The rule of law is the foundation for law and policy in the United States. It makes a difference to families.
Michelle Hughes (Regent '97) is a leading Rule of Law practitioner with more than 30 years of experience in 12 active conflicts. In 2012, she left her position as the Senior Rule of Law and Security Sector Reform Advisor within the U.S. Department of Defense in order to establish VALRAC Innovation, LLC, a company dedicated to preparing the next generation to restore and strengthen the Rule of Law at home and abroad. Her work focuses on building capacity for multinational, interagency, civil-military, and public-private cooperation to create accountable governance, resolve violent conflict, and enable sustainable peace. Michelle is a lawyer, author, and thought leader who is deeply involved in mentoring young professionals entering her field. She is highly regarded as a consultant in post-conflict stabilization, capacity building, and the advancement of justice, security, and basic human rights.
Her new Rule of Law blog is positive and thought-provoking. It takes a very broad and challenging subject that affects global politics and culture but builds dialogue and understanding that stays at a human level. You can access this blog at http://ruleoflawlady.blogspot.com/. You can also follow her on Twitter - @ruleoflawlady.
The rule of law is important to children and their families in many ways, particularly through international law. The Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) was based in a rule of law approach for State actors to work to protect children by affording them rights. It's influence and effectiveness, however, have been challenging. You can read more about this by downloading "Suffer the Children" at http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1962681.
This year marks the 25th anniversary of the CRC, and I'm working on an article that reviews the state of affairs for children around the world – an opening draft of that piece can be found at http://ssrn.com/abstract=2382670. The rule of law makes a difference to families, and the children that rely on those families for protection.
Rule of law in important. The USA has not ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). This unenforceable convention of "ideals" are put into force through international treaty (Hague Conventions), or national laws. It was the UNCRC that influenced the Best Practices & Standards for international family mediation (also known as cross border family mediation) which of overseen by Central Authorities, in the USA that would be the U.S. Dept. of State/OCI. - Maureen Shelly Dabbagh, Author, Mediator
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