Internally displaced children and HIV in situations of armed conflict in the DRC : a study of the obligations of the government and selected non-state actors

The mini-dissertation analyses the international law obligations of the government and nonstate actors regarding the protection of internally displaced children living with HIV in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The war and armed conflicts in the Eastern DRC have exacerbated the vulnerability of children, causing them to be separated from their families, to experience sexual violence and forced conscription into armed groups, to experience the violent deaths of a parent or friend, resulting in insufficient adult care. They further are subject to a lack of safe drinking water and food, insufficient access to health care services, discrimination and stigmatisation, and so on. These factors increase their risk of contracting HIV and, if they are already living with HIV, they adversely affect their welfare. The mini-dissertation illustrates that international, regional and domestic human rights instruments protecting children can be applied in situations of armed conflicts to supplement humanitarian law instruments. It demonstrates that the government of the DRC has not implemented and fulfilled its international obligations to ensure these children adequate access to health services and to humanitarian assistance for displaced persons living with HIV; security and protection within displaced persons camps; and that children are protected from abuse and human rights violations. The dissertation recommends the prosecution of perpetrators of crimes tied to the conflicts which have targeted children, as well as the ratification by the DRC of regional instruments such as the African Union Convention on the Protection and Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons in Africa, and the African Charter on the Rights and the Welfare of the Child, as this may enhance the legal protection of displaced children in the DRC.

Grantor dc:publisher

University of Pretoria

Year dc:date.issued

2013

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Nienaber, A.G. (Annelize Gertruida)

• People living with HIV (PLHIV)
• Antiretroviral
• International Criminal Court
• Internally displaced children
• African Charter on the Rights and the Welfare of the Child
• Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)
• UCTD

Statement dc:rights

• © 2013 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria.

Language dc:language.iso

en

Dc Identifier Other

F13/9/1174/gm

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:repository.up.ac.za:2263/37290