Searching for a Middle Ground in Children's Rights in Ghana

Abstract

The universality versus relativity debate has dominated the children's rights discourse from its earliest days. It has particularly intensified since the adoption of the Convention on the Rights of the Child by the UN General Assembly in 1989. While acknowledging the validity of both arguments the key point underpinning this article is that the universality–relativity dichotomy does not help us to achieve children's rights or protect children on the ground. The reality of children's lives, in fact, illustrates that there is, indeed, a middle ground in which people live their lives, which needs to be better reflected in the discourse on children's rights. While discussions have started to move in this direction, these have been held at a rather abstract and theoretical level. Therefore, there is a need for more empirical data to demonstrate the various ways in which a middle ground can be identified in children's lives. Hence, this article aims to contribute to the current discourse by using empirical evidence, collected from two local communities in Ghana, to explore the concrete ways we can move beyond the debate relating to the universality and relativity of children's rights and to engage with children's local realities within the context of their families and communities. It is hoped that this will enable us to identify a middle ground that may facilitate dialogue on children's rights with local communities particularly within an African context.