Human Rights and Child Protection Norms in Armed Conflicts: Bridging International Standards with Domestic Realities

Abstract

This article explores the intersection between international human rights and child protection norms in armed conflicts, with a focus on bridging global standards and domestic implementation realities. It examines the normative frameworks established by international human rights law (IHRL), international humanitarian law (IHL), and international criminal law (ICL), as reflected in instruments such as the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), the Optional Protocol on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict (OPAC), the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACRWC), and the Paris Principles. The paper argues that while these instruments collectively provide comprehensive protection against recruitment, exploitation, and abuse of children, significant gaps persist in their translation into domestic practice, particularly in conflict-affected African states like Nigeria. Legal fragmentation, institutional weaknesses, and socio-economic vulnerabilities undermine enforcement and perpetuate cycles of child recruitment and victimization. Through an analysis of Nigeria’s Child Rights Act (2003) and its uneven adoption across states, the paper demonstrates how weak institutional capacities, poor reintegration programs, and punitive security approaches hinder effective protection. The study also highlights international criminal accountability through the Lubanga case at the International Criminal Court (ICC) as a precedent for deterrence but notes that international justice alone cannot fill domestic enforcement gaps. It concludes by proposing holistic reforms involving legal harmonization, capacity building, socio-economic investment, and child-sensitive operational mechanisms as pathways toward effective protection, reintegration, and accountability, ensuring that normative commitments translate into real-world safeguards for children in armed conflict situations.