Introduction
Every child needs comprehensive support from the state and society. That is why it is crucial to study and place great emphasis on the protection of the rights of this demographic. This is especially true of providing satisfactory conditions for a good life. In this paper, two scholarly articles on the topic of children’s rights will be analyzed. Their study will help to gain more in-depth knowledge about the rights of minors and determine which of the studies can have a more effective contribution to the development of this area of society.
The first article under research by Kutsar et al. (2019) is called “Does the Realization of Children’s Rights Determine Good Life in 8-Year-Olds’ Perspectives?”. In this paper, the authors compare the rights of juveniles and their realization in eight European countries. The main task is to consider how the established procedures at the legislative level are used in practice since, in many cases, the problem of their reflection is noted.
To understand the topic better, the authors resorted to studying the point of view of the subjects of the rights themselves and their ideas about them. The study examines the relationship between indicators of subjective well-being within the framework of rights and subjective perception of a satisfying and acceptable life (Kutsar et al., 2019). To investigate this aspect, eight-year-old children were involved. The study reveals that the most significant aspects of children’s rights are care and a sense of security (Kutsar et al., 2019). Moreover, participation and non-discrimination, together with other factors, determine a satisfying life in most countries.
The article by Vogt et al. (2016) titled “Human Rights Dimensions of Food, Health and Care in Children’s Homes in Kampala” considers the observance of the rights of minors in Uganda. In this country, the state follows international law to ensure such human rights as adequate nutrition, health care, and protection for the underage part of the population (Vogt et al., 2016). The article pursues two main goals, which are to analyze the attitudes and views of adolescents, especially girls, on topics such as nutrition, health, and care. The second goal is to study whether the conditions organized in orphanages correspond to the basic postulates of legislation on children’s rights.
The selected indicators in children’s organizations varied greatly, and some showed utterly unsatisfactory results. Thus, the authors emphasize the importance of changing the state of affairs in relation to the provision of due care and health in orphanages in Uganda.
Methodological analysis
As already mentioned, the implementation of the rights of minors may not always be supported by successful results in practice. In many countries, some aspects of this legislation are either overlooked or not fully realized, and the focus is only on some of them. Addressing the subject of this right directly can give a large amount of valuable knowledge and will help to form an understanding of the areas suffering the most. In a study by Kumar et al. (2019), a bottom-up approach was implemented using three leading indicators – family, school, and friends. Moreover, researchers emphasize that “the rights of the child enable the child to be seen and heard and to be an active participant in society” (Kumar et al., 2019, p. 5). These indicators were selected as representatives of such fundamental rights of children as protection and participation.
The main problem of modern society is that there is some detachment from the opinion of minors when it comes to their rights. Moreover, when considering this aspect, it is necessary to take into account the social and cultural context since they vary in different countries. The study was based on data obtained during the second wave of the Children’s World: International Child Welfare Review (Kumar et al., 2019). Thus, the paper is a mixed study that used a survey of eight-year-olds as a sample population on the topic of satisfaction with their lives to collect the necessary information. The children evaluated various indicators of a good life, and then the researchers calculated the results.
An interesting aspect of the study is the revision of the chosen bottom-up strategy. The authors note that in the end, the basis of this approach in the paper was built without the participation of children. This reduces the coefficient of the practical component of the study and the prevalence of theoretical data on the problem of nutrition, protection, and care of minors. Another limitation in the scientific work was the choice of three indicators (family, school, friends). Thus, the choice in the study was limited by the variables used in the questionnaire and the type of scale (Kumar et al., 2019). Thus, the authors claim that their work is not a complete reflection of the rights of minors approved by the UN. At the same time, despite such restrictions, the article considers the most valuable components of children’s rights.
The study was also hampered by the fact that minors’ responses did not give an adequate distribution, as they were distorted to the positive extreme. This study cannot be called fully justified because even though it is based on the implementation of several information analysis tools, it does not give a full understanding of the problem. Despite this, if we consider the methodological side of the work, the authors conducted a complete study on the aspects they selected. Moreover, it provides an objective ontology, a positivist epistemology, and an effective quantitative methodology as it ensures the maintenance of an established hypothesis.
Uganda is characterized as a country with a growing birth rate every year. Despite the positive indicator, more and more parents leave their children, and they go to specialized homes for minors. In such institutions, the observance of children’s rights is the main task and goal. However, many sources note that residents of orphanages suffer from a lack of nutrition, guardianship, and protection. Thus, a thorough study of this problem is necessary to improve the situation in the country.
Furthermore, in the article by Vogt et al., special attention is paid to the situation with the provision and observance of the rights of underage girls. This is because, in Uganda, these representatives of society are considered especially valuable since it is important for the state to create a positive trend for infertility and preserve women’s health. At the same time, researchers claim that “more than 65 % of children lack qualified human resources, over 50 % have inadequate childcare provisions, and only 20 % have a child protection policy” (Vogt et al., 2016).
For this reason, many juveniles in the country suffer from a lack of necessary resources and an absence of realization of their rights. As a normative structure, UNICEF’s conceptual framework was implemented. It was used to determine the causes and consequences of malnutrition in specialized institutions for abandoned children. It is noted that the right to adequate nutrition and free access to resources is a critical aspect of the observance of the rights of minors.
The right choice of tools and methods for analyzing information and suggesting practical solutions is of paramount importance. Thus, in order to comply with the normativity of scientific work in this article, the authors chose the use of a human rights-based approach. Vogt et al. (2016, p. 5) highlight that “the human rights principles that guided the study were non-discrimination, participation, empowerment, and human dignity applied to the adolescents as rightsholders.” This is a qualitative study since, in its process, researchers analyzed the focus groups of teenage girls in orphanages. The information that was obtained was based on surveys on nutrition, protection, and care, which were subsequently compared with established standards for the protection of children’s rights in Uganda.
All ethical components were observed since, before starting work, a written agreement was received from the heads of organizations for abandoned children. This study is well-founded and complies with methodological standards, as it took into account all the necessary aspects of its implementation. Moreover, it received extensive and reliable information, as it was based on interaction with direct subjects of law.
As in the previous study, the authors note that it is necessary to directly involve children in the transformation of attitudes and the realization of their rights. Furthermore, the feedback of minors on this topic will help to create more effective ways to solve the problem. However, it is noted that in the course of this study, an insufficient amount of important information on nutrition and eating habits among Ugandan children was found. Hence, the main limitation was the analysis of the adolescent group. Therefore, the authors note the need to involve those who provide childcare services in order to get a complete picture of the problem under study.
Conclusion
Therefore, the realization and establishment of the rights of minors should become the prerogative of all governing and legislative bodies of all countries. It is also worth noting that in this process, parents replacing their faces is of particular importance. However, at the moment, many children remain without proper guardianship and end up in orphanages. In particular, this problem is acute in underdeveloped countries. Therefore, the ever-increasing number of abandoned minors is one of the most pressing problems in Uganda.
The article “Human Rights Dimensions of Food, Health and Care in Children’s Homes in Kampala” by Vogt et al. examines the problem of the non-observance of children’s rights in specialized institutions. The authors emphasize that such aspects as nutrition, care, and protection are the most critical. The effectiveness of this research lies in the fact that it has excellent potential for further scientific work in this field. Methodologically satisfactory, it provides an extensive amount of helpful information that can also be used to develop strategies to change the situation of children’s rights in the country.
Despite the fact that the study “Does the Realization of Children’s Rights Determine Good Life in 8-Year-Olds’ Perspectives?” by Kutsar et al. uses a mixed approach, which can be considered as more successful, it gives way to the work of Vogt et al. This is due to the fact that despite the knowledge gained, scientific work was limited to the selected indicators. However, it cannot be called insufficient, as it shows accurate data on the topic of children’s rights in various countries. A positive aspect of this study can also be considered direct interaction with legal entities. This makes it possible to gain knowledge from the original source and determine the direction vector of the necessary changes.
References
Kutsar, D., Soo, K., Strózik, T., Strózik, D., Grigoraș, B., & Bălțătescu, S. (2019). Does the realisation of children’s rights determine good life in 8-year-olds’ perspectives? A comparison of eight European countries. Child Indicators Research, 12(1), 161-183. Web.
Vogt, L. E., Rukooko, B., Iversen, P. O., & Eide, W. B. (2016). Human rights dimensions of food, health and care in children’s homes in Kampala, Uganda- A qualitative study. BMC International Health and Human Rights, 16(1), 1-15. Web.