Title Promoter Affiliations Abstract "Cross-fertilisation Between Children's Rights and Human Rights in the Field of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights: Towards an Integrated Conceptual Framework." "Wouter Vandenhole" "Law and Development" "Children's Rights are human rights. Nonetheless, children's rights and human rights tend to be studied as two separate fields of study. In this research, the mutual enrichment of both fields of study is scrutinized. In particular, it is examined how their respective conceptual frameworks could inform each other, and how both could be integrated into one single framework. Economic, social and cultural rights are focused upon." "Impact evaluation of the development education program of G3W-M3M, SOLIDAGRO, and KIYO: 'mobilizing young people around the right to health, food and children's rights'" "Jan Van Ongevalle" "Research Group Sustainable Development" "This project concerns the implementation of an impact assessment of the ‘Youth Engagement’ component within the development education program of the Consortium G3W-M3M, Solidagro, and KIYO. This impact assessment includes three measurement points: baseline, mid-term review and final measurement. Besides assessing the project’s impact the evaluation also seeks to carry out an in-depth analysis of the programme’s contribution towards this impact and the various causal mechanisms at play within the programme’s theory of change.The evaluation uses a before-and-after design combined with a quasi-experimental approach whereby non-equivalent groups that receive different treatments or no treatment at all are compared using both quantitative as well as qualitative research methods. Furthermore, contribution analysis and process tracing are combined in order to evaluate the contribution of the intervention towards observed impact." "children’s rights perspective on privacy and data protection in the digital age: a critical and forward-­looking analysis of the General Data Protection Regulation and its implementation with respect to children and youth" "Eva Lievens" "Department of Interdisciplinary Study of Law, Private Law and Business Law" "project aims to examine whether and how the rights to privacy and data protection for children in the digital age should be re-­thought. It proposes a critical evaluation of the 2016 EU General Data Protection Regulation, its implementation and its impact on the protection and participation of children and youth in the information society." "Human Rights for Development (HR4DEV): Rights-Based Approaches to Human Rights and Children's Rights." "Wouter Vandenhole" "Law and Development" "This project represents a formal research agreement between Unesco and on the other hand VLIR. UA provides Unesco research results mentioned in the title of the project under the conditions as stipulated in this contract." "Children's Rights Obligations of Non-State Economic Actors." "Law and Development" "The conception of nation States as the sole subjects of international law has been strongly shaken by challenges brought about by globalization. The emergence of non-State economic actors (NSEAs) such as transnational corporations or international financial institutions (IFIs) with de facto economic and political power is a reality that needs to be reckoned with, both politically and legally.Recent years have seen an ever-growing academic interest in illuminating the human rights obligations of these actors and an upsurge of international initiatives aiming to regulate their behaviour. Even more recent is the recognition that children and their rights should be given special consideration, as is evidenced by the 2012 Children's Rights and Business Principles and the 2013 General Comment 16 of the Committee on the Rights of the Child. Yet existing frameworks fall painfully short of responding to challenges and resolving pressing issues about the children's rights obligations of NSEAs to accord the necessary level of human rights protection to children everywhere. As such, many children are left without the much-needed shelter of human rights law and find themselves in situations detrimental to their wellbeing and best interests. The research project seeks uncover in what ways can the responsibility for children's rights that befalls upon nation States be complemented or shared by the responsibility of NSEAs and to develop principles applicable to the different array of NSEAs for the attribution and apportioning of this responsibility." "Children's rights and the monetisation of play in the digital environment" "Eva Lievens" "Department of Interdisciplinary Study of Law, Private Law and Business Law" "Children all over the world are spending increasing periods of time engaged in play and creative activities in the digital environment. These playful experiences are increasingly monetised, exposing children to significant commercial and privacy risks. This project will focus on three levels of monetisation of play: (1) encouraging children to spend money (e.g. in-app purchases); (2) capitalising on personal data (e.g. targeted advertising) and (3) exploitation through influencer work (e.g. exploitative contracts). In relation to this, the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (‘CRC’) grants children a right to play (art. 31 CRC) and to protection from economic exploitation (art. 32 CRC). However, as the CRC was drafted in a pre-internet era, the original interpretation of these rights has become outdated. Moreover, there is no guidance at the international level for States on how to operationalise these rights in their national laws. Therefore, the envisaged research encompasses the following tasks: first uncovering any gaps in the existing legal framework applicable to the three levels of monetisation of play; second, gathering children views about their rights in their own contexts; third reconceptualising children’s rights to play and protection from exploitation in light of the monetisation of play in the digital environment; and fourth, operationalising these rights into regulatory solutions and design requirements for play providers (e.g. game designers)." "UNICEF Scientific Chair Children's Rights." "Wouter Vandenhole" "Law and Development" "The Convention on the Rights of the Child necessitates the training of professionals in the letter and spirit of the Convention. Universities bear a specific obligation in this regard. The UNICEF Chair in Children's Rights - as a joint initiative of the University of Antwerp and UNICEF Belgium - testifies of the commitment of both to this responsibility.The Chair has its own research programme, and actively stimulates a children's rights component in other research programmes. In its own research programme, emphasis is put on conceptual issues (in particular the mutual reinforcement and enrichment of the children's rights and the general human rights framework), and on economic, social and cultural rights of children. Migration, poverty and child soldiers have been singled out as priority topics for 2010-2012. Particular attention is also paid to children's rights in development and development cooperation. The introduction of a children's rights perspective in other research agendas is sought in particular by organizing expert meetings with scholars in other areas of study." "Beyond employment: reshaping reconciliation policies through a children's rights perspective in the EU legal order." "Petra FOUBERT" "Centre for Government and Law" "The proposed PhD research focuses on the potential of inserting a children's rights perspective into leave policies to care for children in the EU (and Belgium). Neither EU law, nor the CJEU's case law reflect much of a children's rights orientation. It considers whether the EU has competence to legislate in favour of children and if so, how to best achieve the best interests of the child principle and ensure equality for all children. The research wants to bridge an important gap which lies at the intersection between labour/social security law and children's rights law. It wishes to offer a coherent legal framework on child care related leaves that takes into account not only parental rights but also children's needs and interests. In addition to ensuring the child's best interests, including a children's rights perspective may be an alternative way to approach parenthood in more gender neutral terms, so as to make it difficult to justify measures on the basis of the sex of parents, rather than on the best interests of the child." "Children's rights in appellate asylum proceedings: a legal ethnography" "Ellen Desmet" "Department of European, Public and International Law" "This project will for the first time empirically investigate how the key actors in appellate asylum proceedings engage with children’ rights When the Commissioner-general for Refugees and Stateless Persons in Belgium does not recognize asylum seekers as refugee and/or does not grant them subsidiary protection, the latter can file an appeal before the Council for Alien Law Litigation The role of children’ rights in such appellate asylum proceedings is contested On the basis of (participant) observation and interviews, it will be analysed how key actors perceive, mobilise and practice children’ rights These key actors are children and young people, their parents or guardians, lawyers, the first instance representatives, and the judges The results from this ethnographic research will be compared with the findings of an analysis of the case law of the Council The research will theoretically contribute to the field of critical children’ rights studies Where relevant, recommendations will be formulated with respect to the asylum system and the children’ rights framework" "How can the protection of children's rights be enhanced by tax nudging, in the light of global climate change?" "Centre for Government and Law" "This study will aim to determine what the specific effects of climate change are on children by considering already existing research. This research will add a further dimension by translating the effects of climate change on children to the specific children's rights infringed by climate change. In doing so, the research will aim to determine whether the effects of climate change not only have a negative impact on the lives, survival and development of a child, but whether there are concrete infringements on the rights of the child. Should this indeed be the case, further research will be done to determine whether these infringements on the rights of children places an obligation on states to combat climate change in order to protect the rights of the children. This determination will be done on a global scope instead of on a country-by-country basis. The research will then proceed to assist states in their combat against climate change to protect the rights of children, by considering whether tax nudging is an effective way of combatting the effects of climate change. This can occur by means of a tax imposed on products which are connected to unfavourable behaviour by the consumer or products which, in the specific field of climate change, is bad for the environment. The goal will be to identify and expand on existing tax nudges or tax policies which might assist states in combatting the effect of climate change on the rights of children, or in the alternative to develop certain tax nudget or tax policies which might do the same."