Children’s Rights in the Asia-Pacific Region: Critical Reflections on Participation, Education, Girls’ Rights and Child Marriage

Abstract

The realisation of children’s rights is a pressing global concern, with millions of children globally experiencing abuse, neglect, exploitation, and discrimination. The United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child urges states to respect, promote and fulfil children’s rights in accordance with the Convention on the Rights of the Child. This paper details insights shared by leading children’s rights advocates at LAWASIA’s webinar, ‘Children and Young People’s Human Rights in Today’s World.’ In this webinar Dr Holly Doel-Mackaway (Children’s Rights Academic and Expert Counsellor, Human Rights Committee, LAWASIA) spoke with three leading children’s rights experts Mikiko Otani (Chair of the Committee on the Rights of the Child), Sharmila Sekaran (Co-Founder of Voice of the Children, Malaysia) and Rukmini Banerji (Chief Executive Officer of Pratham Education Foundation, India) about the status of children’s and young people’s human rights across the world today. Speakers identified key children’s rights challenges facing the Asia-Pacific region including grave violations of girls’ rights, the impacts of growing inequality and poverty on children, children’s participation, child marriage and other forms of abuse and exploitation, education equity and climate justice.