The UN’s child rights regime - Norm diffusion and contestation by Regional Organizations

The research project explores the role of Regional Organizations (ROs) for the diffusion and contestation of global norms concerning the rights of the child. 

It focuses on a thus far underexplored link: feedback effects between norms on the regional and global level. It asks the question: How do ROs impact norm diffusion and contestation in the global child rights regime? The global child rights regime is highly formalized, not only through the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) from 1989, but also through follow up studies on the implementation of the UNCRC on selected topics: Children and Armed Conflict in 1996, Violence against Children in 2006 and Children Deprived of Liberty in 2019. In parallel, child rights have entered the agendas of several ROs, notably the European Union (EU) and the African Union (AU). The topic area thus presents an apt case for theory development on regional norm diffusion and contestation processes.