A book examining the background, text and potential significance of the Convention.

The book is divided into four sections and 17 chapters. Section 1 is on `The Significance, Background, and Development of the Convention'. Here, Mower identifies four factors as contributing to the Convention's significance; its recognition of the child as a possessor of rights; its character as both a consolidator and innovator; its practical aspect because of `what it could mean in terms of the present and future economic and social health of the world's community'; and finally, `its potential for making a very real impact on the domestic life of its parties'. In Section 2 the author introduces and evaluates some of the key principles and human rights provisions of the Convention. Section Three is an examination of the implementary provisions of the Convention and the work of the Committee on the Rights of the Child, while the focus of Section 4 is on the factors likely to determine the extent to which the Convention's goals for children are realised. Mower identifies several factors, including: at the global level, the role of extra-conventional international agencies; at the domestic level, the policies and practices of national governments and the impact of key segments of the private sector such as the media, professionals and NGOs; and, finally, general conditions and issues that call for responsive action on both the global and domestic level, such as armed conflict, the presence of physical environment and economic factors such as poverty.

Location: Community Law Centre, University of the Western Cape

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