Sweden’s Reluctance to Incorporate the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child into Swedish Legislation: Implications for the full Implementation of Children’s Rights. Exploring the Perspective of Child Rights Actors

Abstract

This study titled Sweden’s Reluctance to Incorporate the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child into Swedish Legislation: Implications for the full Implementation of Children’s Rights. Exploring the Perspective of Child Rights Actors had a primary aim of understanding the implications of such reluctance as far as implementation of children’s rights are concerned. It also aimed to underscore the difference that possible incorporation would yield, from the perspective of child rights actors—in the public service realm, NGO sector, and the Academia. This study found out a set of implication such as failure by human rights lawyers to invoke the CRC which was considered detrimental to especially children denied asylum. One other finding related to the disempowering effect of the current transformation process in the face of child rights actors, then the focus on children’s needs more than their rights, among other implications. Noteworthy, most of these implications were from NGO actors and participants from the academia. The government official was reluctant to consider that the country’s reluctance to incorporate the CRC was having any practical implications. And in turn, he held the view that incorporation would make no practical difference in the children’s welfare. As a conclusion informed by the implications observed, this study contends that there is something the country can gain from incorporation which by implication means that the country is missing out as of current.