Tel: 251-11-662-8192/96/97/99 Fax: 251-11-662-8200 www.africanchildforum.org www.africanchild.info

The African Child Policy Forum (ACPF) P.O. Box 1179 Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

A Global Conference on Research and Child Rights 30 November – 2 December 2009

Addis Ababa, EthiopiaUNECA Conference Centre

Children’s Rights at a Crossroads

Conference Programme

Monday November 30, 2009

9:00 - 9:50

9:50 - 10:45

10:45 - 11:15

11:15 - 11:45

11:45 - 12:10

12:10 - 12:35

12:35 - 13:00

13:00 -14:00 Lunch Break

Coffee Break

Opening Session

Welcome Addresses

Dr. Assefa Bequele, Executive Director, ACPF

Dr. Irene Rizzini, President, Childwatch International

Dr. David Parker, Deputy Director, UNICEF Innocenti CenterProf. Yanghee Lee, Chair, UNCRC

Address by H.E. Minister Mufrihat Kamil, Ministry of Women’s Affairs

H.E. The Right Honourable Joyce Banda, Vice President of the Republic of Malawi

Children’s Rights and the UN Convention

Prof. Jaap Doek, Former Chair, UNCRC

Research and the UN Study on Violence

Dr. Marta Santos Pais, UN Special Representative on Violence against Children

The Child at the Heart of Policy Making

Mr. Saad Houry, Deputy Executive Director, UNICEF

The Outcome Document: Purposes and Process

14:00 - 17:00 Thematic Round Tables

Health and Nutrition

Education and Early Childhood

Governance and Legislation

Governance and Participation

Poverty and Inequality

Migration and Dislocation

Social Welfare Services

Child Labour

Moderators

Dr. Julie Meeks Gardner, University of West Indies, Jamaica

Mr. Per Egil Mjaavatn, The Norwegian University of Science and Technology

Dr. Milena Grillo, Fundacion Paniamor, Costa Rica

Dr. Roger Hart, City University, New York

Dr. Leif Jensen, The Pennsylvania State University, US

Dr. Stuart Aitken, San Diego State University

Dr. Leila Patel, University of Johannesburg, South Africa

Mr. Frans Röselaers, International Research on Working Children, The Netherlands

Ms. Tincati Carlotta, Overseas Development Institute (ODI)

Note: Afternoon tea/coffee will be served at the Exhibition Concourse on the ground floor from 15:30 - 16:30

Address by the Guest of Honour

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9:00 - 9:40

9:40 - 11:00

11:00 - 11:30

11:30 - 13:00

13:00 - 14:00

14:00 - 15:00

15:00 - 18:00

Lunch Break

Coffee Break

The Child at the Heart of Policy Making

Dr. Agness Akosua Aidoo, Vice-Chair, UNCRC

Mr. Jim Emerson, Deputy CEO, Plan International

Panel Discussion: CRC as a Framework for Research, Policy and Practice

Chair: Ms. Akila Aggoune Belembaogo, Head, UNICEF Liason Office, Special Representative to the African Union (AU) and UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA)

Panelists

Thematic Round Tables

Studies and Models of ResearchPolicy Dialogue

Research as a basis for Monitor-ing and Reporting Systems

Global Economic Policies

Child Research as a National Infrastructure for Child Policies and Practices

Participatory Child Research

Academic Capacity Building

Moderators

Dr. Rob Chaskin, Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago, USA

Mr. Gerardo Sauri, Red por los Derechos de la Infancia en México

Dr. Bettina Silbernagl, Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Technische Zusammenarbeit

Dr. Natalie Bolzan, University of Western Sydney, Australia

Dr. Vishanthie Sewpaul, University of KwaZulu Natal, South Africa

Mr. Yehualashet Mekonen, ACPF

Ms. Shanta Sinha, Chairperson of the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights, India

Dr. Sheila Greene, Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland

H.E. Mrs Clara M. Pulido, Ambassador, Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Cuba

Panel Discussion: Policies for Applied Child Research

Chair: Mr. Robbie Gilligan, Childwatch International

Panelists

Mr. Haktor Helland, Ministry of Children and Equality, Norway

Dr. Julie Meeks Gardner, University of the West Indies

Dr. Lothar Krappmann, UNCRC

Thematic Round Tables (Continued...)Health and Nutrition

Education and Early Childhood

Governance and Legislation

Governance and Participation

Poverty and Inequality

Migration and Dislocation

Moderators

Dr. Julie Meeks Gardner, University of West Indies, Jamaica

Mr. Per Egil Mjaavatn, The Norwegian University of Science and Technology

Dr. Leif Jensen, The Pennsylvania State University, USA

Dr. Stuart Aitken, San Diego State University

Social Welfare Services

Child Labour

Dr. Milena Grillo, Fundacion Paniamor, Costa Rica

Dr. Roger Hart, City University, New York

Dr. Leila Patel, University of Johannesburg, South AfricaMr. Frans Röselaers, International Research on Working Children, The Netherlands

Tuesday December 1, 2009

Mr. Stefan van der Swaluw, International Child Support

Note: Afternoon tea/coffee will be served at the Exhibition Concourse on the ground floor from 15:30 - 16:30

NGOs and Research based Programmes

2

9:00 - 9:20

9:20 - 10:15

10:15 - 10:45

10:45 - 11:45

14:00 - 14:30

14:30 - 16:00

Lunch Break

Coffee Break

The African Charter and Evidence based Policies

Honourable. Ms. Seynabou Ndiaye Diakhate, Chair, The African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child

Gap Minder: Communicating Child Research

Ms. Birgitta Rubenson, Senior Lecturer, Department of Public Health Sciences, KarolinskaInstitute, Stockholm

Comments on Key Recommendations:

Moderator: Mr. Jim Emerson, Deputy CEO, Plan International

Dr. Agness Akosua Aidoo, Vice-Chair, UNCRC

Prof. Andrias Eshete, President, Addis Ababa University

Prof. Rosaline September, Childwatch International

Dr. Assefa Bequele, Executive Director, ACPF

Wednesday December 2, 2009

16:00 Closing

Adv. Bience Gawanas, Commissioner of Social Affairs of the African Commission

Summary of Recommendations

Prof. Jaap Doek, Former Chair, UNCRC

Presentation of Key Recommendations in the Draft Outcome Document

13:00 - 14:00

12:30 - 13:00

11:45 - 12:30 From Research to Policy: New Perspectives and Opportunities

Dr. David Parker, Deputy Director, UNICEF Innocenti Center

Aloys Angelo Fungafunga and Nyabuchwenza Metusela, TAMASHA, TanzaniaSelome Araya, UNICEF EthiopiaNatan Tilahun, Speak Africa, Ethiopia

Doing Research to Influence Policy and Practice - Young People’s Agenda-Presentations byYouth Delegates

Ms. Tincati Carlotta, Overseas Development Institute (ODI)

The Double Invisibility: The Knowledge Deficit and Children in Africa

Dr. Urban Jonsson, The Owls

Mr. Saad Houry, Deputy Executive Director, UNICEF

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The conference is an opportunity to engage all participants in reflection and dialogue for abetter and more relevant knowledge base for future child rights strategies. To facilitate this dialogue, fourteen round tables will be organised. Each round table will have a limited number of short presentations to set the background and direction for the discussions.

The discussions will be summarised and presented in an outcome document that presents clearand specific recommendations to what policy makers, UN agencies, academic institutions, dev-elopment agencies and NGOs should do to promote child rights strategies based on solid evid-ence.

The following Thematic Roundtables will be organised on November 30th 14:00pm – 17:00pm and December 1st 11:00am – 13:00pm:

• Health and Nutrition• Education and Early Childhood• Policies and Legislation• Governance & Participation• Poverty and Inequality• Migration and Dislocation • Child Labour Research and Policy• Social Welfare Services The following Research Policy Roundtables will be organised December 1st 15:00pm – 18:00pm:

• Studies and Models of Research – Policy Dialogue• Research as a Basis for Monitoring and Reporting Systems • Global Economic Policies • Child Research as a National Infrastructure for Child Rights Policies and Practice• Participatory Child Research • Academic Capacity Building

A Global Conference on Research and Child Rights 30 November – 2 December 2009

Round Table Discussions

UNECA Conference Centre

Children’s Rights at a Crossroads

November 30th 14:00pm - 17:00pm and December 1st 11:00am - 13:00pm

Thematic Round Tables

Health and Nutrition Conference Room 2

The round table discussions will be focused on the following questions: How could/should research assist in reducing inequities in health/nutrition? What needs to be researched? What are the key questions? How to link research to fundamental determinants of inequities in child health? How might research influence the key agencies that determine inequity?

Child health and nutrition are inextricably linked to other rights and influenced by many other determinants outside of the health sector: How does research on these two sectors inter-link with, and influence policy in, other sectors? What kinds of research, conceptually, methodologically best inform and shape inter-sectoral policies/ interventions that impact on health? Why has the vast body of research on child health and nutrition not significantly changed child health and nutrition outcomes for children yet? MDGs still pie in sky?

Are there missing areas in current research and what are these?Is it the research-policy link that is not working or is it the inter-sectoral nature of the issues that make it so difficult?

ModeratorUniversity of the West Indies, Jamaica

Owls, TanzaniaTata Institute Mumbai, India Tata Institute Mumbai, India Psychosocial Support and Children’s Rights Resource Center, PhilippinesMinistry of Health, Chile

Urban Jonsson Usha Nayar Anil KumarAgnes Zenaida V. CamachoHelia Molina Milman

Julie Meeks Gardner

Presenters

Evan MboziJacinta KwenaMarta ArangoAnne Trine KjorholtAnne Graham

Save the Children, ZambiaKenyatta University, KenyaCINDE, ColombiaNorwegian Centre for Child Research Southern Cross University, Australia

ModeratorThe Norwegian University of Science and TechnologyPer Egil Mjaavatn

Presenters

Education and Early Childhood Conference Room 3

Group Discussions

Group Discussions

Early Childhood development and education are key factors in the global fight for eradicating poverty and equalization of social inequity. This is also very visible in the UN Convention of the Rights of the Child. This round table wants to address questions like:What are the gaps in our knowledge regarding how to realise the millennium goal of education for all? How can child research contribute to improve early childhood education and early childhood care? How can we make sure that existing relevant knowledge in this area reach practitioners and is used by policymakers andplanners? How could young people contribute to design and accomplishment of child focused research ? Isit possible through research to identify indicators of successful policies in the area of early childhood andeducation? These questions will be addressed globally as well as regionally and perhaps also locally linked to specific countries.

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Jaap DoekNicola TaylorIslay MacTaggartAkila Aggoune Belembaogo

Fundacion Paniamor, Costa Rica

Vrije Universiteit, NetherlandsUniversity of Otago Auckland Centre, New ZealandEthiopian Center for Disability and DevelopmentHead, UNICEF Liason Office, Special Representative to the African Union (AU) and UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA)

Governance & Participation Conference Room 6

Roger Hart

Claire O’KaneJoachim TheisRichard MabalaKaren MaloneKerida McDonald

City University, New York

Save the Children (Sweden), MyanmarUNICEF, West and Central Africa, Dakar, SenegalTAMASHA, TanzaniaUniversity of Wollongong, Australia“Speak Africa” project, Chief, UNICEF Ethiopia

Policies and Legislation Conference Room 5

Moderator

Presenters

Group Discussions

Group Discussions

Building upon the areas of expertise and working contexts of the four participating experts, this round table will address and promote the participation of the audience in debating key dimensions of interaction betweenresearch, legislation and/or public policy drafting and implementation. All of it analysed in the Iight of the CRC provisions and principles. Dimensions to be addressed, per session, are:Monday November 30th:Research and public policy: the right of children to a Human Rights-Based Approach to Programming (HRBAP) by the States. Research and legislation: the right of children to law and justice. Tuesday, December 1st Research, legislation and public policy: major global advances and pending challenges. Research and public policies: the right of disable children to equal opportunities and services. The methodology provides for the audience engaging in a debate dynamic with the panelists, on the basis of the issues raised both by presenters and commentators. Here I would ask participants to illustrate their interventions with their own experiences in linking research, legislation and public policy drafting or imple-mentation. The final part of each session will be devoted to have the panelists and the audience, draw conclusions and recommendations on the issues reviewed, in the light of the greater questions to be add-ressed by the conference: a) How are global political trends challenging the present relationship betweenpolicy making and academic institutions, with a focus on child rights and child research?; b) What is the relationship between the Research-Policy-Practice nexus in the area of children rights?; and c) How does the Research-Policy-Practice interface functions in other relevant sectors, and what lessons can be learnedfor child rights epistemic communities?

The workshop will broadly address research priorities for the governance of children’s rights. It will recognisethe special place that children’s participation offers in the processes of governance but it will also considerthe limits of this. We will outline a set of major research questions related to the mainstreaming and integr-ation of children’s rights across all sectors of government and at all levels of government. The participation of young people in local governance processes has been an important development in the movement to fu-lfill children’s rights, but in most parts of the world cultural attitudes towards children remain unchanged and the majority of children are not recognized as social actors. We will address research related to the need to expand and deepen awareness on children’s citizenship and the rights of children to information, participation, and association. We will outline important research questions on governance with children in all of their everyday institutional settings from the family, through schools, children’s organisations, comm-unity organizations, to local government agencies and beyond. We will also outline a research agenda on the comparison and critical evaluation of structures and processes for children’s participation in formal gov-ernment settings. Finally, we hope to address the challenges of working in participatory ways on children’srights in failed states or regimes.

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Milena GrilloModerator

Presenters

ModeratorStuart Aitken

Norma Alicia Del Río LugoTatek AbebeNicola AnsellHelen SeifuNitsuh MekonnenKidest BelaynehSophia ChanyalewBerihun Mebratie

San Diego State University

Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana, MexicoNorwegian Centre for Child Research Brunel University, United KingdomThe African Child Policy Forum (ACPF)Save the Children Sweden Norwegian Church AidChild Fund EthiopiaAddis Ababa University

Migration and Dislocation Caucus Room 1

This theme builds on the transnational and transformational contexts of child migrants and dislocatedchildren. The group will consider recent research on young people and their places in the global arena andchanges in the way trans-nationalism and citizenship is considered, and how those changes relate to larger issues of globalisation and economic restructuring. The intent is to raise questions worth asking about young people’s political identity, autonomy and rights. This discussion focuses on ethical practices and ‘child-friendly’ methods. Some of the questions raised in yesterdays roundtable discussion will be considered from an ethical, practical and methodological perspec-tive. The group will engage with young people from Addis Ababa as part of their deliberations.

Group Discussions

Presenters

While the words poverty and inequality never appear in the CRC, both are implicated in the problems that children's rights address. This round table seeks to identify and advance needed rights-oriented research on child poverty and inequality. To accomplish this, presentations and discussion will be structured around (1) the centrality of poverty to children's rights, (2) child poverty amidst extreme inequality and other cont-exts, and (3) intra- and inter-generational transmission of poverty. A motivating principle will be to challengeprevailing theoretical and methodological approaches with the hope of breaking new ground.

ModeratorThe Pennsylvania State University, USALeif Jensen

PresentersMichael BourdillonJo BoydenTassew WoldehannaIrene RizziniKebede KassaFrancis Dodoo

University of Zimbabwe Young Lives, United KingdomAddis Ababa University, EthiopiaThe Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro, BrazilAU Commission, EthiopiaThe Pennsylvania State University, USA

Poverty and Inequality Caucus Room 11

Group Discussions

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Hugh HindmanAnna KassoufRavi SrivastavaPeter Dorman

International Research on Working Children, Netherlands

Appalachian State University, USAUniversity of Sao Paulo, BrazilJawaharlal Nehru University, DelhiEvergreen State College, Olympia/ILO, Geneva

Child Labour Research and Policy Caucus Room 6

How can child labour research contribute to scaling up and accelerating the drive to eliminate child labour, byintegrating child labour in a framework of broader policy goals, namely poverty reduction, education for all and improved social protection? In particular, what does past and present child labour research point to for arriving at a more holistic approach to addressing child labour? How can the issue of child labour be addressed in conjunction with health and/or education initiatives that are also looking for novel and unconventional financing formulas?In addition, the panel is invited to deal with the challenges to: fill the gaps in covering uncharted areas, especially those relating to the worst forms of child labour; improve data collection and analysis; use research networks, communities of practice and partnerships; strengthen the Research – Policy – Practice interface.

Group Discussions

ModeratorFrans Röselaers

Social Welfare Services Large Briefing Room

Jeanette SchmidRobbie GilliganRose SeptemberRoger PearsonAbye Tassew

University of Johannesburg, South Africa

SwitzerlandTrinity College, IrelandUniversity of the Western Cape, South AfricaUNICEF, EthiopiaUniversity of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

A few broad areas for future research to inform social policies and social welfare services for children may beidentified. (1) research to address the current global realities and its impact on social policies and social welfare services in general and for children in particular is limited. (2) there is also a critical need to learn fromcountries in the Global South about what their realities and challenges are in giving effect to the Convention of the Rights of the Child and to identifying appropriate welfare service modalities suited to these contexts. This is important as the world’s poorest and most vulnerable children live in the developing world. (3) the gendered nature of welfare services and the gender dynamics that underlie social welfare service provision remains under-researched. (4) we know little about what works and what does not work in the delivery of welfare services for children. For instance, there is scope for evaluation studies of large high impact social protection programmes that are beginning to play a vital role in the reduction of child poverty. Finally, how might governments work collaboratively with civil society, communities, family/households and the privatesector to structure institutional arrangements that could harness the potential of all the partners whilst mitigating the risks that may flow from such arrangements?

Group Discussions

ModeratorLeila Patel

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Presenters

Presenters

Research as a Basis for Monitoring and Reporting Systems Conference Room 5

December 1st 15:00pm - 18:00pm

Research Policy Round Tables

Studies and Models of Research – Policy Dialogue

The purpose of this roundtable is to examine key challenges and successful strategies for engaging in and with research in ways that can lead to positive impacts on policies and practices affecting children. In part-icular, two major themes will be explored. The first concerns issues of context and capacity that influence the ways that research can effectively inform policy and practice (and vice versa). The second concerns relational strategies, alliance building, and methods of engagement between researchers, research users, and other key stakeholders. The roundtable will be an opportunity for interaction, discussion, and problem-solving among researchers, policymakers, advocates, civil-society actors, and other sponsors and users of research working in very different social, political, and cultural contexts around the world.

Sheila GreeneIrene Rizzini Nermeen MuradRukmini BanerjiCaitlin PorterDalia Ben Rabi

Chapin Hall, University of Chicago, USA

Trinity College, IrelandCIESPI (Brazil)King Hussein Foundation, JordanPratham, IndiaSave the Children, United KingdomJDC-Meyer-Brookdale Institute Israel

Group Discussions

Gerardo Sauri

Elisabeth Backe-HansenKatharine Hall

Red por los Derechos de la Infancia en México

Norwegian Social ResearchUniversity of Cape Town, South Africa

Moderator

Presenters

Rob ChaskinModerator

Presenters

Group Discussions

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On the frame of the 20th Anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, it is important to take into consideration some of the general comments issued by the Committee to the States parties. Amongthe most outstanding observations are those related with the enhancement and promotion of adequate mechanisms for monitoring the status and fulfillment of the rights of child among the adherent countriesto the Convention.

Therefore, the discussion of this roundtable will be focused on how different regions around the world have successfully achieved the implementation of these mechanisms. Each participant will be talking about his own experience with a unique purpose of promoting among the attendants the application of a system that gives a better documentation on the rights of child. The importance of this system is that it is created with reliable information that will permit policy-makers formulate public policies that better suit the needs of children and that guarantee the full enjoyment of their rights.

Conference Room 3

Participatory Child Research Caucus Room 1

Lance EmersonRosaline SeptemberJan Falloon Alice Mapenzi Kubo

ARACY, AustraliaUniversity of the Western Cape, South AfricaUniversity of Western Sydney, Australia Child Helpline International

Caucus Room 11Child Research as a National Infrastructure for Child Rights Policies and Practice

To successfully develop and implement child rights policies in a given country, a high-quality national data base on children is required. However, often data bases are non-existent or inadequate. Consequently, a better collaboration between those gathering the data and those developing the policies is needed. Through expert inputs from Europe (Sozialberichterstattung) and the South (Ghana, Uganda), the Round Table provi-des insights into current good practices whilst exploring the needs in countries where data bases on children are insufficient. In doing so, the group jointly and in a participatory manner identifies main impediments butalso opportunities for linking research to policy and practice.

Betty Akuffo-AmoabengBritt KallaLothar KrappmannTanja Betz

Consultant, Ghana Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische ZusammenarbeitUN CRC Committee, Germany German Youth Institute

The presentation and discussions will focus on the following questions: What are the tensions between policy makers, practitioners and researchers around child participatory research and recommendations following from it? What are some ways of resolving these tensions between policymakers practitioners and researchers? To what extent is the promoting of child participatory research consistent with various value frames and the agendas of agencies implementing research and its findings. If we are to involve children and young people in the research and policy process, how do we do this in a way which takes account of the adult-child power imbalance built into all policymaking?

ModeratorDeutsche Gesellschaft für Technische ZusammenarbeitBettina Silbernagl

Presenters

Group Discussions

ModeratorUniversity of Western Sydney, AustraliaNatalie Bolzan

Presenters

Group Discussions 9

Global Economic Policies Conference Room 6

African Center for General and Social Development, Ethiopia

UNICEF has formulated the importance of discussing economic policies in a child rights context in the follo-wing way:“The current global economic crisis threatens to undo many of the world’s recent gains in child survival and well-being. Countries on track to meet the Millennium Development Goals could fall behind, while those that were struggling to advance could be left even worse off. The crisis threatens both the resources of families as well as national budgets, creating serious challenges to the fulfillment of children’s and women’s rights. Thiscreates not only an immediate emergency for today’s children, but also presents a risk of impoverishing fut-ure generations. Past crises have shown the degree to which children are vulnerable to economic recessions, as they can be removed from school to work or care for family or suffer under-nutrition as food becomes more scarce. These situations, even if only temporary, can often have a permanent impact on a child’s development and future potential.”

ModeratorInternational Child SupportStefan van der Swaluw

Presenters

Group Discussions

Monique Rakotomala

Academic Capacity Building Large Briefing Room

Lena DominelliIngrid OsthusSven Trygged

Durham University, United KingdomUniversity of KwaZulu Natal, South AfricaUniversity of Stockholm, Sweden

The key issues that this session will focus on are: "Access to research data and publishing"; "Career building for young researchers"; "Child research methodologies"; "Ethical Standards in doing research concerning chi-ldren" and "Academic partnerships and mentoring". While there is a place for the quantitative method in childresearch especially in relation to its power to influence policy and programme formulation, planning and imp-lementation, questions are raised about the logical-positivist paradigm that generally underscores the method. Based on a case study, the incorporation of participatory approaches within the quantitative method is demo-nstrated. Recognition of the relative disadvantages of the quantitative method allows for a greater apprecia-tion of the value of triangulation, incorporating a range of qualitative methods. Within this framework, critical social research designed for emancipatory and transformational purposes is a preferred option in doing rese-arch with children. This is consistent with ethical imperatives in doing research involving children. While not eschewing conventional ethical research requirements, the need for heightened reflexivity and a possible rev-iew of some of the conventional ethical requirements might be necessary in relation to research with childrenin oppressed, excluded and vulnerable positions. The session does not only speak to how young researchers might be supported, but demonstrates this by the inclusion of a young researcher - an undergraduate student – as a key presenter in this session. The relationship between mentors/supervisors and young researchers is critical to career building, as are considerations of access to information and resources, and ensuring inclusi-vity of minority groups especially women, people of colour, and those from the global South. Academic partne-rships and mentoring are invaluable strategies to build research capacity; they provide fertile spaces for acro-ss contexts research and opportunities to access wider data sources and to broaden networks and possibilit-ies to get published. This is especially so where lack of communication networks might preclude some rese-archers from developing countries from accessing research data.

ModeratorUniversity of KwaZulu Natal, South AfricaVishanthie Sewpaul

Presenters

Group Discussions 10