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Keywords

CRC, Independent Children's Human Rights Institutions, State Compliance, Decentralization, Two-way Translations of Human Rights

Abstract

Independent children’s human rights institutions (ICHRIs) developed rapidly worldwide over the last three decades. Their implementation was aided by the adoption of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), the diffusion of participatory practices, and the growth of children’s rights advocacy. In addition, ICHRIs are supported by the emergence and subsequent consolidation of children’s rights studies as a field within academia, and the increase of political will to further develop evidence-based policies dedicated to children. This article will explore the positioning of ICHRIs between the local and the global, especially regarding trends towards decentralisation of State structures as well as relating to two-way translations of human rights. First, we will analyse the evolution of European State structures towards decentralization. We will then examine the extent to which State decentralization dynamics affect children’s human rights fulfilment. The next part will look at how ICHRIs can be conceptualised as institutions that stand ‘in the middle’ between local and global human rights perspectives. Our main idea is that, since their creation, independent human and children’s rights institutions have been particularly constructive to facilitate a two-way dynamic between local and global perspectives on children’s rights, especially in decentralized states.

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