Children's Rights Academy

Programme

Plan of studies

The Programme of the Master of Advanced Studies in Children’s Rights (MCR) counts for 60 ECTS credits (European Credit Transfer System) and takes place over a two-year period. The plan of studies includes seven week-long teaching modules, online and residential learning sequences, group work and individual tasks, as well as reading, writing and practical learning exercises. Students are also required to complete an academic paper and an original research dissertation on a subject of their choice (‘MCR Dissertation) which approaches children’s rights from an interdisciplinary and international perspective.

Themed modules

The teaching modules are ordered going from the general to the specific. Modules one and two take a comprehensive, theoretical approach to children's rights studies and thereby aim to develop a critical understanding of the fundamental debates in children’s rights, both from an international and an interdisciplinary perspective. From module three onwards, this theoretical understanding is then applied to several important and illustrative children's rights themes, including child protection strategies and policies, criminal justice, child labour and education, migration and policy implementation and monitoring. The modules are held either online, or in Sion or in Geneva. they start on Monday and run until Friday evening. The choice of location or whether to conduct the module online depends on the advantages each modality and location offers for the thematic focus of the module. To maximize the learning experience, online modules allow lecturers located in faraway countries that are not able to come on-site to provide their lectures remotely. Sion and Geneva offer the opportunity to conduct field visits to key institutions such as the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC Committee), the UN headquarters, or other institutions.

It is worth highlighting that for those not able to complete the MCR programme, the following two options are on offer:

  • to attend single modules and received a certificate of attendance
  • to combine two modules of your choice and receive a Certificate of Advanced Studies in Children Rights (CAS).

For information on registration, please check the application section of the site.

Schedule

 

12th Cycle (2025-2026)

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17-21 February 2025
Module 1: Children's rights and childhood studies
Online

12 – 16 May 2025
Module 2: International children’s rights law
University of Geneva

29 September - 3 October 2025
Module 3: Child protection strategies and policies
Online learning

24 – 28 November 2025
Module 4: Children’s rights and migration
Online learning / University of Geneva

9 – 13 March 2026
Module 5: Child labour and education
Online

8 – 12 June 2026
Module 6: Children’s rights and criminal justice
Online learning

9 – 13 November 2026
Module 7: Children’s rights policy implementation and monitoring
Valais Campus (Sion)

11th Cycle (2023-2024)

13 – 17 February 2023
Module 1 (online learning): Children's rights and childhood studies
Online

8 – 12 May 2023
Module 2: International children’s rights law
University of Geneva

25 – 29 September 2023
Module 3 (online learning): Child protection strategies and policies
Online learning

20 – 24 November 2023
Module 4: Children’s rights and criminal justice
Format to be defined

11 – 15 March 2024
Module 5 (online learning): Child labour and education
Online

3 – 7 June 2024
Module 6: Children’s rights and migration
Online learning

11 – 15 November 2024
Module 7: Children’s rights policy implementation and monitoring
Valais Campus - Sion

Work between the modules

In order to facilitate consultation of up to date scientific and professional literature, students have on-line access to a comprehensive set of reading material with relevant articles and book chapters pertaining to the themes discussed during the modules. In addition to reading, individual or group tasks are assigned in relation to the themes discussed during the modules. Examples include: collect jurisprudence related to the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC); compile statistical data on child labour or on school enrolment; select a ‘good practice’ of child participation. Other learning activities include participation in a seminar or conference or carry out an internship (optional) related to the content of the programme.

Dissertation

Students are required to complete an original research paper (‘MCR Thesis’), which can be written in English or in French, on a subject of their choice that includes an interdisciplinary and international perspective. Each student is assigned a tutor who acts as academic supervisor and supports the thesis writing process.
In the past, students have worked on a wide variety of themes, for instance:

  • The rights of children deprived of parental care: Domestic adoption of children in Kenya;
  • A case study of a children’s playground in Paris;
  • Child soldiers or soldier children?
  • Children’s agency in DDR Programmes;
  • The establishment of an independent national human rights institution for children in Iran;
  • Unaccompanied child migrants in the United States;
  • Children influencing public policy in Lebanon;
  • A study of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) from the perspective of children’s rights;
  • A case study on the right of refugee children to birth registration in a refugee camp;
  • The right to quality education for children with disabilities in Danish primary schools;
  • The application of UNICEF's Child Friendly School model in Aceh, Indonesia.

Basic features

Three basic features run throughout the MCR programme: the interdisciplinary character, the interplay between theory and practice and the international scope. The comprehensive nature of children's rights studies makes it an interdisciplinary field of studies par excellence. Throughout the programme, lecturers from several scientific disciplines exchange ideas and offer insights on a variety of issues pertaining to children's human rights. The dialogue between these disciplines offers contrasting and complementary viewpoints.

Throughout several working methods, the programme offers the space to reflect on the interplay between academic theories and international practice in the field of children’s rights. The programme approaches the study of children’s rights from an international perspective, building on international legal instruments such as the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and other human rights treaties and standard-setting instruments. The participation of lecturers and students from different regions of the world assures that a diversity of regional and cultural viewpoints on children’s rights issues are discussed.

Learning outcomes

The MCR Programme offers participants the opportunity to acquire specialised theoretical and practical knowledge on children’s rights, with a particular emphasis on its international and interdisciplinary dimensions. It aims to deepen understanding of and promote critical thinking concerning the normative content, implementation practices and advocacy discourses related to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child as well as other international legal and policy documents. In addition, the Master of Advanced Studies in Children’s Rights intends to develop specific knowledge and skills; at the end of the training programme students:

  • have acquired detailed knowledge of children’s rights in the fields of law, sociology, psychology, culture and economics, including differences in gender and culture;
  • are capable to adopt a critical approach to understanding the origins, nature, limits and implementation of children’s rights from an international and interdisciplinary perspective;
  • have increased their skills in collaborative and independent learning via the resolution of intellectually challenging tasks in order to improve problem-solving and critical-thinking skills;
  • learned relevant theoretical, methodological and analytical techniques and develop skills in order to identify and contribute to resolving issues and problems relating to the realisation of children’s rights;
  • have improved their presentation and advocacy skills via the production of seminar presentations, discussion papers, essays and project work dealing with particular themes
    in children’s rights;
  • developed the necessary tools to use human rights standards and mechanisms at a national and international level.

Certification

At the end of the programme, participants who have met all of the requirements for completion of the academic programme receive a degree conferred by the University of Geneva. The degree awarded is the ‘Master of Advanced Studies in Children's Rights’.