CLA News / CLA Council member Dr Camille Stoll-Davey reports on the CLA Children’s Essay Competition 2025 in Papua New Guinea (PNG)
Overarching objective
Children are generally viewed as being at the heart of the community. Each child is part of a social unit, typically a family, that has several nodes of integration into society (schools, churches, sports organisations, etc.) and ultimately, the electorate. They sit at the nexus between their parents, grandparents, teachers, and peers. Their extended community of connections provides a sense of belonging and shared identity.
Children learn foundational skills, values, and social norms from their communities, which in turn, serves to shape their future roles in society. Communities often center their resources on children, by investing in their growth and protection, which ultimately serves to strengthen the entire community. Indeed, the interest of children, as well as their achievements, are frequently the most readily available topic of conversation in all communities.
It is in this vein, that the CLA Children’s Essay Competition seeks to engage the interest of children, and their extended communities, thereby elevating their awareness of the ‘Rights of the Child’ as set out by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), a convention that has been adopted by all Commonwealth Members.
Article 42 of the UNCRC provides that Signatory States have an overarching obligation to increase awareness of the UNCRC “by appropriate and active means” to both adults and children.[1] While it is the State which takes on obligations under the Convention, its task of implementation – of making reality of the human rights of children – needs to engage all sectors of society and, of course, children themselves.
It is the overarching objective of the CLA Children’s Essay Competition to assist in bringing about that engagement by fostering greater awareness, study and understanding of the UNCRC, among children and their extended communities, and thereby, serve to shape the future social norms of their communities.
Background – regarding the UNCRC
The need to extend particular care to children has been recognised at the international level for more than 100 years. It was initially formalised in the 1924 Geneva Declaration of the Rights of the Child and subsequently recognised in the unanimously adopted UN General Assembly ‘Declaration of the Rights of the Child’ on 20th November 1959. Formal recognition of the need to protect children was further elevated by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), an international treaty that defines the human rights of children. The Commonwealth should be particularly proud that the UNCRC has received universal support from all Commonwealth Member States.
The UNCRC outlines the civil, political, economic, social, and cultural rights of children, emphasising that all children are individuals with their own rights, and not just objects to be managed by adults. The UNCRC was adopted and opened for signature,[2] ratification and accession by the General Assembly resolution on 20th November 1989 and when that Convention entered into force 2nd September 1990.[3]
‘World Children’s Day’ is now celebrated annually on the 20th Nov.
The UNCRC recognises that all children have the same rights, regardless of their race, religion, or any other characteristic and specifies a number of children’s rights which afford protection and basic liberties including the the following eight (8) rights, that are founded among the 54 articles of the UNCRC:
- Life – child’s right to live his or her own life, to not be killed and to survive and to grow up in proper conditions.
- Education – child’s right to receive instruction, to enjoy a social life, and to build his or her own future.
- Food – child’s right to eat, to not die of hunger, and to not suffer from malnutrition.
- Health – child’s right to be protected against illness and to be allowed to grow and become healthy adults.
- Water – child’s right to safe drinking water and proper sanitary conditions.
- Identity – child’s right to his or her existence officially recognised, to have a surname, a first name, a nationality, and to know who his or her relatives are.
- Freedom – child’s right to express him or herself, to have opinions, to have access to information, and to participate in decisions which affect his or her life. Children also have the right to religious freedom.
- Protection – child’s right to live in a secure and protective environment which preserves the child’s well-being.[4]
Background – regarding the Role of the Commonwealth and the CLA
The Commonwealth Charter provides that the overarching goal of the Commonwealth is ‘to promote democracy, good governance, peace, human rights, the rule of law et al.’[5] The Commonwealth Lawyers Association (CLA) exists to maintain and promote the rule of law throughout the Commonwealth by ensuring that an independent and efficient legal profession serves the people of the Commonwealth. Accordingly, the CLA Children’s Essay Competition, consistent with the obligations of Article 42 of the UNCRC, serves to increase awareness of the UNCRC, and thereby assist Commonwealth Member States with their obligations to protect and uphold children’s rights.[6]
Particular focus of the Inaugural Children’s Essay Competition – Birth registration
The UNCRC grants children the Right to an ‘identity’ which includes their name, nationality, and family relationship. Accordingly, governments are required to respect these aspects of a child’s identity, ensure an official record of who they are is kept, and prevent statelessness by provide assistance if these elements are unlawfully removed. Notwithstanding, in part due to a multitude of physical and logistical barriers, several Commonwealth Member States, struggle with low levels of birth registration. The CLA is comprised of nine (9) Committees,[7] and it has been the particular focus of the Family Committee of the CLA to assist these Commonwealth Member States by elevating the awareness at a community level of the (1) the UNCRC Right to an ‘identity’, and (2) the likely consequences of the absence of an official birth registration document on the opportunities available to the child.
In this regard, it is noted by UNICEF that –
Without a birth certificate, children are invisible to their governments. They miss out on essential public services that help secure their most fundamental rights – like healthcare and schooling – and on social safety nets meant to reduce a child’s risk of exploitation and abuse….
A birth certificate is required for basic but crucial transactions, like opening a bank account, registering to vote and entering the job market. Without one, children remain deprived of a legal identity, uncounted – and unaccounted for – by their governments.[8]
As a result, the 2025 CLA Children’s Essay Contest has provided a lesson plan, developed by a Canadian former teacher and lawyer, Kirby Chown, and Laurie Pawlitza, CLA Council Member for Canada and a member of the Family Law Committee. The team in PNG then refined the lesson plan to match the particular circumstances in PNG. Some of the questions provided were also particularly focused on birth registration. These essay questions, which strive to incorporate all eight of the rights of the child, were largely tailored by Camille Stoll-Davey, CLA Council Member for the Cayman Islands and a member of the Human Rights and Rule of Law Committee, and British educator, Sarah Dyer, who now teaches in the Cayman Islands.
Jurisdiction selected – Papua New Guinea (PNG)
Following local consultation and on the recommendation of CLA Secretary General, Brigid Watson, the jurisdiction selected to pilot the CLA Children’s Essay Competition was Papua New Guinea (PNG). In support of the choice of jurisdiction was information provided by Veera Mendonca, the UNICEF representative in PNG who indicated to us in PNG the following:
Papua New Guinea currently faces significant challenges in birth registration, with only 13% of children registered and 7% possessing birth certificates. This places PNG among the countries with the lowest registration rates in the Asia-Pacific region and in the world. However, substantial progress is being made through collaborative efforts between the PNG government, UNICEF, and partners. The mobile birth registration enrollment kits, each capable of processing over 1,000 registrations monthly, can potentially enable PNG to reach its ambitious target of 500,000 annual registrations. The recently enacted Civil and Identity Registration Act 2024 has established a modern framework to make registration services more accessible, efficient, and secure, particularly for remote communities.
It should also be noted that PNG extends over 178,000 square miles, encompassing a highly mountainous geography as well as a large number of islands, and is highly rural with less than 15% of the population living in urban areas. The population is also extremely diverse with over 840 know spoken languages giving rise to a multitude of physical and logistical to ensuring the birth registration of each child.
The support of David Denniston, CLA Council Member for PNG and a member of the Human Rights and Rule of Law Committee, who also works in PNG was secured. David has in turn engaged a number of PNG young female legal professionals, most of whom work at his law firm, who have navigated the many logistical and social challenges of PNG. The lawyers assisting are Natalie Kuk, Eunice Wangu, Loretta Damien, Peggy Ilu and Genevieve Roberts. Loretta and Peggy also being the CLA Young Lawyer Joint Representatives for PNG.[9]
By way of example only, some of the challenges faced by the schools approached include:
- no access to internet – as a result some of the essays may simply be photographed and sent by WhatApp to be assessed.
- limited access to paper – as a result in order to save paper, the name of the student and their essay answers will be on the same page.
- intermittent power supply by diesel generator, no IT equipment or working school telephones.
- extensive approvals process and in one case dependent upon prayer and fasting.
- limited direct access to central government – UNICEF has mobile birth registration units but parents/communities may simply be unaware of their existence, importance or location.
The PNG team has secured the involvement of 5 schools, 3 from remote regions of PNG, who are now participating in the CLA Children’s Essay Competition.
The PNG team met with UNICEF PNG representatives Paula Vargas and Solomon Bizuneh from their Child Protection team who gave further insights, sound advice and wonderful colour materials to share with the schools.
The winners will be chosen by the CLA Family Law Committee, and the school can announce the winner on World Child Day, 20 November 2025. CLA Children’s Essay Competition Winners and Runners-up will have their full names, schools, entries and photographs displayed on the CLA’s website and social media channels. Each school and the winning student will receive a combined US$500 and it is expected that there will be local press releases associated with each school. All certificates will be generated online and issued electronically by the CLA. Certificates will only be issued once judging is complete in the latter part of 2025.
We now await the submission and the assessments of the essays…. so watch this space.
Comments by the organisers
“Altogether, this has been a very rewarding project spanning the globe from the UK, Cayman, Canada and PNG. It has also been humbling to have had exposure to the challenges so many of our fellow citizens of the Commonwealth face with limited access to resources that are so readily available to the rest of us. It has been a privilege to work with Laurie, David and, in particular to have had exposure, to David’s team who have brought to light the many foundational challenges faced when operating in PNG”
Dr. Camille Stoll-Davey, CLA Council Member for the Cayman Islands
“When Camille and Laurie suggested this project for PNG I knew little of its importance for PNG and the extent of our issues. Fortunately, the project has coincided with introduction of our Civil and Identity Registration Act 2024 and so coupled with this and the excellent materials from UNICEF and the Lesson Plan, we think we can make a small difference with this essay competition.”
David Denniston, CLA Council Member for PNG
FOOTNOTES:
[1] https://www.ohchr.org/en/instruments-mechanisms/instruments/convention-rights-child
[2] by General Assembly resolution 44/25 of 20 November 1989
[3] in accordance with article 49
[4] https://www.humanium.org/en/fundamental-rights/
[5] Commonwealth Charter <https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-commonwealth-charter>; See: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a79f892ed915d6d99f5c36e/Cm_8572.pdf
[6] https://www.commonwealthlawyers.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Preventing-and-Eliminating-Child-Early-and-Forced-Marriage-in-the-Commonwealth-CommonProtect-Policy-Brief-Nov-22.pdf
[7] The nine (9) Committees of the CLA are as follows:
1. Public and Administrative Law
2. Anti-Corruption Law
3. Family Law
4. Legal Technology
5. Human Rights and Rule of Law
6. Climate Justice Law
7. ADR/Mediation
8. Government and Public Sector Law
9. Corporate and commercial Law
[8] https://www.unicef.org/protection/birth-registration
[9] As an aside, it is hoped that the CLA will provide the support these individuals may require to be able to attend the upcoming CLA Conference in Darwin in 2027.
Published: 25th September
