A Long, Long Journey

Abstract

This article considers the practical implications and effectiveness of a rights-based approach to delivering child protection programming in communities in which notions of children’s rights and child protection concerns may sit awkwardly with pre-existing cultural traditions. It reports on the findings of a qualitative study of child protection practitioners in two poor rural districts of Uganda and uses these to reflect on the key differences between international children’s rights norms as expressed in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and traditional African values as reflected in the African Charter for the Rights and Welfare of Children. It explores the perceived challenges posed by a children’s rights-based approach to parental authority and community practices in the context of the Ugandan legislation and the culture of the study communities and considers the key factors that appear to be influential in enabling changes in attitudes and behaviours towards children.