Course Announcement: Children's Rights in a Globalized World: From Principles to Practice

21.2.2008

International Interdisciplinary Course

Children’s Rights in a Globalized World: From Principles to Practice

8 to 19 September 2008

Ghent-Antwerp (Belgium)

Theme

More than 18 years after the adoption of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and 60 years after the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, it is time to take stock of the achievements and challenges. In particular, as globalisation expands and deepens, challenges of poverty, environmental degradation, child labour and migration take on a new dimension. Globalisation and the dispersion of power also means that states are only one among many actors.

These developments challenge the concept of children’s rights and ask for critical reflection on children’s rights as a leverage for societal change. The reality of children’s rights is much richer than a legal instrument and its implementation. In order to turn principles into practice, a multidisciplinary approach, which allows for multiple interpretations of children’s rights, is needed. A critical reflection therefore strengthens rather than weakens children’s rights.

The International Interdisciplinary Course Children’s Rights in a Globalized World: From Principles to Practice wants to make an active contribution to the proliferation and promotion of the CRC and its underlying values and aims at critical refection on children’s rights.

Contents

After a multidisciplinary introduction to children’s rights, with a particular focus on the CRC, implementation strategies and methodologies will be explored. Six broad themes will be addressed from a children’s rights perspective: education, health, child protection, poverty, child labour and migration.

Participants

Participants are expected to actively engage in discussions. A collective and individual assignment are to be completed and presented during the course. Widely recognized experts from all over the world will facilitate the lectures and workshops.

A maximum of 40 high-quality participants will be selected.

Course Convenors

The Course Convenors are the Children’s Rights Centre (Ghent University), the UNICEF Chair in Children’s Rights (University of

Antwerp) and the University College Ghent.

Applications

To be submitted online before 1 April 2008. All applicants must upload a curriculum vitae and explain in the on-line registration form their motivation (how do you think the course will help you in your daily work, what do you expect to gain from the course). All participants should also send two letters of recommendation to the course secretariat (to the attention of Ms. Amssoms).

Course Fee

1.600 ?

The fee covers accommodation for two weeks (from Sunday September 7th to Friday September 19th), breakfast and lunches on course days, tuition by experts in the field, participation in all sessions and the printed course material.

More information on www.iccr.be or Kathleen.Vlieghe@UGent.be

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