Abstract
Respect for the dignity of all human beings is the basis of the human rights agenda. (Ennew Prisoners of childhood: orphans and economic dependency. In: Qvortrup J (ed) Studies of modern childhood. Society, agency and culture, Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke, pp. 128–146, 2005)
Judith Ennew was an acknowledged child rights activist and researcher. She was a robustly consistent supporter of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) that she saw as a milestone and key instrument to fulfil children’s rights globally. She worked with her heart, her mind and her hands, in deep respect and solidarity with children ‘out of place’, living their lives on the streets, within institutional care, in communities and more – always with an unbelievable energy and with a clear vision and ambition.
In particular, she was passionate and persistently working to promote child-led advocacy and children’s right to be recognised as active participants in society in various ways. Her work was characterised by a genuine mission of empowering children and young people in different contexts by participatory approaches and child-centred activities in research as well as in political advocacy work. As the quote in the introduction clearly reveals, her focus on this was connected to a commitment and overall aim to promote respect and dignity for all human beings.
Universally, human rights principles are seen as important tools for social change, dignity and justice for children in the world. There is a clear connection between a child rights approach to promote well-being for children worldwide in global politics and key perspectives in interdisciplinary social studies of children and childhood, recognising children as social actors and rights holders from birth and the primacy of children’s lived experiences. The commonalities between perspectives in policies and research make these discourses highly powerful. As researchers, we are therefore obliged to examine the implications for children and their well-being critically.
The aim of this chapter is to discuss child-led advocacy and participation rights connected to the overall aim of promoting recognition and respect for the dignity of children. Based on reading a selection of publications written by Judith, I shall use her texts as a resource to reflect on perspectives and challenges related to the implementation of CRC in different social-cultural contexts today. In deep gratitude for Judith’s contribution to the Norwegian Centre for Child Research, I shall include a short presentation of her work linked to this over a lifetime.
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Kjørholt, A.T. (2017). Children’s Rights to Participation: ‘Out of Place’ or ‘In Context’?. In: Invernizzi, A., Liebel, M., Milne, B., Budde, R. (eds) ‘Children Out of Place’ and Human Rights . Children’s Well-Being: Indicators and Research, vol 15. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-33251-2_10
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