An-Najah National University Organizes a Spring School on Child Rights During Armed Conflict in Partnership with University College Cork
The Palestinian Institute for International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights at the Faculty of Law and Political Science at An-Najah National University organized a specialized Spring School on: “Child Rights During Armed Conflict,” in partnership with University College Cork, Ireland, with the participation of a distinguished group of local and international academics and experts, and attended by students from different law programs.
This Spring School comes within the framework of the Institute’s efforts to promote critical and interactive academic spaces in the fields of international law and human rights, through linking international legal frameworks to the Palestinian context and the lived experiences of children during armed conflicts.
The Spring School extended over four intensive training days between 13–17 May 2026 and addressed a number of advanced themes, including: the international legal framework of child rights, the Convention on the Rights of the Child and its mechanisms, the relationship between the Committee on the Rights of the Child and the United Nations system, the protection of children during armed conflict under international humanitarian law, in addition to mechanisms of monitoring, documentation, and legal remedies, as well as child-friendly legal research methodologies. The school also focused on presenting approaches that move beyond traditional legal perspectives by opening discussions on justice from children’s perspectives, localizing concepts of child rights, and linking legal texts to human experiences and local contexts, in a manner that enhances students’ critical thinking and encourages them to approach law as a tool capable of development and responsive to reality.
The Spring School witnessed the participation of distinguished experts and academics from international and local institutions and universities, most notably University College Cork, the University of Amsterdam, and Palestinian legal and human rights institutions. This reflects the Institute’s vision towards building effective international academic partnerships that contribute to the development of legal education and the enhancement of knowledge exchange and practical expertise for Palestinian students.
This Spring School falls within a series of academic and training activities implemented by the Palestinian Institute for International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights as part of the Institute Establishment Project funded by the European Union, with the aim of contributing to the development of young Palestinian legal capacities and strengthening Palestinian presence within international debates related to international humanitarian law and human rights.
