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Child rights additional information

Description

Through litigation, legislative work, materials development, training, and lobbying, the Child Rights Project seeks to ensure that the human rights of one of the nation’s most vulnerable groups, namely children, are respected. Juvenile justice, sexual exploitation of children, child labour, street children, foster care and adoption are only a few of the areas that the project specializes in. Since children are inevitably affected by their living environment, for example, the project also deals with issues such as domestic violence, housing, and education. The project helped draft the Child Care Amendment Act B/99, which provided a definition of "secure care" and empowered the Minister of Social Development to create and maintain such facilities. The project also developed training manuals on children and the law, and performed advocacy work and presentations. The project in its initial stage focused on networking with NGO’s, government departments and Community Based Organisations that deal primarily with child rights issues. The project has had success in establishing relationships with organisations that deal with child rights issues on grassroots levels. Nesira Singh is the Co-ordinator of the Child Rights Project. Recent Developments: Whilst the project addresses issues of child justice, it is now more focused on policy matters that affect children who are orphaned or vulnerable. It is apparent that there has been an increase in child headed households, or children orphaned due to the effects of HIV/Aids. The child rights project has researched the legal framework for children and is working in collaboration with regional government officers in KwaZulu Natal. As the number of children who are orphaned due to the effects of HIV increases, it has become apparent that our legal system does not protect children adequately. Our Constitution states in Section 28 (2), that the rights of a child are of paramount importance. Although this is true, there are still large numbers of children who do not have their rights adequately protected. The Child Care Act, No 74 of 1983, makes no mention of children who are heading households, but rather provides for children who are found in need of care and provides for the placement of children in foster care or in adoption. The Children’s Act and the Children’s Amendment Bill is likely to address some of these shortcomings. The Child Rights Project is part of the Children In Distress Network [CINDI]. The project has partnered with other CINDI members to form the Child Advocacy Project [CAP]. The goal of this project is to enable children and their families and caregivers infected/affected by HIV/AIDS in the Greater Pietermaritzburg area to access their rights. It is also part of the Child Justice Alliance, which places the adoption of the Child Justice Bill high on its agenda.

Objectives

The Child Rights Project evolved out of LHR's Applied Criminal Justice Project (established in 1991) and is based at LHR's Pietermaritzburg Office. to=nesira [at] lhr [dot] org [dot] za">Nesira Singh is the assistant co-ordinator of the Child Rights Project.

Initially, the Child Rights Project was funded by the National Association of Child Care Workers (NACCW), to research and make recommendations to protect the rights of vulnerable children. An intersectoral collaborative document was drafted and forwarded to Heads of Departments in KwaZulu Natal for comment in May 2003. This document makes reference to the Children’s Bill, takes into account the present legal system, but also makes suggestions for change.

Children are a particularly vulnerable group. They are the only group of persons who are denied the vote, and often need the assistance of adults to realise their rights.

We have a unique opportunity in South Africa. Soon after he became President, Nelson Mandela publicly committed the government to improving the situation of children, and this positive political will was confirmed on 16 June 1995 when South Africa ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC).

This was a major step, as the Convention not only provides a "blue-print" for children's rights protection, but is binding on South Africa. South Africa has also ratified the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child.


The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child has indicated that the report-backs required of State parties to the Convention can be written jointly by government or NGOs, or where applicable, by NGOs separately from government. This makes the independent monitoring of child rights on the ground of crucial importance. Furthermore, this is a role which LHR is able to play particularly well.

We have a Constitution which, at section 28, sets out children's rights expressly. However, in order for these paper rights to become a reality, a great deal of developmental work needs to be done. Lawyers for Human Rights plays an important role in pushing the boundaries of these rights forward by bringing legal actions or filing amicus curiae briefs before the Constitutional Court calling for the most liberal interpretation of the Constitution. In addition, through the provision of legal assistance to children whose rights are being infringed at LHR, we contribute towards turning "paper rights" into "living rights".

Lawyers for Human Rights has chosen to look particularly at the legal and civil rights of the following groups of children in difficult circumstances:

  • homeless children

  • child labourers

  • refugee and migrant children

  • disabled children

  • child victims of abuse

  • child offenders

The aims of the project in relation to each group of children outlined above are guided by internationally accepted standards, taking into account the particular history of South Africa, and seek to address imbalances which occur along racial and gender lines.

The modus operandi is by way of specific, goal oriented projects with a service delivery aspect of the work and some direct legal services being offered to children and their families or communities.

Activities undertaken by the Child Rights Project include:

  • gathering of information and statistics

  • promotion of effective service delivery, together with other role players (including the State)

  • consciousness-raising through the media and active lobbying of authorities

  • the development of proposals for reform, and

  • identification of test cases which entrench the rights of children

History

The Child Rights Project of LHR was established in 1995 by Ann Skelton and a team of dedicated human rights activists. Originally, the Child Rights Project began as the Juvenile Justice section of the Applied Criminal Justice Project. That project dealt with a range of criminal justice issues, but one of them was juvenile justice. From 1992 LHR ran a Juvenile Justice Project in the Pietermaritzburg court, and then later extended it to the Umtata court. The project continued in its work slowly incorporating the Durban Magistrates Court and the Johannesburg Court. The purpose of the project was to monitor and report on the process and access that juveniles received in court. It was the success of these Juvenile Justice Projects that got LHR increasingly involved in children's rights policy, hence the idea to discontinue the Applied Criminal Justice Project and to create a specific Child Rights Project.

Through its work with children in conflict with the law, the project made headway with children and with the Child Justice Bill. The Child Justice Bill looks at the rights of children taking into account restorative justice practices.  For a synopsis on the Child Justice Bill prepared by the Centre for Child Law at the University of Pretoria, ADD LINK HERE: CJB%20synopsis%20from%20Centre%20for%20Child%20Law.pdf click here.

The project is part of the Child Justice Alliance, which places the adoption of the Child Justice Bill high on its agenda.