Children in the Middle-East and North Africa (MENA -region)

Coordinators: Mona Sandbæk, Senior Researcher, NOVA and Mohammad Shaheen ,  Director of Child Research Unit, Centre for Development in Primary Health Care, Al Quds University, Palestine.

This work group has a specific focus tied to the challenges of a young network of child researchers in the region. The network will also be in collaboration with international sessions, in particular with the network on Children growing up in the context of poverty and marginalization, and the session focusing on Bridging the Gap between Research, Policy and Practices. The MENA-network shares the goal of these international networks to establish dialogue between researchers, policy advocates, and front-line NGO practitioners working to achieve the Human Rights of socially marginalized children and adolescents. They aim to conceptualize the issue of child vulnerability and educational exclusion in a comparative perspective, through identification of shared methodologies and elements of effective policy, advocacy and implementation.

Areas of specific interest to the network are:

• Children and educational systems
• Children under difficult circumstances
• Violence against children in schools, at home and on public areas
• Street children
• Children’s participation in the work force
• Health and health behavior of adolescence and youth

There will be work groups with a spesific regional focus, as well as international sessions in coopertation with the other networks. Papers can also be asked to present in other relevant thematic sessions, though part of the general discussion in this session's forum.

Key presentations will be solicited and ongoing research will be presented. The session is also open for papers and posters form individual participants.

Call for paper

 Registration of abstracts follows the general prosedure on the web.