A Comparative Study of the UN’s Convention and the Islamic Convention on the Rights of the Child in the Light of Child Welfare

Abstract

The rights of children have a very high status both in international law and in Islamic law. However, children often do not find their basic needs and rights met. It is of utmost importance that these problems are dealt with and that authorities take their responsibilities serious in protecting these rights. Therefore, different organisations and authorities have defined the rights of the child. Among others, the UN adopted the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) in 1989. However, discrepancies between the children’s rights as defined in the CRC and orthodox law of the Abrahamic faiths (Judaism, Christianity and Islam) have led to several countries not complying to the CRC of the UN. In order to make sure that Muslim countries protect children’s rights in spite of these discrepancies, the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) has adopted the Covenant on the Rights of the Child in Islam (CRCI) which is based on Islamic principles. During the past decades, these two agreements were repeatedly criticised, analysed, and compared based on human reasoning, mostly without considering what it actually was about, i.e. the welfare of children. This research aims to increase the understanding of universally applicable children’s rights and their impact on child welfare, the mutual understanding of the views of different communities about children’s rights, and to overcome the discrepancies between the rights of the child according to the UN and the OIC. To achieve this, this research compares the CRC of the UN and the CRCI on the basis of what benefits child welfare the most. The research shows that both the CRC of the UN and the CRCI of the OIC are important and valuable instruments to ensure the protection of child welfare. However, both agreements also have weaknesses such as cultural bias and unclear statements about “the best interest of the child”, “Islamic principles”, and how children’s rights can be protected in contemporary times with constantly changing challenges. Therefore, authorities should adapt both the CRC of the UN and the CRCI of the OIC based on empirical research about child welfare. Furthermore, governmental and non-governmental bodies should raise awareness of children’s rights and their protection as in the projects which are introduced in this paper.