Peer-reviewed article
Entanglement of the Rights of the Child, Well-being, and Justice: A Conceptual Framework for Child Protection and Well-being
Forouzan Akrami, Alireza Zali, Mahmoud Abbasi ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-sonnet-5-5This is a conceptual analysis paper on how children's rights, well-being and justice fit together. It argues that human rights instruments alone do not fully protect children, and that protection should focus on well-being rather than only health. The authors propose a framework that combines human rights norms with ethical theories of justice and a list of core capabilities and matching rights of the child. They say the framework takes a preventive approach and works through social determinants of health and equal opportunities. They conclude that each country should create a national action framework and set out the roles and duties of responsible organisations.
Key points
- Human rights frameworks support health and reduced health inequalities through action on social determinants of health.
- Rights-based protection has shortcomings in protecting children.
- The paper lists core capabilities of the child and the corresponding rights.
- Well-being requires both capabilities as states of being and their use as doings, which depends on the socioecological context.
- Each country should create a national action framework and define the duties of responsible organisations.
Limitations
This is a theoretical framework and no empirical data or intervention testing is described in the abstract. The abstract does not say which countries the work applies to, so the Iran hint (IR) cannot be confirmed from the text.
Abstract
Background: Human Rights (HRs) framework supports improving human health status and the reduction of health inequalities through action on Social Determinants of Health (SDH). Given the shortcoming of HRs to protect the children, the question is, how can we ensure child protection and well-being rather than just child health? Methods: In this conceptual analysis study, first, we explain the fundamental rights of the child and the steering role of them in moving towards health equity through action on SDH; second, meanwhile argue the shortcoming of rights-based protection, provide a list of the core capabilities and corresponding rights of the child; and third, we represent a conceptual framework for child protection and well-being using both HRs norms and moral entitlements based on recent ethical theories of justice, with a preventive approach. Results: According to the framework, HRs instruments should lead to the protection of the child and the development of core capabilities through addressing social determinants and providing equal opportunities, of which the ability to live a healthy life is just one. In addition, actualizing these capabilities depends on the context. Since achieving well-being rather than just the health, in addition to acquiring the core capabilities as states of beings, implies their function as doings, that requires considering the socioecological context to provide means necessary to meet the essential dimensions of well-being at the level of adequacy. Conclusion: Implementing the suggested framework requires that each country create a national action framework and determine the role and duties of the responsible organizations.