Question
When one thinks of children’s rights, he or she usually thinks of two forms of rights. One form enables young people to shape their relationship with government. The other form allows young people to shape relationship with their parents (Guggenheim, 2005). Family
rights are based in and shape familial relationships (Connolly &Ward, 2008a, 2008b). Belonging to family members, family rights are similar to children’s rights, in that they can be used to shape relationships with family members and government, with parents and other adult
family members, such as grandparents, and with children (Minow,
1987b, p. 184; for a historical perspective,see Minow, 1987a).
When studying family rights, parents’ rights, and children’s rights, a vast forest of treaties, laws, codes, and other legal measures is found. International human rights treaties are a useful means for seeing the forest for the trees given high levels of their acceptance and impacts on law making, even for non ratifying governments. International treaties can shape policies and laws on family engagement in decision making on child welfare, such as identification of rights belonging to families, parents, and young people
Rights treaties may serve as fundamental building blocks to practices of family engagement (Connolly, 2009). Shared attitudes and beliefs of practitioners will shape whether and how international human rights treaties become part of child welfare decision-making practices.As Connolly (2009) notes,“It is often the professional who provides the statutory context within which” families decide to engage in child welfare decision-making (p. 317). “Law,” including rights, can influence opinions and practices of those engaged in child welfare decision-making (pp. 315–316).Indeed, law can be broadly understood as part of culture, and legal practice as cultural practice (Mezey, 2001; Sarat & Kearns, 1998; Sarat & Simon, 2003).
Rights can influence how people think about family engagement. Rights may be used to prevent participants from trying to sabotage Child Welfare Vol. 90, No. 4 160 family engagement practices (Connolly & Ward, 2008a, p. 171). For instance, rights are useful for making a claim. Young people and their families can claim a right to expression to shape child welfare decision-making. International human rights treaties may highlight aspects of relationships among family members, as well as what participants can expect from child welfare decision-making. Engaging rights in specific instances of child welfare decision-making may lead to awareness of the possibilities of family engagement for other individuals.In this way, practitioners may change people’s conceptions of and use of rights for child welfare decision-making.
What international treaties are relevant to family engagement policies and practices? The International Bill of Human Rights (Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, 2011), which consists of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948), the International Covenant on Economic,Social, and Cultural Rights (ICESCR, 1966), the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR, 1966), and its two Optional Protocols, are important backdrops to human rights. The Universal Declaration (1948, Article 16), which is not binding on national governments, states that the family is “the natural and fundamental group unit of society and is entitled to protection by society and the state.”Parents’rights in the Universal Declaration include the right to have a family and to decide on their child’s education. The Universal Declaration identifies family’s rights, such as to an adequate living standard.The Universal Declaration does not separately provide for children’s rights. Nevertheless, in that children are human, they are entitled to those rights enunciated in the Universal Declaration, which include the rights to privacy (Article 12), to participate in cultural life and scientific progress (Article 27), to information (Article 19), and to express views (Article 19). This declaration does not include some rights, such as the right to representation.
The ICESCR commits ratifying national governments to enforcing rights to education,health, and family life.Article 13 gives a right to parents to decide on their child’s education, but does not enunciate other rights specific to parents.ICESCR’s Article 10 declares the family to be “the natural and fundamental group unit of society.” Lenzer and Gran Child Welfare 161 National governments are expected to offer families protection and assistance, including the right to an adequate standard of living (Article 11). Article 10 obligates national governments to protect young people from exploitation.
The ICCPR obligates national governments to enforce freedoms, such as expressing one’s views (Article 19). Its Article 17 requires national governments to enforce an individual’s right to privacy (Article 17), the right to information (Article 19), and the right to legal assistance in a criminal proceeding (Article 14).The Optional Protocol designates rights of an individual who wants to complain about ICCPR violations.The Second Optional Protocol concentrates on prohibition of the death penalty.Another core human rights treaty is the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Beyond these UN treaties, national governments have formed treaties with governments from their geographic region, such as the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACRWC), the European Convention on the Exercise of Children’s Rights, and the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Convention on Regional Arrangements for the Promotion of Child Welfare in South Asia.These international treaties not only represent commitments made by governments; they are also signals of legal, perhaps moral, expectations (Pogge, 2008; Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2010).
The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) was adopted in 1989 and is often considered the most ratified human rights treaty in the world, with only two national governments not yet ratifying—those of Somalia and the United States. The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, charged with monitoring national efforts to implement the CRC, has published General Comments. The UN Committee insists these General Comments bind ratifying national governments, but because national governments ratified the CRC, not the subsequent General Comments (the first was published in 2001, 12 years after CRC adoption and after all but five national governments had ratified), this study takes the General Comments as only interpretations. Adopted in 1990, 45 national governments out of 53 have ratified the ACRWC. The Child Welfare Vol. 90, No. 4 162 European Convention was open for signature in 1996. In the last 15 years, only 16 members of the Council of Europe have ratified. In contrast to these other treaties, the European Convention seems to have limited purpose of dealing with family matters. Out of eight SAARC members, seven have signed the SAARC convention since 2002.
How can international organization like the World Health Organization(WHO) influence nations and governments?
Write a minimum 2-4 sentences answering the question using evidence from the readings here.
rights are based in and shape familial relationships (Connolly &Ward, 2008a, 2008b). Belonging to family members, family rights are similar to children’s rights, in that they can be used to shape relationships with family members and government, with parents and other adult
family members, such as grandparents, and with children (Minow,
1987b, p. 184; for a historical perspective,see Minow, 1987a).
When studying family rights, parents’ rights, and children’s rights, a vast forest of treaties, laws, codes, and other legal measures is found. International human rights treaties are a useful means for seeing the forest for the trees given high levels of their acceptance and impacts on law making, even for non ratifying governments. International treaties can shape policies and laws on family engagement in decision making on child welfare, such as identification of rights belonging to families, parents, and young people
Rights treaties may serve as fundamental building blocks to practices of family engagement (Connolly, 2009). Shared attitudes and beliefs of practitioners will shape whether and how international human rights treaties become part of child welfare decision-making practices.As Connolly (2009) notes,“It is often the professional who provides the statutory context within which” families decide to engage in child welfare decision-making (p. 317). “Law,” including rights, can influence opinions and practices of those engaged in child welfare decision-making (pp. 315–316).Indeed, law can be broadly understood as part of culture, and legal practice as cultural practice (Mezey, 2001; Sarat & Kearns, 1998; Sarat & Simon, 2003).
Rights can influence how people think about family engagement. Rights may be used to prevent participants from trying to sabotage Child Welfare Vol. 90, No. 4 160 family engagement practices (Connolly & Ward, 2008a, p. 171). For instance, rights are useful for making a claim. Young people and their families can claim a right to expression to shape child welfare decision-making. International human rights treaties may highlight aspects of relationships among family members, as well as what participants can expect from child welfare decision-making. Engaging rights in specific instances of child welfare decision-making may lead to awareness of the possibilities of family engagement for other individuals.In this way, practitioners may change people’s conceptions of and use of rights for child welfare decision-making.
What international treaties are relevant to family engagement policies and practices? The International Bill of Human Rights (Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, 2011), which consists of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948), the International Covenant on Economic,Social, and Cultural Rights (ICESCR, 1966), the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR, 1966), and its two Optional Protocols, are important backdrops to human rights. The Universal Declaration (1948, Article 16), which is not binding on national governments, states that the family is “the natural and fundamental group unit of society and is entitled to protection by society and the state.”Parents’rights in the Universal Declaration include the right to have a family and to decide on their child’s education. The Universal Declaration identifies family’s rights, such as to an adequate living standard.The Universal Declaration does not separately provide for children’s rights. Nevertheless, in that children are human, they are entitled to those rights enunciated in the Universal Declaration, which include the rights to privacy (Article 12), to participate in cultural life and scientific progress (Article 27), to information (Article 19), and to express views (Article 19). This declaration does not include some rights, such as the right to representation.
The ICESCR commits ratifying national governments to enforcing rights to education,health, and family life.Article 13 gives a right to parents to decide on their child’s education, but does not enunciate other rights specific to parents.ICESCR’s Article 10 declares the family to be “the natural and fundamental group unit of society.” Lenzer and Gran Child Welfare 161 National governments are expected to offer families protection and assistance, including the right to an adequate standard of living (Article 11). Article 10 obligates national governments to protect young people from exploitation.
The ICCPR obligates national governments to enforce freedoms, such as expressing one’s views (Article 19). Its Article 17 requires national governments to enforce an individual’s right to privacy (Article 17), the right to information (Article 19), and the right to legal assistance in a criminal proceeding (Article 14).The Optional Protocol designates rights of an individual who wants to complain about ICCPR violations.The Second Optional Protocol concentrates on prohibition of the death penalty.Another core human rights treaty is the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Beyond these UN treaties, national governments have formed treaties with governments from their geographic region, such as the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACRWC), the European Convention on the Exercise of Children’s Rights, and the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Convention on Regional Arrangements for the Promotion of Child Welfare in South Asia.These international treaties not only represent commitments made by governments; they are also signals of legal, perhaps moral, expectations (Pogge, 2008; Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2010).
The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) was adopted in 1989 and is often considered the most ratified human rights treaty in the world, with only two national governments not yet ratifying—those of Somalia and the United States. The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, charged with monitoring national efforts to implement the CRC, has published General Comments. The UN Committee insists these General Comments bind ratifying national governments, but because national governments ratified the CRC, not the subsequent General Comments (the first was published in 2001, 12 years after CRC adoption and after all but five national governments had ratified), this study takes the General Comments as only interpretations. Adopted in 1990, 45 national governments out of 53 have ratified the ACRWC. The Child Welfare Vol. 90, No. 4 162 European Convention was open for signature in 1996. In the last 15 years, only 16 members of the Council of Europe have ratified. In contrast to these other treaties, the European Convention seems to have limited purpose of dealing with family matters. Out of eight SAARC members, seven have signed the SAARC convention since 2002.
How can international organization like the World Health Organization(WHO) influence nations and governments?
Write a minimum 2-4 sentences answering the question using evidence from the readings here.
Answers
GPT-4o mini
International organizations like the World Health Organization (WHO) can influence nations and governments by promoting the incorporation of international human rights treaties into national policies, particularly in areas such as child welfare and family engagement. As established in the readings, international treaties—including those pertinent to children's rights and familial relationships—serve not only as legal frameworks but also as cultural touchstones that shape attitudes and practices among practitioners in child welfare settings (Connolly, 2009). The acceptance and ratification of such treaties signal moral and legal expectations, compelling national governments to align their policies with the commitments laid out in these international obligations, thus fostering recognized rights for families and children (Pogge, 2008; Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2010).