About the Project
Drawing on the ground-breaking work of Professor Mary McAleese, the research project will focus on opening up the articles in the 1989 United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child dealing with the rights to freedom of religion, conscience, belief, and opinion. Specifically, it will look at how State Parties address these articles in their reservations and, since ratification, how they have implemented them in their laws and administrative practices as reported to the Committee on the Rights of the Child in State Party Periodic Reports.
In particular, the project will focus on:
• How the articles of The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child are addressed by confessional and non-confessional states.
• How they are approached by the Committee on the Rights of the Child in its discussions with State Parties and in its General Comments.
• What the difficulties or issues are that arise regarding approaches of faith systems to child membership and their obligations as members, taking into consideration age and rights, evolving capacity of the child and impact on shifting agency, parental rights, state rights, views of secular and atheist advocacy groups.
Candidates with a degree in Law, Theology, or related to components in human rights including freedom of conscience, religion, belief, and opinion would be strong applicants. A masters degree is not essential, but preferable. Applications should express a strong interest in the rights of children as citizens and/ or members of faith systems and a desire to become a specialist in this area. Knowledge of UN human rights treaties and committee monitoring system would be useful but not essential.
For informal enquiries about this project, please contact the Project Supervisor, Professor Mary McAleese: [Email Address Removed]
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