Denna studie beskriver utmaningar för socialt arbete mot barnarbete inom ASM-gruvarbete i Afrika. Detta är gjort genom en strukturerad litteraturöversikt där nio av 192 artiklar valdes ut, vilka tillsammans redovisar en översikt av existerande data. Uppsatsen är ämnad att tematiskt analysera omständigheter kring barnarbete i gruvor i Afrika, och hur förhållandet gällande socialt arbete mellan västerländska och afrikanska länder kan förstås avseende barn som arbetar med mineralbrytning i Afrika. Förhållandet mellan Afrika och västvärlden konkretiseras genom Demokratiska republiken Kongo (DRK) och koboltkedjan. Utgångspunkten för studien är barnkonventionen. Analysen diskuterar vad som behöver tas i beaktning för att uppnå hållbara förändringar. Studiens slutsats är att perspektiv på barnets bästa och barnarbete skiljer sig beroende på social kontext, vilket leder till utmaningar för socialt arbete mot barnarbete. Samarbetet mellan västvärlden och Afrika behöver stärkas än mer för att uppnå hållbar utveckling. / This study depicts challenges in social work against child labour in artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) in sub-Saharan Africa. It is made through a structured review where nine of 192 articles were selected, which together provides an overview of existing data. The paper is aimed to thematically analyze circumstances of child labour in mines in Africa, and how the relationship of social work between Western and African countries can be understood regarding children mining in Africa. The relationship between Africa and the Western world is concretized through the Democratic republic of Congo (DRC) and the cobalt chain. The approach in this article is based on the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The analysis discusses what should be considered to achieve sustainable changes. It concludes perspectives on best interest of the child and child labour differs depending on the social context, leading to challenges for social work against child labour. Greater cooperation between the western world and Africa is needed for sustainable development.

This study examines how well the children’s perspective is taken into account in modern day urban planning, according to professionals within the field. It highlights both positive and negative experiences of the implementation of this perspective, in order to distinguish both flaws and strengths in the current methods. The study shows that some adults still regard children’s ideas as unnecessary, and that this is caused by the misconception that children’s wishes have a tendency to be unrealistic. Despite this image still occurring, there is often a willingness to include the children’s perspective. However, the resources to do so are often lacking, resulting in an unsatisfactory inclusion of children and their thoughts, in favor of more demanding and technical perspectives. Because of this, what is phrased as a children’s perspective is sometimes rather the image of what adults believe the children want, without actually having communicated with them. The analysis furthermore shows that the children’s perspective is often considered only after issues have arisen, when important decisions have already been made. In order to emphasize the importance of the children’s perspective, the UN:s Convention of the Rights of the Child has been acknowledged as a law in Sweden. However, the actualization of UN:s convention into planning procedures is lagging, possibly because it has not been properly adapted for the planning context, and is therefore difficult to apply to real life planning. The Swedish Planning and Building Act (PBL) has however not been adapted to incorporate the values of the UN:s convention in an urban planning context. Even though PBL requires affected parties to be consulted during the planning procedures, children are not mentioned as a specific group and are therefore sometimes forgotten. The study concludes that the planning procedures today do not fully live up to the intentions of the UN:s convention. However, the development seems to be heading in the right direction, even though the change is taking time. / I denna studie undersöks, genom en nulägesanalys, hur väl yrkesverksamma planerare och BKA-konsulter upplever att barnperspektivet tas hänsyn till i dagens samhällsbyggnadsprocesser. Ambitionen är att identifiera god praxis för inkludering av barnperspektivet, genom att lyfta positiva erfarenheter av, och brister i, implementeringen av barnperspektiv i dagens planeringsarbete. Rapporten utforskar vidare till vilken grad det deltagande som sker idag upplevs leda till meningsfull förändring, och vad som kan vara anledningar till att barnperspektiv ibland fastnar i välvilliga ord i lagstiftning och styrdokument snarare än att omsättas i praktiken. Genom att belysa dessa frågor är ambitionen att rapporten ska bidra till en bättre diskussion angående inkludering av barnperspektivet i den fysiska planeringen. Synen på barn och barns deltagande lyfts under studien som problematisk. Det framgår att vissa aktörer i beslutsfattande roller har en förutfattad mening om att arbete med barnperspektiv inte är meningsfullt, eftersom man antar att barnens önskemål kommer vara orealistiska. Detta anges vara en av anledningarna bakom varför diskussioner med barn ibland inte förs, och är en bidragande faktor till att andra perspektiv ofta prioriteras högre. Trots denna bild finns det ofta en vilja att involvera barn i dagens planeringsprocesser, men det saknas i många fall resurser att kunna göra detta fullt ut. Både mer tid och ekonomiska resurser behöver avsättas för att barnperspektivet ska kunna analyseras i tillfredsställande grad. Ett resultat av det ibland otillräckliga arbetet med barnperspektiv är att mycket av det som presenteras som barnperspektiv ofta inte alls är barnens perspektiv, utan istället en bild vad vuxna tror att barnen vill ha, då man aldrig kommunicerat med barnen. En identifierad ofta motarbetande kraft sett till barnperspektivet, är dagens höga ambitioner på bostäder, kombinerat med en kommersiell planprocess, som båda tar fokus från barnperspektivet. Barnperspektivet undersöks ibland inte i tillräcklig grad i standardprojekt, utan ofta kommer ofta först in om och när problem uppstått och viktiga beslut redan fattats. Analysen visar därutöver att barnkonventionens inkorporering i dagens planeringsprocesser ligger efter, trots att barnkonventionen är antagen som svensk lag och därför bör följas. Ett problem med att lyfta in barnkonventionen som lag utan att anpassa den till en planeringskontext är dock att den blir svårapplicerad. Barnkonventionen är i sin natur generellt formulerad, vilket gör att den efter dess inkorporering blir svårtillämpad. Den säger inte så mycket eftersom den varken ställer krav eller mer specifik vägledning i planeringsfrågor. Däremot finns det sedan länge kravställning i PBL som uttrycker att samråd ska ske med berörda parter. Barn som specifik grupp nämns dock inte här och glöms därmed ofta bort, antingen avsiktligt eller omedvetet. Sammanfattningsvis visar studien på att dagens planeringsarbete inte fullt ut lever upp till barnkonventionens intentioner. Trots detta noteras att utvecklingen går i rätt riktning, om än långsamt.

This study explores the challenges that unaccompanied minors face in accessing healthcare, especially mental health services, in Sweden. It uses a qualitative approach with five partici-pants aged 18–25, who were previously unaccompanied minors. Through interviews, the study identifies themes and patterns related to the theoretical framework, incorporating the KASAM theory and transcultural psychiatry, which emphasize self-reflection and cultural factors. The results reveal difficulties such as fear of impacting the asylum process, language barriers, anda lack of knowledge within the healthcare system. The study aims to contribute to understanding and improvements within the healthcare system. Limitations include a focus on Swedish conditions and the age group of 18–25. Suggestions for future research involve exploring wait times for psychiatric care and effectively communicating knowledge about mental health to these children to identify areas for improvement in healthcare. Overall, the study underscores the need to overcome barriers, customize healthcare to individual needs, and enhance understanding of this vulnerable group.

The Convention on the rights of the child (CRC) stipulates a set of rights for all children and declares that all national legislation should be in compliance with the convention. The CRC states that the best interests of the child shall be of primary consideration in all actions concerning children; that every child has the right to protection of their family relations as well as the right to know about its parents. The purpose of this study is to investigate how well does the Swedish regulation of establishing legal parenthood comply with the child’s family oriented rights stipulated by the CRC. The study uses a critical legal dogmatic method and is analysed from a theory of the best interests of the child principle. The result shows that the Swedish law strongly protects the child’s right to know about his/her genetic origin. However, the findings illustrate that the mentioned right is often seen as synonymous for what is best for the child, and therefore leaves no space for questioning other aspects that may affect the child’s well-being. Furthermore the results demonstrate that the Swedish family law mainly protects hetero normative families where none of the parents has changed their legal gender. The further away from this norm that the child’s family is, the more complicated it is to establish legal parenthood and therefor harder to protect the child’s right to its family relations. The paper argues that the Swedish family law hence leaves little space for what could be seen as the best interest of a specific child in a specific context, and by doing so diverges from the CRC which advocates contextually when analysing what is best for the child. The paper concludes that a more flexible law where the best interests of the child can be taken into account in greater extent could secure the rights of the child more effectively.

This study examines how the new temporary law (SFS 2016:752) guarantees the child’s right to mental health; focusing on the asylum-seeking unaccompanied minor. This subject is examined since the Swedish law that regulates migration got reduced to the minimum standards that can be found in the EU and in international conventions when Sweden received 163 000 asylum seekers during 2015. 35 400 of them were unaccompanied minors. This leads to the question if the new regulations jeopardize the child’s right to mental health. To answer that, this study’s theoretical ground that will be used is legal positivism. By practicing a legal-judicial method and law-based sociological method the study follows three questions; 1. What is Sweden bound to guarantee according to the Convention on the Right’s of the child, associated with the mental health of children and the provisions of the temporary law? 2. Does the temporary law constitute grounds for existential uncertainty, and is it thereby violating the child’s right to mental health? 3. What does the situation look like, related to the mental health of asylum-seeking unaccompanied minors? In relation to the Convention on the Right’s of the Child this temporary law, and the impact of it, is examined. In the discussion it is clear that not only article 24 (the child’s right to health) is fundamental to the question of mental health, but several other articles. The result of this study has shown that the temporary law clearly violates the asylum-seeking unaccompanied child’s right to mental health.

The purpose of this essay is to provide an overview of the children's football debate in the Swedish press. The study focuses on highlighting who gets to speak, which means of persuasion are used in the debate and whether there have been changes over time.  In children´s football several significant changes have been implemented since the Convention on the Rights of the Child was ratified in 1990. In part, it has concerned training and guidelines on how to train and play at these ages, as well as rule changes and the introduction of new national forms of play. These changes have been debated in different ways depending on the debater’s/actor’s worldview  The study's theoretical framework is based on the fact that all communication is rhetorical. It is based on rhetorical theory with a focus on the rhetorical situation and the three basic means of persuasion logos, ethos and pathos as well as the concept of doxa. The empirical analysis is based on rhetorical analysis. First, I do a qualitative study of the rhetorical situation and then a qualitative analysis of the forms of appeal. The analysis showed that the writers and actors who spoke up and received the most space in the Swedish press are predominantly men. The most common strategies and means of persuasion are pathos which is balanced by ethos and logos depending on the rhetorical situation. Furthermore, it can be deduced that the debate, with the time for the introduction of the new game forms, has undergone a change. The debates in the later time period have more positive voices, are more informative and fact-based, logos is a more common form of means of persuasion and the articles refer to research and proven experience. / Uppsatsens syfte är att ge en överblick av barnfotbolldebatten i svensk press. Studien fokuserar på att belysa vilka som kommer till tals, vilka övertygelsemedel som används i debatten och om det skett förändringar över tid.  Inom barnfotbollen har flera betydelsefulla förändringar genomförts sedan barnkonventionen ratificerades 1990. Dels har det gällt utbildning och riktlinjer kring hur barn ska träna och spela samt regeländringar och införandet av nya nationella spelformer. Förändringarna har debatterats på olika sätt beroende på vilken världsbild debattören/aktören har av hur barn- och ungdomsfotboll ska spelas.    Studien teoretiska ramverk bygger på att all kommunikation är retorisk och utgår från retorisk teori med fokus på den retoriska situationen och de tre grundläggande övertygelsemedlen logos, ethos och pathos samt begreppet doxa. Den empiriska analysen bygger på retorisk analys. Jag gör för en kvalitativ studie av den retoriska situationen och sedan en kvalitativ analys av appellformerna.   Analysen visade att de skribenter och aktörer som kommit till tals och fått mest utrymme i svensk press är övervägande män. Det vanligaste övertygelsemedlet är pathos som balanseras av ethos och logos beroende på den retoriska situationen.  Vidare går det att utläsa att debatten, efter hand sedan de nya spelformerna infördes, genomgått en förändring. Debatterna i den senare tidsperioden innehåller fler positiva röster och är mer informativa och faktabaserade, övertygelsemedlet logos är mer vanligt och artiklarna hänvisar i större utsträckning till forskning och beprövad erfarenhet.

Under flera decennier har barn fått stå tillbaka när städer har utvecklats utefter andra intressen. Barnkonventionen blev lag i Sverige år 2020 och efterföljdes av allmänna val år 2022. Därmed har det funnits anledning för många kommuner att revidera sina översiktsplaner och vid den revideringen arbeta med barns perspektiv och delaktighet. Frågan om barns perspektiv kan däremot urskiljas vara en utmaning för planerare på kommunerna. Denna studie har därför haft som syfte att undersöka hur kommuner kan arbeta med barns perspektiv i översiktlig planering för att skapa legitimitet för processen. Detta har gjorts genom att undersöka hur tre olika stora kommuner har gått till väga efter sina förutsättningar.  I studien har kommunernas dialograpporter och översiktsplaner studerats samt kompletteras med intervjuer av tjänstepersoner med inblick i processerna. Kommunernas arbete har därefter analyserats utifrån delaktighetsmodeller, olika synsätt på barn, planeringsteorier och en legitimitetsmodell.  Studien har visat att det råder stor skillnad i förutsättningarna för att hantera frågan i de tre undersökta kommunerna. Möjligheterna har varit störst i Göteborg, som märkbart också har haft en längre erfarenhet av att arbeta med frågan. I Lund har förutsättningarna varit något sämre och i Lysekil, som är den minsta av de tre kommunerna, har det funnits andra utmaningar som inte återfunnits i Göteborg och Lund. I Lysekil genomfördes ett arbete med barnkartor i GIS medan i Lund och Göteborg arbetades det främst med workshopar och dialoger för att få tillgång till barnens synpunkter. Slutsatser som kan dras från studien är att de planerande förvaltningarna på de studerade kommunerna har saknat rätt kompetenser för att arbeta med barn vilket har gjort stöttning utifrån vital. Rätt kompetens har antingen kunnat hittas inom andra förvaltningar eller inom andra pedagogiska institutioner inom kommunen. Samtidigt har det visat sig att det varit av stor vikt för att barns synpunkter skulle få genomslag i översiktsplanen, att personer på planavdelningarna varit direkt delaktiga i dialogerna med barn. När arbetet varit transparent, effektivt med återkoppling och översiktsplanen färgats av barns synpunkter har det inneburit en ökad nivå av delaktighet och legitimitet för de delaktiga barnen. Studien visar även att det finns ett syfte att åtminstone försöka driva processer med barns perspektiv då det kan bidra till högre ambitioner och mer kunskap oavsett utfall. / For several decades, children have had to stand back when cities have developed according to the interests of other stakeholders. The Convention on the Rights of the Child became law in Sweden in 2020 and was followed by a general election in 2022, which means that municipalities have had reason to revise their comprehensive plans and include children's perspectives when doing so. Children's participation has however been shown to be something that urban planners find challenging. The objective of this study is to examine the manner in which municipalities can engage with children's perspectives in the context of comprehensive planning and create a legitimate process. To this end, the study will analyse how three municipalities of varying sizes have worked with children's perspectives within their comprehensive plan according to their different conditions. In the study a series of documents, concerning the work of municipalities with children’s perspectives within their comprehensive plan were examined and interviews with officials having insight into the processes were conducted. The work of municipalities has then been analysed based on models of participation, different approaches to children, planning theories and a model of legitimacy. The study indicates a discrepancy in the conditions and knowledge of working with children's perspectives within the comprehensive plan across the three municipalities. The opportunities have been greatest in Gothenburg, which has notably had more experience of working with the issue. In Lund, the conditions have been somewhat poorer. In Lysekil, which is the smallest of the three municipalities, there have been other challenges that were not found in Gothenburg and Lund. Lund and Gothenburg worked with children's perspective through dialogues and workshops, while Lysekil carried out the work by utilising the method children´s maps in GIS.  The findings of the study indicate that municipal planning departments often lack the requisite competence to work with children's perspectives. It can therefore be beneficial to seek support from other municipal departments with the necessary competence to pursue the work. However, the study also demonstrates involving planners in work with children's perspective, as essential to ensure that the children's opinions are taken into account in the plan. It is also shown to be of significance to reconnect with the participating children at a later stage, to elucidate which of their opinions were incorporated and which were not, as well as to provide an explanation for the rationale behind the decision-making process. The study also reveals that children's comprehension of the process and the rationale behind their inclusion is crucial. Furthermore, the study highlights the significance of establishing appropriate boundaries while maintaining a flexible approach. All these aspects are shown to be of utter importance in the work with children’s perspectives, in order to ensure legitimacy in the process and enhance the level of participation. The study also shows that there is a purpose to at least try to run processes with a children's perspective as it can contribute to higher ambitions and more knowledge regardless of the outcome.

Bien que non conçue initialement comme une Convention centrée sur l’enfant, laConvention européenne des droits de l’homme a généré, grâce à l’interprétation dynamique de laCour européenne des droits de l’homme, la jurisprudence la plus abondante de tous les instrumentsde ce type concernant les droits de l’enfant. Disposant d’un espace juridique favorable à uneinterprétation dynamique en vue de protéger les droits de l’enfant, la Cour européenne manque detexte sur lequel elle peut fonder une interprétation favorable aux droits de l’enfant. C’est ainsiqu’elle se réfère principalement à la Convention internationale des droits de l’enfant, l’instrumentde protection spécifique des droits de l’enfant le plus précis et le plus adapté. A travers lamobilisation des dispositions de la Convention internationale des droits de l’enfant et l’intégrationde la notion de l’intérêt supérieur de l’enfant contenue dans cet instrument dans son raisonnement laCour européenne utilise cette Convention comme instrument de construction de sa proprejurisprudence relative à la protection spécifique des droits de l’enfant. Mais si l’intégration de cetteConvention dans le raisonnement de la Cour européenne constitue un facteur d’harmonisation dansla mesure où elle incite les Etats membres du Conseil de l’Europe à mettre en oeuvre ce traitéinternational tout en leur fournissant une interprétation commune de ses dispositions, aucuneuniformité absolue ne s’impose. L’étude de la jurisprudence de la Cour européenne souligne savolonté croissante de faire de la Convention européenne des droits de l’homme un instrumentconventionnel subsidiaire de la protection spécifique des droits de l’enfant. / Although not originally designed as a child-centered Convention, the EuropeanConvention on Human Rights generated through the dynamic interpretation of the European Courtof Human Rights, the most abundant case law of all the instruments of this type on the rights of thechild. With a favorable legal space to protect child’s rights, the European Court lacks a text onwhich it can base an interpretation on. That is why it mainly refers to the Convention on the Rightsof the Child, which is the most detailed and the most suitable Convention for protecting child’srights specifically. Through the mobilization of the UN Convention on child's rights and theintegration of the concept of the best interest of the child contained in this instrument in itsreasoning, the European Court uses this Convention as a tool to construct its own case law on thespecific protection of child’s rights. But if the integration of this Convention in the reasoning of theEuropean Court is a factor of harmonization to the extent that it encourages the Member States ofthe Council of Europe to implement the international treaty while providing a commoninterpretation its provisions, no absolute uniformity is required. The study of the European Court’scase law underlines its growing will to make the European Convention on Human Rights asubsidiary conventional instrument to child’s rights protection.

兒童權利公約施行法自2014年11月20日實施至今已近三年，而依據該施行法之規定，政府已陸續展開國內法令與公約是否牴觸之檢視及以各級政府為對象之兒童權利教育宣導課程等工作，並於2017年11月完成兒童權利公約首次國家報告國際審查，施行法顯然已逐步將公約內涵國內法化而具重要之指標及實質意義。惟公約實踐之關鍵係公約規範能否確實成為檢視國內法律及政策之基準，以及得否為權利遭受侵害之兒少所具體主張；其中國家是否建置相關機制協助兒少行使其權利，確保兒少於未成年之際不因自身能力及發展尚未健全而無法行使其權利，對兒少權利之保障尤為重要。 儘管自2009年以來，除兒童權利公約外，立法院已先後透過施行法將其他四部聯合國人權公約轉換成為國內法律；然針對公約適用之若干核心議題，包括解釋及適用公約時應遵循之原則、公約與國內法律衝突時衍生之法律適用及權利遭受侵害之救濟機制等，皆有待闡釋及釐清。就此，本論文總結英國、德國、法國及美國等四國之實踐經驗而認為儘管公約之落實並「無一放諸四海皆準之方式」（no one right way），但以下公約國內法化之核心問題亟待確立：（一）施行法應明訂公約具直接適用效力條文之優位地位；（二）明確將「公約解釋模式」此一法院於個案審理中最強而有力、最能直接將公約標準導入國內法律體系之工具納入施行法；（三）透過公約解釋性文件資料庫之建置協助司法人員掌握公約規範之精神與內涵；（四）明文要求增修法律前應提出法案影響評估以確保增修內容與公約並未牴觸等，期使國內法制更能順利接軌國際人權公約。 本論文另以兒少被傾聽的權利為例，藉由與法官、律師、社工等17位兒少實務工作者進行深度訪談，彙整推導出兒少被傾聽的權利於司法程序中獲得實質實踐之效果不明（有權利但不一定有救濟）、兒少表意之環境未達「兒少友善」之標準，顯見國內兒少被傾聽權利之落實與公約標準確實存有相當之落差。此外，部分協助兒少行使其被傾聽權利之機制設計未確實掌握兒童權利之內涵、整體兒少司法環境未能以兒少為中心進行調整，以致於相關機制欠缺公約所強調之核心功能，無法使特定弱勢兒少享有與一般兒少同等之權利保障，亦有待補強及改善。。 本論文嘗試由實務面思考兒童權利公約於國內實踐之現況並導引出應更受重視之諸多面向及困境，期待法院及政府各級機關能更廣泛地採行及運用公約之規範及理念，在國內深化落實兒童權利公約之際，對於「兒童權利」精神所在及其可能為兒少所帶來之改變能有進一步之認知及體悟，並以此為基礎，在影響兒少甚鉅之司法及行政事件中建構一個更能鼓勵兒少參與及表達意見之友善環境。 / Following the coming into effect of the “Act to Implement Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC)” on 20 November 2014, the Taiwan Government has adopted various initiatives to implement the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), demonstrating the Act’s steady, yet far-reaching influence in incorporating the CRC into domestic law. In addition to harmonizing national legislation for children with the standards contained within the CRC, it is also of crucial importance for the government to ensure that children whose rights are being violated or disregarded have access to remedies, and that an effective framework is available to children to assist in the exercise and enjoyment of their rights. Despite the fact that the Taiwan Government has promulgated four implementation acts to incorporate international human rights conventions into domestic law since 2009, several fundamental issues remain with regard to the interpretation and application of the convention. Drawing on the experiences of England, Germany, France and the United States, this thesis makes the following observations: (1) the ‘convention-compliant’ approach to legal interpretation is one of the most powerful tools by which convention rights are directly transposed into domestic legal norms and should be expressly provided for in the Act; (2) to resolve potential conflict(s) between domestic law and convention rights, the Act should explicitly state that the CRC shall prevail in cases of inconsistences; (3) the Act should provide for the establishment of a database of interpretative documents issued by United Nations treaty bodies, to aid the practice and understanding of the CRC; and (4) human rights impact assessments should be undertaken before passing any new laws or amendments. The observations in this thesis are also based on in-depth interviews conducted by the researcher with 17 children’s practitioners. Such interviews highlight that not all children enjoy the right to be heard in family proceedings and that there is a gap between law and practice. More specifically, they highlight that “for rights to have meaning, effective remedies must be available to redress violations”; and family proceedings should be more child-centred with child-friendly designs, so that children in such settings can exercise their right to be heard effectively. This thesis also attempts to demonstrate that when mechanisms set up by the government fail to accomplish their legislative purpose and act as a safeguard for children’s rights, it is the more vulnerable groups of children (for example, children in care) who suffer from being denied the same rights as other children.

The law governing children’s rights is part of international human rights law and therefore plays an important role in the protection of human rights. However, the effectiveness of the protection of children’s rights depends on a State’s compliance with children’s rights instruments and the implementation mechanisms within a given State. There are implementation mechanisms for the protection of children’s rights at the national, regional and international levels. The protection of children’s rights at these three levels is provided for by children’s rights instruments. The monitoring of particular implementation mechanisms with regard to children’s rights is effected by reporting processes through State Parties to domestic institutions, regional, and international organisations. The reports provided by States Parties must contain relevant information with regard to measures that States Parties have taken to implement children’s rights instruments. Inadequate implementation mechanisms for the protection of children’s rights have emerged as the greatest threat to the realisation of children’s rights. This means that the adoption of children’s rights instruments may yield results only when effective implementation steps are taken by the respective States Parties. There are four “cornerstone” principles that underpin the protection of children’s rights.1 These are: non-discrimination; the best interest of the child; the right to life, survival and development; and respect for the views of the child.2 This study will evaluate the right to education and the best interests of the child principle as covered in children’s rights instruments at regional and international levels.Education is a powerful tool in ensuring the protection and enjoyment of children’s rights. Therefore, ineffective implementation of the right to education may have adverse consequences for society. The best interest of the child principle is the guiding principle in all matters concerning children’s rights.3 Therefore, the application and effectiveness of the best interests of the child principle will ensure adequate protection of children’s rights. Further, the study will examine the right to education and the best interest of the child in order to demonstrate how the United Nations (UN) and regional human rights instruments have provided for their implementation. Ratification of children’s rights instruments is a symbolic gesture on the part of States Parties to the recognition and significance of protection of children’s rights. The compliance with children rights instruments or treaty obligations is crucial to ensure adequate protection of children’s rights. Thus, non-compliance with treaty obligations will have a negative impact on the protection of children’s rights. The evaluation of the right to education and the best interests of the child principle will be undertaken against the backdrop of children’s rights instruments. The children’s rights instruments are provided for by the United Nations (UN) and regional human rights systems. The dissertation will evaluate the right to education and the best interests of the child principle within three regional systems, namely, the European Union (EU), the Organisation of American States (OAS), and the African Union (AU). It will also examine pertinent case law within the three regional systems. Finally, the efficacy of implementation mechanisms for the enforcement of children’s rights will be assessed. / Public, Constitutional, & International Law / LLM