Abstract
‘The Convention on the Rights of the Child recognizes that every child has the right to go to school and learn. That right begins in early childhood, which is one reason why the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) call on governments to “ensure that all girls and boys have access to quality early childhood development, care and preprimary education”’ (UNICEF, The state of the world’s children 2016: a fair chance for every child. UNICEF, New York, 2016, p 42).
This quote from the latest annual UNICEF report, ‘State of the world’s children’ (2016), clearly reveals the centrality of a child rights approach in global policies aimed at sustainable development. Furthermore, it reflects the emphasis on early childhood as a particular target for investment and intervention. Out of the 54 articles in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), right to education is forefronted as a tool to develop sustainable societies in the world.
The aim of this chapter is to critically explore and contest children’s rights related to early childhood as a theoretical approach for policies and practices in low- and middle-income countries. The implications of two increasingly powerful and intertwined global discourses—Children’s rights, and early childhood as social investment—will be explored. A holistic approach in the implementation of CRC, including rights to play, leisure, art and cultural life, that is often neglected, is important to provide a philosophy of thinking which embraces human dignity and diversity.
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Kjørholt, AT. (2019). Early Childhood and Children’s Rights: A Critical Perspective. In: Kjørholt, AT., Penn, H. (eds) Early Childhood and Development Work. Palgrave Studies on Children and Development. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-91319-3_2
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