ABSTRACT
Laws governing child rights are part of international human rights law thus children are recognized as social actors in the international system. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) is one of such international instruments which guarantees the rights of children irrespective of their country of origin. Ghana led the world by becoming the first country to ratify this convention and as such is required under international law to uphold the provisions of the convention. To ensure the effective realization of the rights set out in the convention, states are obligated to put in place measures that ensure the UNCRC is known to all children and adults under Article 42 of the Convention. This plays a major role in protecting children’s human rights. It is exactly thirty (30) years after the CRC was adopted by the United Nations and the study sought to ascertain the knowledge of child rights and implementation of Article 42 of the Convention in Ghana.
The study employed both primary and secondary data using the qualitative research design. Data collection methods included semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions. Using the qualitative content analysis method, findings revealed that both children and teachers had inadequate knowledge of child rights and the UNCRC. Further findings identified efforts by the state and other stakeholders in the implementation of article 42 on the convention through policies, programmes and cooperation with other organizations among other efforts. Some challenges impeding the effective dissemination of the convention to children and adults include lack of political will coupled with improper allocation of resources.
Based on the findings, the study recommends among other things that the state should consider embedding the UNCRC into the educational curricula of children and explore other practical avenues of child rights education like model UN.
CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION
1.0 Background to the Study
Following the devastating effects of the World Wars, the United Nations (UN) adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) which set the tone for the recognition of children as right holders (Fass, 2011). Child rights were developed to protect children especially due to their peculiar nature as a social group. The concept of child rights emerged to promote the general welfare of children and progressively empower them to add their voice to decisions that impact their lives (Manful & Manful, 2014).
In this regard, the Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1989 and came into force in 1990 to protect children all around the world irrespective of their country of origin or race. The UNCRC has been acknowledged across the world as the most ratified treaty of all human rights treaties. This shows that the world has agreed upon a global unification around the views of the rights of the child. Children have now been recognized and accepted as important social actors within the international system, which was not so before the UNCRC came in to being (Garbarino, 2011).
The primary assumption for the development of the UNCRC is that children are a peculiar group of people with a common and a universal set of entitlements. The UNCRC has forty (40) substantive rights through which it guarantees for children their basic rights. The remainder of its 54 articles take care of the required implementation process. These rights in summary are referred
to as the 3Ps which are Provision, Protection and Participation rights of the UNCRC (UNICEF, 1989).
The rights to Provision, that is, right to food for survival, quality health care, basic education among others; the rights to Protection, which means children are to be protected from all forms of abuse and exploitation among others and finally, the right to Participation, that is the need for children to be involved in the process of decision-making particular in subjects that concern them (UNICEF, 1989).
The Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties (VCLT) makes it clear that, ratifying conventions such as the UNCRC obliges state parties to implement all articles within the convention according to the principle of Pacta Sunt Servanda (agreements must be kept in good faith). This simply means that State Parties are charged to protect and promote these rights (Shaw, 2003). Although it is highly expected that the UNCRC would have a significant and positive impact on the lives of all children, it is yet to materialise in various states party to the convention. No country can fully boast of having fulfilled all provisions in the Convention (Twum-Danso, 2011).
Ghana is the first country in the world to ratify the UNCRC in February 1990 without any reservation (UNICEF, 2006). Key principles of the UNCRC have been incorporated into many of Ghana’s child laws. Ghana has further reviewed various legislations on child rights that existed before the ratification of the UNCRC and adopted new laws regarding how children in Ghana should be handled in conformity with the UNCRC. Three (3) of such major legislations include: the Children’s Act, Child Rights Regulations and the Juvenile Justice Act. This move by the government is a demonstration of commitment to support and uphold the principles of the convention and more importantly ensure effective implementation (Manful & Manful, 2014).
Regardless of significant achievements of states, including Ghana in realizing the rights of children, there remains challenges and improvements to be made (Akengin, 2008; Twum-Danso, 2011). Almost every state party to the Convention has been criticized and recommended by the Committee in charge of the convention to increase awareness of the UNCRC among children and adults which is enshrined in article 42 of the UNCRC (Vaghri, Arkadas, Kruse, & Hertzman, 2011). Article 42, knowledge of rights states the following:
“States Parties undertake to make the principles and provisions of the Convention widely known, by appropriate and active means, to adults and children alike” (UNICEF, 1989, p. 12)
The state is obligated under article 42 of the UNCRC to communicate to both children and adults the provisions of the Convention. It is presumed that, embedded in Article 42 of the Convention is a key to the realization of the rights spelt out in the Convention. This is because knowledge of child rights is a premise for children to fully enjoy their rights. By having the correct knowledge about rights, children are able to stand up for their rights even if others deny them (Howe & Covell, 2005).
Studies conducted in various member states party to this Convention including Ghana reveals limited knowledge of the convention among children and adults. (Mitchell, 2005; Twum-Danso, 2008; Willenberg, Tenenbaum, & Ruck, 2014). From the studies it is evident that there is a barrier between law and practice. For a successful realization and implementation of child rights in Ghana, article 42 of the UNCRC needs to be fulfilled. It is therefore essential to gain a deeper understanding into the issues surrounding the implementation of Article 42 of the UNCRC in Ghana to provide a comprehensive approach in creating more awareness on the Convention among children and adults.
Problem Statement
The adoption of the UNCRC by the United Nations in 1989, created hope and expectation for a significant improvement and change in the lives of children in the world (Twum-Danso, 2008). The UNCRC is an international law and as such, ratifying it requires that states put the rights under the Convention into effect (Shaw, 2003). Regardless of the ratification of the UNCRC, the rights of many children are being violated across countries, including Ghana.
Ghana continues to deal with issues of abuse of child rights with respect to corporal punishment, child marriage, and child labour among others. These acts of violence have negative effects on their physical, mental and social wellbeing and further hampers the growth and survival of children who are the ‘future leaders’ of the nation (GSS, 2018). Children’s rights do not receive public support or political commitment from governments (Pillay, 2014). This remains a matter of concern to states and the international community.
While inadequate financial and human resources have been identified as common impediments to the effective implementation and realization of children’s rights, lack of awareness remains a critical factor that tends to hinder the implementation of legal frameworks on children’s rights and the eventual realization of children’s rights in Ghana (Pillay, 2014; Twum-Danso, 2011).
The UN committee on the rights of the child has indicated that, knowledge of the UNCRC is low among children and adults working with children in Ghana. The committee as the international monitoring body on child rights, has recommended an increase in the knowledge of the Convention among children and adults working with children (UNCRC, 2015). Without awareness of child rights by children especially and adults, it may be impossible to realize and implement the UNCRC (Kiprotich & Ong’ondo, 2013).
It is in line with this that this study seeks to explore the knowledge of child rights and implementation efforts of Ghana in the bringing to life Article 42 of the Convention for a holistic realization of the convention.
Research Objectives
The objectives of the study are:
- To explore the knowledge children and teachers in Ghana have of the UNCRC.
- To investigate the progress of implementation of article 42 of the UNCRC.
- To find out challenges Ghana faces in the implementation of article 42 of the UNCRC.
Research Questions
The study is guided by the following research questions:
- What knowledge do children and teachers in Ghana have about child rights and the UNCRC?
- What has been achieved in the implementation of article 42 of the UNCRC by Ghana?
- What factors interfere in the effective implementation of article 42 of the UNCRC?
Scope of the Study
The UNCRC contains 54 articles with many provisions. This research focuses on article 42 of the UNCRC which seeks to address the knowledge of child rights by both children and adults. Among adults working with children, emphasis will be laid on teachers for the purposes of this study. The country of investigation for this study is Ghana and her efforts in implementing this article from 2012-2019.
