barriers mean more underage refugee girls being forced to marry during COVID-19.

Lockdown-induced restrictions due to COVID-19 have taken a toll on education. With remote teaching being the only feasible way to impart knowledge, underprivileged learners have been disadvantaged. Catch-up classes may be a way to achieve realisation of the right to education.

COVID-19 school closures have put girls at increased risk of unintended pregnancies. This in turn puts them at increased risk of dropping out or being excluded from school. Article 10(c) CEDAW obliges States Parties to eliminate the gender stereotypes that block girls’ education rights.