Table Of ContentChildren’s Rights and
International Development
Children’s Rights and
International Development
Lessons and Challenges
from the Field
Edited by
Myriam Denov, Richard Maclure,
and Kathryn Campbell
CHILDREN’S RIGHTS AND INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Copyright © Myriam Denov, Richard Maclure, and Kathryn Campbell, 2011.
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2011 978-0-230-60682-1
All rights reserved.
First published in 2011 by
PALGRAVE MACMILLAN®
in the United States—a division of St. Martin’s Press LLC,
175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010.
Where this book is distributed in the UK, Europe and the rest of the world,
this is by Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited,
registered in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills,
Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS.
Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies
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Palgrave® and Macmillan® are registered trademarks in the United States,
the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries.
ISBN 978-1-349-37421-2 ISBN 978-0-230-11925-3 (eBook)
DOI 10.1057/9780230119253
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Children’s Rights and International Development / edited by Myriam
Denov, Richard Maclure, and Kathryn Campbell.
p. cm.
ISBN-13: 978–0–230–60682–1
ISBN-10: 0–230–60682–2
1. Children’s rights—Developing countries—Case studies. I. Denov,
Myriam S., 1970– editor of compilation. II. Maclure, Richard Alexander,
1951– editor of compilation. III. Campbell, Kathryn M. (Kathryn Maria),
1960– editor of compilation. IV. Seneviratne, Dharshini. Home truths.
HQ792.2.C45 2011
323.3(cid:1)52091724—dc22 2010049483
A catalogue record of the book is available from the British Library.
Design by Newgen Imaging Systems (P) Ltd., Chennai, India.
First edition: June 2011
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Contents
List of Figures vii
List of Tables ix
Acknowledgments xi
Introduction 1
Kathryn Campbell, Myriam Denov, Richard Maclure,
and Inbal Solomon
Part I Children and Institutional Care
1 Home Truths: Children’s Rights in Institutional
Care in Sri Lanka 17
Dharshini Seneviratne and Fahmida Mariam
2 Juvenile Justice in São Paulo, Brazil: Violence and
Denied Opportunities 41
John D. McLennan, Fatima D. Rigato, and
Isabel A. S. Bordin
3 Children in Institutional and Alternative Care in Viet Nam:
A Review of Current Policy and Practice 65
Julie Bergeron and Sakiko Tanaka
Part II Child Labor, Violence, and Exploitation
4 Child Laborers in the Bolivian Mining Sector: Exploring
Children’s Experiences and Perspectives 87
Juan Albarracin- Jordan and Thérèse Bouchard
5 Breaking the Silence: The Voices of Girls Forcibly Involved
in Armed Conflict in Angola 109
Vivi Stavrou
vi ● Contents
6 Addressing Youth Violence and Aggression in Colombia:
Examining a Community-W ide Prevention Initiative 129
Luis F. Duque, Michael Ungar, and Beatriz Caicedo
Part III Child Rights, Education, and Participation
7 The Dynamics of Youth Participation: Insights from
Research Fieldwork with Female Youth in Senegal 155
Richard Maclure
8 From Education to Equality? Bolivian Adolescent Males’
Understanding of Gender Equality in the Wake of
Sensitivity Workshops 175
Christine Gervais
Part IV Community-Based Approaches to
Child Rights and Protection
9 The Wayo Program in Northern Uganda: Building on
Traditional Assets in Supporting Acholi Young Women
and Girls in the Context of War and HIV 195
Sheetal Patel, Patricia Spittal, Herbert Muyinda,
Geoffrey Oyat, and Nelson K. Sewankambo
10 Rethinking the Orphan Crisis: Community-B ased
Responses to Orphan Care in Malawi 221
Liam Riley and Esther Lupafya
11 The Fluctuations of Child Worker Support: A Study of
Female Domestic Workers in Senegal 241
Daniel Lavan and Richard Maclure
12 Circles of Care: Community- Based Child Protection
in South Africa 269
Philip Cook and Lesley du Toit
Author Biographies 293
Index 303
Figures
1.1 Gender and sex of gender by province and
type of institution 25
1.2 Ethnicity of children by province 25
1.3 Religion of children by province 26
6.1 MEPAP Program location. Comuna 1,
Medellín. Colombia. Phase One-2001 132
11.1 Organizational structure of the African movement of
working children and youth (showing areas of support
from two EJA program offices) 248
12.1 The developmental rights-based framework 273
Tables
1.1 Number of children by gender in children’s
institutions by province 27
2.1 Characteristics of youth incarcerated in FEBEM
who participated in the study 49
2.2 Adverse life exposures prior to incarceration for
participating youth 50
2.3 Sociodemographic differences between those
interviewed and not- interviewed at 12- month
postrelease 52
4.1 Number of children interviewed in Chima, Chuquini,
and Huanuni 94
4.2 Child residence, working experience, work days per week,
and education level, in Chima (in percentages) 96
4.3 Child residence, working experience, work days per week,
and education level, in Chuquini (in percentages) 98
4.4 Child residence, working experience, work days per week,
and education level, in Huanuni (in percentages) 100
5.1 Demographic profile of 40 formerly abducted
girl soldiers 124
6.1 Features of the COPRAG test amongst the
children participating at Medellín’s Early Violence
Prevention Program (MEPAP). Medellín, Colombia.
2001 and 2004 141
6.2 Odds Ratio (OR) of aggression and academic
performance, before-after (2001–2004) measurements,
according to family adherence to program, and age,
sex, and initial aggression level of children 143
10.1 Descriptive statistics of orphans interviewed in
Malawi, June–July 2007 (n=25) 231
10.2 Primary caregiver (n=25) 231
Acknowledgments
We would like to thank the Canadian International
Development Agency (CIDA) who generously supported
many of the research projects featured in this book, as well
as this book-writing endeavor. Without CIDA’s assistance through the
Child Protection Research Fund, these projects, as well as the comple-
tion of book, would not have been possible.
In 2006, a conference entitled “Children’s Rights and International
Development: Research, Challenges and Change” was held in Ottawa,
Canada, through the support of CIDA. We are grateful to the confer-
ence participants, many of who have written chapters for this book, and
especially to the young people from around the world who participated
in the conference and were involved in the conference’s youth forum.
Their insightful presentations and contributions provided much inspi-
ration for this larger book-writing project. Special thanks go to Inbal
Solomon whose work and commitment to both the Ottawa conference
and to this book were invaluable.
Many individuals provided vital help along the way. We are grateful
to Bree Akesson, Tamsyn Farr, Osnat Fellus, Lindsay Jones, and espe-
cially Ahila Poologaindran for the excellent support and assistance.
Our families have provided much needed laughter and encourage-
ment. We are grateful for the love and support of Craig, André, Léoni,
Sumaya, Sara, and Malaika.
Our deepest thanks and appreciation go to the children whose lives
are featured in the chapters of this edited collection. In the face of great
adversity, these children exude strength and courage and their stories
embody extraordinary resilience and capacity. We are grateful to all of
them for sharing their perspectives and their stories. This book is dedi-
cated to them, and to children like them, who survive, and in some
cases, thrive under unimaginable hardship.
Introduction
Kathryn Campbell, Myriam Denov,
Richard Maclure, and Inbal Solomon
Children1 and young persons the world over require special con-
siderations and protections, due to their limited cognitive, emo-
tional, and social development, as well as their relative lack of
political power. However, a child’s arbitrary place of birth determines
to a great measure the extent to which their basic needs will be met and
their overall rights respected. The so- called North- South hemispheric
divide, where the industrialized North possesses vastly greater access to
resources and power than the developing South (Malone & Hagman,
2002), is nowhere more evident than in the area of children’s rights and
children’s protection. Many children from the developing South face a
myriad of hardships, including, inter alia, poverty, limited basic health
care, illiteracy and restricted educational opportunities, hunger and
malnutrition, abuse, exploitation, and discrimination. In addition, con-
texts of armed conflict and pandemics of diseases such as HIV/AIDS
have greatly contributed to the unraveling of children’s social support
networks and diminished their sense of safety and security. All of these
circumstances, which are invariably shaped by children’s age, gender,
ethnicity, mobility, and socioeconomic status, jeopardize their funda-
mental rights and protections.
The global children’s rights movement, which has struggled to
reduce many of the above-n oted circumstances, has a long history.
Yet, the idea that children can possess and exercise rights is a para-
doxical one, as rights- bearers are more often considered as capable of
mobilizing autonomously to champion their own rights (e.g., women’s
associations, ethnic minorities, and indigenous peoples). Children,
however, are different. Until recently, children were viewed largely
