Francesca Villette
DIRECTOR of the Centre for Child Law, Professor Ann Skelton, has been nominated as a candidate for the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child.
Skelton, a professor of Law at the University of Pretoria, where she holds the Unesco Chair in Education Law in Africa, is the only South African candidate on the nomination list.
The Committee on the Rights of the Child is composed of 18 members of high moral standing and competence in the field covered by the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
At the end of this month, nine new members will be selected to replace those whose terms come to an end in February.
Skelton was nominated by the departments of Justice and Constitutional Development, and International Relations and Co-operation.
“I am honoured to be nominated by the South African government and, although there is a chance I might not be selected, I will give it my best shot,” said Skelton on Monday.
The meeting of states party to the Convention on the Rights of the Child will be held on June 30 at the UN Headquarters in New York.
Professor Skelton will leave for New York this Friday.
Over her 25-year career, Skelton has received several awards, including the Honorary World’s Children’s Prize, presented to her by the Queen of Sweden in 2012.
She is a practising lawyer who often appears in South African courts, arguing in landmark children’s rights cases, including representing Zephany Nurse, the teenager who was snatched from Groote Schuur Hospital when she was just three-days-old.
Nurse’s snatcher, a 51-year old Lavender Hill woman, was convicted of kidnapping, fraud and contravening the Children’s Act, each charge carrying a maximum 10-year jail sentence.
Skelton chaired the committee that was behind the Child Justice Act (2008) at the SA Law Reform Commission, and was a member of the committee that drafted the Children’s Act (2005).
Recently, Skelton was appointed by the South African government as a member of a Ministerial Advisory Committee to review the social welfare white paper.
Provincial head of the Department of Justice, Hishaam Mohamed, said Skelton had been instrumental in contributing to the country’s policies on child rights.
“We wish her all the luck. Professor Skelton has been a proponent for the advancement of children’s rights, and has contributed to South African policy and helped ensure that it is in line with international standards,” said Mohamed.
The global acknowledgement of Professor Skelton’s expertise in child rights and child law has resulted in her being invited to give expert input in training and missions in many countries including Kenya, Malawi, Namibia, China, Thailand, Japan, Nepal, Vietnam, Fiji and Albania.
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