The Rights of the Child
Conference on the Rights of the Child
April 8, 2008
Baker Courtroom
On April 8, the student International Human Rights Organization at UND will be sponsoring its first annual event on campus -- a conference on the Rights of the Child.
The Convention on the Rights of the Child was the first legally binding international instrument to incorporate the full range of human rights protections—civil, cultural, economic, political and social. The leaders of the world decided that children needed a special convention just for them. People under eighteen years of age often need special care and protection that adults do not. It is critical that the world recognize children have human rights too. Nearly every country in the United Nations has signed and ratified the convention. The United States has not.
That is unfortunate because the stakes are so high. Every year, thousands of innocent children are the targets and victims of numerous human rights abuses: slavery; starvation; murder; conscription -- the problems are endless. But they must be discussed, solutions must be proposed, and action must be taken.
To illuminate the issues of children’s human rights, the Conference will bring together on campus five experts on the issues of children’s human rights. These speakers will grapple with some of the problems mentioned above. They will provide a wide range of experience and information through both individual presentations and a panel discussion.
Schedule - in pdf format
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10:00 a.m. Child Protection Challenges in Southern Sudan: David Pimentel Assistant Professor, Florida Coastal School of Law |
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1:00 p.m. Slavery: It didn’t end with the Civil War: Patrick Atkinson Founder and Executive Director of the God’s Child Project |
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2:00 p.m. Child Soldiers: How Should the Law Treat Victim-Perpetrators? Assistant Professor, University of North Dakota School of Law |
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3:00 p.m. The War Crime of Child Recruitment Joseph Rikhof Senior Counsel, Crimes Against Humanity & War Crimes, |
4:00 p.m. Human Rights of Children – Questions and Answers |
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6:00 p.m. The Welfare of Children in Indian Country Adjunct Professor, University of North Dakota School of Law |
All events will be held in Baker Courtroom at the UND School of Law.
Refreshments will be served at each event.
