

151

Building Partnerships with Academia
to Further Child Rights in Higher
Education in South Asia
Save the Children SwedenT

he emergence of a rights-based approach to development in recent years hasbrought a massive change in the perspective and work of organizations in
the development sector. The convergence of 'rights' - mostly used by humanrights practitioners - and 'participation' - mainly used by development organizations
to empower people - has given legitimacy to both players. The human rights actors
increasingly understand the relevance of 'participation' to further and safeguard therights of the marginalized in particular and society in general. The development
practitioners, too, are increasingly adopting human rights instruments in furthering and giving legitimacy to their work. This partnership has created numerous
gateways for thinking, creating new policies and programs and developing innovative approaches. However, for some the 'rights-based approach' is confusing andrequires demystification.

some of these advances and gaps, while giving
impetus to the movement for children's rights.
Many international development agencies, including the UN, recognize the importance ofthe rights-based approach and aim to integrate
it into their work. In addition, this change hascreated a new meaning of the word 'development'.
Simultaneously, it has led to a shift in theperception of children 'becoming' human beings
to 'active social beings'. Children's views andconcerns about their own rights have increasingly come to the forefront of the development
community.
In 1989, UN adopted the Convention on

The Emerging Trend: Rights-based
Approach and Child Rights
The language of the rights-based approachto development is the language of claim, entitlement and legitimacy. When applied to children,
it challenges our traditional and comfortableconceptualization of young people and theirroles in society and national development. The
resulting changes in development paradigms,
change ways in which we perceive children.
The rights-based approach advances children's
rights, but brings in new challenges. The Global
Movement for Children and the United Nations(UN) Special Session on Children highlighted

151

152  HUMAN RIGHTS EDUCATION IN ASIAN SCHOOLS

the Rights of the Child (CRC), which has been
ratified by almost all the countries, except USA
and Somalia.1
The CRC highlights the need for safeguarding and promoting the rights of the child. It
clearly spells out, the roles of different duty
bearers to reach the goals it has set out. It callson the different duty bearers to recognize andintegrate child rights in their work.

Rationale: The Role of Academia
Acceptance of any subject in the realm ofpeople's life and its importance depends a lot
on how the important social institutions accept
and internalize it in their functioning. Academia
is one such social institution, which needs to bebrought into the loop to make child rights a reality. Academia not only helps in setting a course
but also in developing a discourse, that generates dialogue in the society. Save the Children
Sweden, which has experience of over eight andhalf decades in working for the development ofchildren (established in 1919), recognizes Academia as an important duty bearer to promote
and protect the rights of children. It perceives
academia as an important player in addressing
the emerging issues in the children's rights sector. Moreover, academia is the vital link between
theory and practice of child rights. It plays acentral role, in preparing a new generation of
professionals with a clear understanding of childrights and its application.
However, despite a paradigm shift in approaches to children and childhood, child rights
is yet to emerge as a discourse in the academic
arena in South Asia. Issues relating to childrights have not been adequately integrated invarious disciplines.
Therefore, there is a need to bring academia
and the practitioners on one platform, for along-term partnership towards actualization ofchild rights.
Save the Children Sweden is working toadvance Child Rights Programming (CRP) in

South and Central Asia, which involves building
a constituency in and strategic partnerships withthe academic institutions in South Asia. In thisendeavor, the organizations realize the importance of the strategic link between academia andpractitioners, to increase professional capacityand expertise in the implementation of CRP.
Lessons from the larger development movement
and from the women's movement, in particular,
clearly demonstrate that a partnership between
academia and activism can result in a wider success, both in terms of civil society participation
and acceptance in academic discourse.
Save the Children Sweden, Regional Officefor South and Central Asia aims to build such apartnership between the academia of South Asiaand practitioners. However, in the region, there
are presently very few universities or academic
institutions that offer a comprehensive coursein child rights. Moreover, many academics with
degrees from western universities have been
investing in South Asia for research and/or practical experience in the course of their studies,but unfortunately, majority of them return to
the west once they have completed assignments
here. Few of them partner with South Asianuniversities to further child rights as an academic
discourse mainly as there are limited universities
offering child rights courses in the region.
Recognizing the importance of linking academia with the child rights movement, Save theChildren Sweden, Regional Office for Southand Central Asia, in 2004 started a process of
consultation and building partnership with theacademic institutions of the region (Bangladesh,
India and Nepal). This was done with a view
to develop child rights as a subject of academic
discourse.

Reflections and Limitations
It is important to mention that Save theChildren Sweden sees itself only as a facilitating organization in this process. We are stilllearning and we do not claim that this work is

Partnerships with Academia for Child Rights Education  153

conclusive. We must admit that we have only
taken few steps. We do not intend to makeclaims but do endorse the need to work moreclosely with academia on child rights, to create
a long-term human resource capacitated in childrights in the region.

Process Followed
CRP has taught us to work to build alarger constituency of child rights advocates andpractitioners. Further, we think it is imperative
to have a partnership with the academia. We
plan to work with the media, corporates andreligious leaders in the near future to harness
similar and interlinked partnerships. Save theChildren Sweden's work on capacity building
in application of Child Rights Programmingand development of a programming tool of
CRP, over the last four to five years led to avery conscious learning. This is that Save theChildren Sweden cannot go on for the next few
years running capacity building workshops at
the regional and country level. We were compelled to think beyond the conventional wayof running training programs. Many country
level experts mentioned the need for a morestrategic and a long-term plan. In September
2002, when many Save the Children colleagues
came together to prepare a regional strategy on
CRP the need to strengthen alliance with theacademia was mentioned. The first discussion
to work on this began in January 2003, but it
did not find much support.
Later, in 2004, a regional mapping was undertaken with an objective to explore academic
interest on child rights in the region. This wasreceived with much enthusiasm and support
from eminent academicians in the region andbeyond. The rest is history…
It is not the first time that efforts to linkwith academia and child rights have been made.
We do not make any claims to be the pioneer
as we feel that Save the Children Sweden is a
catalyst and a galvanizing force to work withlike-minded organizations to bring forward achild rights discourse in the region.

I. Consultation with NGOs
Prior to embarking on the work with academia, Save the Children Sweden invested inconsultation with development organizationsin the region. The objective was to understandthe need of the organizations in terms of human resource capacity and the supply chain of
professionals, who wish to work on child rights
issues. During these consultations, it came out
very clearly that most of the professionals build
their perspective during their professional work,as their academic background does not provide
sufficient insights on child rights as required by
the sector.

II. Assessment Study of Key Institutes
Save the Children Sweden, Regional Office for South and Central Asia began a threemonth-long consultation process in 2004 withkey academic institutions in the region.2 Before
starting the consultation, a concept paper wasdeveloped and sent to all the key academicians
to get their feedback. In order to get first handreactions, meetings were organized with therepresentatives and heads of departments ofthese institutions and the relevance of the issue
was explained. In addition, they were oriented
as to how Save the Children views this new
partnership. From the beginning, Save theChildren Sweden made its stand clear to theacademic fraternity that the initiative is notfunding driven, rather it looks at academia as
an important duty bearer in strengthening childrights movement in South Asia. The entire
consultation process lasted for two and halfmonths. During the period, various meetings
were held and the researcher personally went
to meet them. The curriculum of the various
courses and programs offered at Masters andBachelors degree levels were reviewed to understand the present positioning of child rights. The

154  HUMAN RIGHTS EDUCATION IN ASIAN SCHOOLS

concerned faculty members were interviewed
as to ways the papers are approached and dealt
with in the classroom.
The discussion with the academicians mainly
revolved around following key issues:• The emergence of a child rights based approach and the role and response of theacademic sector.
• The need to talk about child rights, its importance in academia and how the academic
sector perceives it.
• Challenges before academia with regard tochild rights.
• Possibilities of incorporating child rights at
various levels of courses and programs.
• Market response to such courses and programs.
Response from Bangladesh
The response of the academic sector was very
encouraging from all three countries, but at thesame time, they were different.
In Bangladesh, the possibility of startinga separate program was very remote as mostof the academicians felt that they have to takeprior approval of the University Grant Commission. This is due to the fact that initiating a
program has both financial and human resource
implications. Another concern expressed by
the academicians is the emergence of private
universities in the country that are now offering
more market-oriented courses and programs
like MBA, engineering etc. In such a scenario,
who will be the takers of a program such as
child rights? At the same time, they expressed
the need of integrating child rights in higher
education and making it a discourse.
Academicians from anthropology and sociology, in particular, expressed the need forunderstanding the concept of 'childhood' froma South Asian context.
They voiced their regret at not being able tooffer a comprehensive understanding of childhood by any South Asian researcher.
In terms of contribution, the academic
fraternity has a lot to offer. However, they feltthat the possibilities of launching a separate
program at the moment are very slim but childrights could be offered as a subject (and canbe elective paper) at Bachelors and Masters
level.
Response from India
Consultations in India took place mainlywith Social Work Departments who are alreadyconversant with the development language.
Therefore, the responses from all the institutes
and academicians were encouraging. Social
Work and Development Studies are establishedprofessions in the country and faculty membersof these departments are aware of recent changes
taking place in the development sector. During
discussions with faculty members of Social
Work colleges, various opportunities were explored. Some of the viable options to integrate
and/or introduce child rights suggested by thevarious departments were as follows:• Integrate child rights in the existing curriculum at Bachelors and Masters level•	Launch a certificate program of three sixmonths on child rights•	Launch a post graduate diploma in childrights.
Discussions were held on who will be thestudents for such courses. The opinions varied,
but one common thread was that everyone felt
the need to understand development from achild-rights-based approach in the curriculum.
In recent years, the Government of India has encouraged the universities to start self-financing
programs, provided the courses and programs
meet the requirements set by the University
Grant Commission of India.
The universities in India have the authority
to introduce any program, as they do not require
any prior permission from UGC if government
finance is not involved. This new flexibility infunctioning helped in the discussions and almost
all the colleges and universities showed their
willingness to join the endeavor.

Partnerships with Academia for Child Rights Education  155

Response from Nepal
Although Nepal is the hub of many of international non-governmental organizations)(NGOs) and UN agencies, 'development' as
a subject of academic discourse does not have
any recognition here. In recent years, one of
the leading colleges3 of the country has starteda Bachelors Programme in Social Work Education. Therefore, the college became the first
choice for pursuing this agenda. The responseof the college was very encouraging, but the affiliating University did not show much intereston the issue. However, to begin with, the concerned Department in Xavier's College agreed tointegrate child rights in the existing curriculumof Bachelors in Social Work Program. In addition, the Department agreed to initiate a Child
Rights Resource Centre for the use of students,
researchers and practitioners.

III. Consultation with University Grant
Commission
In South Asian countries4 the universities
and colleges are managed and controlled by the
University Grant Commission (UGC), whichis created by the respective governments under
the aegis of Ministry of Education. The role of
UGC is to regulate funding, monitor the functioning of the universities, set guidelines, framemechanisms and provide affiliation and accreditation to the various courses and programs. In
countries where the consultations took place,higher education is subsidized and the government, through the UGC, gives financial support to the universities and colleges. The UGCprovides guidelines and frames policies for theeffective implementation of the government's
education policies. In addition, it recommends
to the governments to introduce new courses
and programs to meet the growing and changing requirements of the academic sector. In
view of its strategic importance in furtheringchild rights in higher education, meetings wereorganized with the members and others senior
officials of UGC. The agenda of the meeting

was to orient them of the need for child rights
courses in higher education and to explore ways
in which the government can come on board tofurther this work. The purpose of such meetings was also to garner the support of UGC andprepare a long-term strategy to lobby with thegovernment of respective countries to introduce
various courses and programs in child rights.
Since child rights is a very new stream in theacademic arena of South Asia, its acceptanceby the academia is going to be difficult. Save
the Children Sweden, in the entire process of
its work, recognized that dialogue with all the
stakeholders is necessary for its acceptance. The
entire approach of Save the Children Sweden is
to look at academia as a duty bearer. Therefore,
it became very crucial to sensitize and mobilize
the policy makers to accept child rights as a
subject of academic discourse by bringing it
into the national curriculum.

IV. Convergence and Capacity Building
Another important approach Save the Children Sweden adopted is to bring likeminded
academicians on to one platform, where they
can meet practitioners and develop synergy
of approach, ideas, perspective and methods.
Save the Children Sweden recognizes thissynergy as an important link to bridge the gap
and demystify some of the myths associatedwith this new convergence and to dispel someof the confusions and fears both stakeholders expressed during the consultations. The
convergence was important from a regional
perspective as it provided an opportunity foracademicians of the region to come together andshare their thoughts and learn from each other's
experiences. From Save the Children Sweden's
perspective, this was an opportunity to orient
them on Child Rights Programming Approachand to discuss in detail the perspective of Save
the Children Sweden on linking child rights
with academia of the region.

156  HUMAN RIGHTS EDUCATION IN ASIAN SCHOOLS

Furthering Child Rights in Higher Education
in South Asia
Towards a Child Rights Discourse

Consultation with NGOs

Assessment Study of
Key Academic Institutions

Four Dimensions Approach
Save the Children Sweden recognizes theneed for building the capacity of the academia
on child rights issues. Child rights is a growing sector in the region and there is not one
definition or approach for working on this issue. Hence, it became very important for Save
the Children to build their capacities on theapproaches and framework that it uses. Someof the important issues on which the academia
was capacitated are:
•		Childhood - definition, concept and childhood in South Asia
•		Right based approach to development•		International human rights instruments,
with a special focus on CRC•		CRC principles, structure and reporting
mechanisms•		Child Rights Programming, survival anddevelopment, best interest of the child,participation, non-discrimination and accountability•		Tools for application of child rights in programs•		Role of academia, challenges, areas to work
further, andConvergence andCapacity Building

Working with
University Grant
Commission•		Integrating child rights in thematic sectors
namely education, child protection, emergencies, etc.
This long endeavor resulted in some very
important partnerships with academicians of theregion. The outcomes are enumerated below:

Bangladesh
Integration of child rights in present curriculum
The Department of Anthropology at Jahangirnagar University, Savar has taken the initiativeof undertaking research on the subject at M.Philand PhD levels. In addition, it has introduced
a paper at the Masters level on child rights.
National Open University, Dhaka, which runs
programs in correspondence courses, has integrated child rights in the Masters Programmein the Department of Sociology.
Establishment of Child Rights Resource
CentreThe Department of Anthropology has established a Child Rights Resource Centre in
the University.

Partnerships with Academia for Child Rights Education  157

National Seminar on Furthering Child
RightsThe Department of Anthropology, Jahangirnagar in collaboration with Save the Children
Sweden organized a two-day seminar on childrights and allied themes. University faculty fromvarious departments and universities acrossBangladesh, practitioners and activists participated in the seminar. More than eight papers
were presented on various themes related tochild rights.

India
Post Graduate Diploma in Child Rights:
Department of Social Work, Jamia Millia
Islamia, New Delhi
The Department of Social Work, Jamia Millia Islamia, a central university located in New
Delhi, has launched the first Post Graduate
Child Rights Diploma in the region, which ispresently offered as a part time course for one
year. The course has received immense recognition within the sector and people from diverse
backgrounds have shown their willingness tobe part of it. The course has received a very encouraging response and applicants from various
backgrounds have applied for admission.
The profiles of the present batch of students
are extremely diverse. Medical practitioners,
lawyers, research scholars, trained and professional social workers and journalists have got
admission in the program.
South Asia Regional Seminar on FurtheringChild Rights in Higher Education: Opportunities and Challenges
Save the Children Sweden, Regional Officefor South and Central Asia, along with Department of Social Work, Jamia Millia Islamia, New
Delhi; Save the Children Canada, Asia Regional
Office and University Grant Commission, India
organised the first South Asia Regional Seminaron Furthering Child Rights in Higher Education– Opportunities and Challenges during 28-29
March 2006 in Delhi.

Nepal
Establishment of a Child Rights Resource
CenterXavier's College in Nepal in collaboration
with Save the Children Sweden has also established a Child Rights Resource Center. The
Center is now used by students, researchers andpractitioners. The Center is the first of its kindin the country.
Integration of Child Rights in the present
Curriculum
In Nepal, Xavier's College and KadambariCollege have included Child Rights5 as a paper
at Bachelors and Masters level.

Challenges and Learnings
Continuous dialogue is pivotal for accepting
new concepts. It also helps in bridging the gap
and dispelling mistrust. It helps to bring people
on one platform and promotes crossfertilizationof ideas.
Working with the academia in the region ischallenging, as the way the academia is perceived
in the region is very different from other parts of
the world. Academia has its own understanding,explanation and perspective about child rightsthat may not match with the approach of the
field-based organizations. Bridging this gap isalways challenging.
Making the curriculum relevant and in tune
with the demand of the sector is very crucial.
An analysis of the courses being offered is very
necessary. At the same time, the regional andnational perspectives must be reflected in the
curriculum.
In the development of curriculum it isimportant that discussions take place between
the academicians and practitioners. There is aneed to facilitate a closer interaction between
academia and NGOs working to promote childrights.
Understanding the administrative proce-158  HUMAN RIGHTS EDUCATION IN ASIAN SCHOOLS

dure of the universities is crucial in furtheringchild rights. The universities and colleges are
regulated by the University Grant Commission(UGC) in the countries, and convincing the
UGC for such a program is difficult. Understanding bureaucratic procedure of the education department is important for the success ofsuch initiatives.
Building the capacity of the academic sector is very challenging. It is very important todevelop methodology that is non-threatening and factors in the understanding of theacademia. The key is to build on the existingknowledge base of academia and explore ways
to create more knowledge from practice. In
short, knowledge creates practice and practicecreates knowledge.
Another challenge was to decide at the scaleat which the program should be developed andspread. Expectations are very high and fulfillingsuch expectation is difficult at times.
Working closely with children's organizations and bringing them as resource persons willbe crucial to students' learning. There is a needto promote children as social actors and citizens
who are taking action to bring social change.
Partnership with Save the Children Canada,
Asia Regional Office in India, Save the Children
Sweden-Denmark in Bangladesh, Save the Children Norway in Nepal has been important to get
support from other Save the Children Alliancemembers to forward child rights knowledge
base in the region. We are hoping that Save
the Children in Sri Lanka will join the work intheir new Country Strategic Plan Period starting 2007.
Finally, the biggest challenge is to ensurethat this does not become a funding driven
process, rather that the academia takes on more
responsibility to self- finance or cofinance thisinitiative. They key is to make it accessible andaffordable for more and more professionals fromvarious walks of life.
Given our experience and learning in thiswork, Save the Children Sweden foresees thenext steps as follows:

A high level of commitment in the higher
education policy is essential
The need to influence government's higher
education policy to promote child rights as a
discourse is the key for the long-term sustainability of this initiative. Efforts will be made towork with SAARC (South Asian Association for
Regional Cooperation) on regional academic
meetings on child rights with education ministers and UGC heads.
A regional steering group complimented
by a county steering group on child rights
discourse
The need to create a sustainable regional
structure and the country's self-governed
structure will be crucial. This needs to be led
by academia, child rights organizations andchildren's bodies.
Promotion of child rights research - towards
a discourse
More South Asia research on child rights
through M.Phil and Ph.D programs will contribute to the creation of a child rights discourse.
This needs to be encouraged in all professions
that affect a child, namely, medicine, law, education, sociology, psychology, business, army,
media, social work, sociology, etc.
Child Rights Study Centers
The Department of Social Work, Jamia Millia Islamia, is exploring the establishment of aChild Rights Study Centre. The purpose of thecenter will be to build a center that undertakes
research, develops paradigms and discourses,
advocates for policy change, and does budget
analysis. Similar initiative has been planned for
Dhaka in Jahangirnagar University.

Way Ahead - Future Plan
Emerging partnership with Tata Institute of Social Science and National Law
School, India

Partnerships with Academia for Child Rights Education  159

Tata Institute of Social Science (TISS), a
deemed University based in Mumbai, in collaboration with National Law School, Bangalore is in the process of starting a program
on child rights. Save the Children Sweden is
expected to provide technical support to run
this program, including the capacity buildingof the faculty members.

Furthering child rights in higher education in Sri Lanka, India, Pakistan and
Afghanistan
Recently, Sri Lanka has also come on board.
National Institute for Social Development in
Colombo, the only Social Work institute in the
country that gives an academic degree in Social
Work, has asked for technical support to include
child rights in the course offered by them.

Including children and young people as
resource person
The next phase is to include children andyoung people as resource persons in these institutes, so that students undergoing the childrights program can have first hand experienceof the issues and experiences of children.

Creating close ties with Child Rights Education for Professionals (CRED-PRO)6
The need to link with International Child
Rights Education Professional Network will be
important to bring a new dimension and more
so for building a global child rights discourse.

Linkages with other Save the Children
Sweden regional initiatives on work withacademia
The need to link with the Latin American
network and the European network on childrights and academia will be the key for enabling
cross fertilization.

Linkage with corporate sector and otherinstitutions
It is crucial to find allies in the corporate
sector. The link could be through Corporate
Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives in theregion. The need to mainstream child rights
discourse in media studies will be significant in
the future. There is already an interest from theregional studies centers to spread knowledge
and training on child rights.

Distance Education Program
There has been a mammoth interest fromcolleagues in the field to enrol in a distanceprogram on child rights, which adds to their
qualification and knowledge. Interest fromother regions of the world, in distance education
has come from East Asia, Middle East, Europe
and Africa.

References
Anne Trine Kjørholt. 2005. Child Research Towards
2015: A global scenario. Norway: Child Watch
International,
Key
Institutions
Assembly,
Norwegian Centre for Child Research, Norwegian
University of Science and Technology.
Celestine Nyamu-Musembi and Andrea Cornwall.
2004. What is the "rights-based approach" all about?
Perspectives from International Development Agencies,IDS Working Paper 234.
Claire O Kane. 2003. Children and Young people
as Citizens: Partners for social change. Save theChildren, South and Central Asia.
Joachim Theis. 2004. Promoting Right Based Approaches,
Experience and Ideas from Asia and Pacific. Save theChildren Sweden.
Save the Children. 2002. Child Rights Programming:
How to apply rights based approach in programming.
Save the Children.
Vijendra Rao and Michael. 2004. (eds.) Culture andPublic Action. Stanford: Walton Stanford Social
Sciences, an imprint of Stanford University Press.

160  HUMAN RIGHTS EDUCATION IN ASIAN SCHOOLS

Endnotes

ANNEX A1
See the list of countries that have signed andratified the CRC in the website of the Office of theUnited Nations High Commissioner for Human
Rights (OHCHR), http://www2.ohchr.org/english/
bodies/ratification/11.htm (accessed 12 May 2008).
2
Bangladesh: Department of Development
Studies, Department of Peace and Conflict, Facultyof Law, University of Dhaka; Department of
Anthropology, Jahangirnagar University, Savar, Dhaka;
University Grant Commission, Bangladesh
India: Department of Social Work, Jamia Millia
Islamia, New Delhi; Department of Social Work,
University of Delhi; Tata Institute of Social Science,
Mumbai; Nirmala Niketan College of Social Work,
Mumbai; Xavier's Institute of Social Science, Ranchi;
University Grant Commission, India
Nepal: Xavier's College Kathmandu, Kathmandu
University.
3
Department of Social Work, Xavier's College,
Kathmandu.
4
Bangladesh, India and Nepal.
5
See Annex C.
6Child Rights Education for Professionals(CRED-PRO) is an international initiative, endorsedby the United Nations Committee on the Rights of theChild, to develop educational programs on the humanrights of children for professionals working with andfor children. The goal is to provide the tools throughwhich professionals can better understand, appreciate,
apply and respect the principles and standards of the
CRC in their day-to-day practice, as well as policy andresearch, in order to improve the development andquality of life of children. See www.uvic.ca/iicrd formore details.

Syllabus for Diploma in Child Rights,
Department of Social Work,
Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi
Paper: I

Children and Society
This paper will forward core concepts ofchild rights that stem from understanding thediversity of childhoods, child development andlife stages of girls and boys from an 'evolving
capacity' approach. In addition, it will establish
the need to understand the impact of socialization though social institutions on the lives ofgirls and boys including society per se.
Unit I:a. 		Child and childhood: concept and definitionb. 		Stages of Child Development: infancy, childhood, preadolescence, adolescence, young
adulthoodc. 		Developmental Needs of Children: the Life
Cycle Approach: physical, social, emotionaland cognitived. 		Socialization: concept, development of self,internalisation of social norms
Unit II:a. 		Adolescence and Young Adulthood: earlyand late adolescenceb. 		Needs of Adolescents: physical, emotional,
cognitive and socialc. 		Problems in growing up: tension between
self and society, developing a mature value
system, making career and life style choices,developing mature gender rolesd. 		Life Skills, Adjustment and Maladjustment
Unit III:a. 		Role of family, school, peer group, mass
media in socialization

Partnerships with Academia for Child Rights Education  161

b. Social Stratification and differentiation (religion, caste, gender, etc.)
c. Power and Society: meaning of power, power
and prestige, authority, power as balancing
factor, patriarchy and hegemonic forms ofmasculinities
d. Key ethical issues concerning children
Paper: II

Situational analysis of children in South
Asia
This paper will bring forth the realities ofgirls and boys living in India in particular andSouth Asia in general. The need for improved
and diversity-friendly data and analysis will beemphasized in this paper. Key principles of childrights such as accountability, non-discriminationand participation will be introduced. Important
policies, laws and acts related to children will be
introduced as well.
Unit I:a. 		Demographic Profile: rural, urban, genderand age disaggregatedb. 		Profile of children in difficult circumstances,vulnerable children, children requiring careand protection: child labor, street children,
disability, juvenile justice, substance abuse,child abuse, HIV/AIDSc. 		Communal conflicts, natural disasters, internal and external displacement, indigenous
groupsd. 		Children- physical environment, education,
health, etc.
Unit II:a. 		Constitutional provisions and major national
policies in India: child welfare policy, health,education, labor policies, etc.
b. 		Devadasi Act, Indecent Representation of
Women Act, Indian Penal Code (IPC), Immoral Trafficking Prevention Act (ITPA),
Juvenile Justice Act (JJA), Young Persons
Harmful Publications Act

c. Child Labour Act, Factories Act, Mines Act,
Shops and Establishment Act, Apprentices
Act, Plantation Labour Act, Children's Act
1974
d. Governance issues, accountability, transparency
Unit III:a. Issues of vulnerability, protection, survival
and developmentb. Core principles regarding children: accountability, child participation, equality andinclusionc. Process of policy formulation: steps andstagesd. Influencing policy and reform-role of civilsociety
Paper: III

Rights-based approach and human rights
instruments in South Asia
This paper will introduce students to thecore concepts of a human-rights-based approachto development with special focus on childrights. The most crucial element of the application of child rights from a child-rights-based
approach will be elaborated. The students willlearn about key human rights instruments that
affect the lives of girls and boys.
Unit I:a. 		Historical evolution of the concept of rights,
from welfare to entitlementb. 		Freedom struggles and national movements- India, South Asiac. 		Development of the Rights Based Approachd. Principles of Human Rights: universality
and inalienability, indivisibility, interdependence and inter-relatedness, equality andnon-discrimination, participation and inclusion, accountability and rule of law.
Unit II:a. International Declarations and Conven-162  HUMAN RIGHTS EDUCATION IN ASIAN SCHOOLS

tions:
		International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination(ICERD), International Covenant on
Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), International Covenant on Civil andPolitical Rights (ICCPR), Convention on
the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), Convention
Against Torture and other Cruel, Inhumanor Degrading Treatment or Punishment(CAT), Convention on the Rights of Persons
with Disabilities (not yet in force)b. 		Convention on the Rights of the Child(CRC)
c. 		The Millennium Development Goalsd. 		Role of international and non-state dutybearers
Unit III:a. 		The Rights Based Approach (RBA) : civil
and political rights and economic, social andcultural rightsb. 		Components of the Rights Based Approach:linkage to rights, accountability, empowerment, participation, non-discrimination andattention to vulnerable groupsc. 		Legislative basis of the RBAd. 		Apparatus for rights
Paper: IV

Methods of working with children andparticipatory working skills
This paper will provide an in-Department
understanding of skills, tools, techniques andmethods for working with girls and boys in various settings. The paper will discuss the conceptsof case management, group formation and community organization. The working methods forboth adults and children will be compared.
Unit I: Working with children (one-to-one)a. 		Case work, counseling and psychotherapyb. 		Working with children in need of care andprotection - victims of abuse, trafficking,disastersc. 		Rational Emotive Therapy, Family Therapyd. 		Behavior modification, crisis intervention
Unit II: Working with Groupsa. 		Stages of group developmentb. 		Group dynamics, types of groups (conceptsof children's organizations and child-led
initiatives)c. 		Techniques: group discussion, group therapyd. 		Gestalt Therapy, Transactional Analysis
Unit III: Participatory Community Worka. 		Community work, concept and principles
b. 		Strategies of community work, neighborhood development, systemsc. 		Concept of participation, the RRA-PRAPLA1 continuumd. 		Tools of working with children: child-tochild, consulting with children, children andcreative media
Paper: V

Research Methods, Monitoring and
Evaluation
This paper will teach the students core concepts of research methodology. It will acquaintstudents on ethical guidelines and practices
for working with children on research. Somecreative examples on participatory research will
be covered as well.
Unit I:a. Research: process and types: exploratory andexperimental
b. Research with children, ethical issues, gaps,
priorities
c. Child participation in research, issues andareas of involvementd. Conventional and participatory researche. Analyzing children's voices and actionPartnerships with Academia for Child Rights Education  163

Unit II:a. Hypothesis: importance and types, and typesof research designb. Determining objectives and sampling,types
c. Tools of data collection: observation, interview schedule, Focus Group Discussion(FGD), peer researchd. Data processing, analysis and report writing
Unit III:a. Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E): conceptb. Process and impact monitoring, outcome
mapping, global impact monitoringc. Process and summative evaluationd. Designing a participatory M&E frameworkwith tools of self monitoring, participatory
impact monitoring
Paper: VI

Program Management
This paper will pull the learning from otherpapers into practical ways of working in programs and projects for furthering child rights.
The students will be introduced to the verypractical tools such as checklists, guidelines,
tools kits in Child Rights Programming.
Unit I:a. Child Rights Programming: concept anddefinitionb. Principles of Child Rights Programmingc. Child Rights Programming Tools and theirapplicationd. Rights Based organizational development, organizational management and institutional
developmente. Program model approach: goal, purpose,
input and output.
Unit II:a. Rights Based Project Cycle, steps

b. Situational Analysis: steps, sources of information, problems and objective treec. Causality Analysis: Immediate and root
causes; gender and power analysis
d. Duty-bearers Analysis : need and process
Unit III:
a. Child-rights-based project proposal (checklist
on writing, reviewing, etc.)b. Project appraisal : social, technical and financial
c. Means and costs
d. Time Line and Gantt Charte. Role of project manager in project management.
Paper: VII

Networking and Advocacy
This paper will emphasize the need for networking and use of advocacy for realizing childrights. Children's involvement and participationin these advocacy processes is essential to ensure that they are recognized, empowered andstrengthened as rights-holders and appropriate
child-friendly measures are taken. Children need
to be recognized as partners in the decisionmaking and follow-up process.
Unit I:a. Networks and networking: purpose of networking
b. Power of networks for realizing child rights
c. Models of networks: Fishing Net, Spiders
Web, Pyramid, and Cluster, Web-based
networking
d. Challenges and sustainability of networks
and networking
Unit II:a. Advocacy: strategic planning for advocacy
and community-centered advocacy
b. Issue Life Cycle characteristics and advocacy
actionsc. Designing outreach strategies and advocacy

164  HUMAN RIGHTS EDUCATION IN ASIAN SCHOOLS

coalitions, partnerships and networking
d. Media advocacy and lobbying
Unit III:a. Promoting children's participation and organizations-guiding principles (child-led
advocacy)b. Key movements for Child Rights: Bandhua
Mukti Morcha, Bal Panchayats, Bal Brigades
c. Other innovations and experiments - ChildLine
d. Knowledge management: relevance of networking and advocacy
Paper: VIII

Analytical Field Study
The analytical field study shall be conductedduring Semester II. Students shall select one of
the Field Projects in Advocacy and Rights Based
Movements with children as active partners to
conduct the in-depth analytical study. The key
focus of this study will be to:• Conduct a situational analysis of the issue• Examine critically the existing interventionsof the movement• Identify rights-based intervention in the areaand delineate suggestions for project andpolicy interventions.
Anthropology 504: Child Rights
Children constitute the most ignored andleast understood segment of many developing
societies. In this course, an attempt is made to
problematize child rights as discourse within
the broad context of human rights and development. Emergence of child rights as a discourse,
importance of child rights, its relation with development as well as rules and regulation, thatare in force both nationally and internationallywill be addressed. This course has been designed
as a general course to give the students a good
grasp of the various issues related to child rights.
This will help them become sensitive to childrights issues.

Contents
a. Child Rights from Historical Perspectives:Emergence of child rights as a development
discourse; locating child rights in a historicalperspective; child rights as part of humandevelopment; cross-cultural perspectives ofchild rights.
b. Different Facets of Child Rights: Childrights and human rights; universality andinalienability; equality and non-discrimination; participation and inclusion; accountability and rule of law; children as rights
holders and social actors; the adult-childinterface; cultural dimensions.
c. The Context of Development of Childhood: The context of development of childhood in different societies; different models
socio-cultural construction of childhood;politics of childhood.
d. Laws and Regulations on Child Rights:
Convention on the Rights of the Child;different conventions and laws; a review ofthese laws and regulations.
e. Violation of Child Rights: Types of violation; violence against children; different
forms of child exploitation: sexual abuse,child labor both domestic and industrial;child trafficking and its implication; examples of violation: Bangladesh, India and
Nepal.
f. State of Children: Situational analysis ofchildren in South Asia.

Partnerships with Academia for Child Rights Education  165

ANNEX B
Paper on Child Rightsb.

Department of Anthropology
Jahangirnagar University, Bangladesh
Total length of the sessions: 30 Hours
Number of sessions: 15 of 2 hours each
Unit 1:
Concept of Childhood (2 hrs)
• Childhood: 45 minutes• Childhood and the principle paradigmsof childhood: 45 minutes• The paradigm shift in childhood: 30 minutes.
Unit II:
Human Rights and Child Rights:(2 Hrs + 2 Hrs)
a. Evolution of Rights• Rights and needs• The Universal Declaration of Human
Rights: 45 minutes• Evolution and linkages with otherrights: 45 minutes• The need for a separate convention forchildren: 30 minutes.
b. International conventions on children• CRC: the history and processes: 30
minutes• Structure of CRC: 20 minutes• The principles of CRC: 45 minutes• The reporting mechanism: 25 minutes.

a.

Unit III:Child Participation(2hrs + 2hrs + 2hrs =6 hrs)•

Understanding children as social actor:
30 minutes• Understanding children's views: 60
minutes• Hegemonic domination, embodimentc.

and symbolic power: 30 minutes.
•

Concept of children's participation: 30
minutes• Definition of children's participation
and relevance to CRC: 60 minutes• Meaningful participation of children:
30 minutes•

The practice standard, ethical obligation (non-discrimination and accountability): 120 minutes

166  HUMAN RIGHTS EDUCATION IN ASIAN SCHOOLSANNEX C
Paper on Chid Rights•

Masters in Social Work, Xavier's College,
Nepal

•
•

Unit IV:
The principle of non-discrimination (4 hrs)
Discrimination - its forms and modalities
in the society: 30 minutes• Socialization of discrimination and its intergenerational perpetuation: 25 minutes• The concept of non-discrimination and
CRC: 25 minutes• Combating discrimination: 40 minutes

•

•
•
•
•

Unit V:
Principles of Accountability (4 hrs)
Meaning of accountability: 20 minutes
CRC and accountability: 15 minutes
Reasons and factors of non-accountablestructure: 25 minutes
Ways and means to strengthen the accountability structure: 60 minutes

Unit VI:
Child Protection (2 hrs)
• Issues, forms and magnitude of rights violation: 30 minutes• Definition and scope of child protection: 30
minutes• Strengthening structure and mechanism forprotecting children from rights violation: 60
minutes•••••

Unit VII:
Child Rights in Nepal (4 hrs)
Children and education
Children and healthChildren and violenceChildren and environment
Children and community development
Unit VIII:
Applying the Principles of Child Rights

•
•
•
•

(6 hrs)Child Rights Programming (CRP) approach: 60 minutes
The concept and definition
Principles of CRP and its application: 35
minutes
Means and ways to apply CRP: 60 minutes
Addressing the immediate and underlying
causes:Setting rights-based goal, Setting priority
Addressing then power structure
Multi-sectoral and coordinated approach

Endnotes

1
RRA - Rapid Rural Appraisal; PRA - Participatory
Rural Appraisal; PLA - Participatory Learning andAction.