Description:
The widespread global support for children’s rights is reflected in the nearly universal ratification of the U N Convention on the rights of the child. An immense gap exists, however, between the concept of children’s rights and the realities that many children experience. Millions of children are under assault by armed conflicts, prostitution, hunger, poverty and exposure to HIV/AIDS. This paper illuminates the violations of children’s rights that result from armed conflict and examines the opportunities and challenges this situation poses for education. Emergency education is increasingly viewed as a fundamental support for children in contexts of war, but educational interventions face difficult issues such as the presumed universality of human rights, colonial residues and ecological pressures that support violence at multiple levels. Relating these and other issues to the author’s field of experience in assisting war-affected children, the paper situates informal education in critical perspective yet argues that education is an essential tool for protecting children’s rights and building peace.