Situating the best interests of the child in community-based arbitration of marriage disputes

For child protection professionals, there has been a movement towards recognizing the importance of and engaging with community-based mechanisms.15 Meanwhile, the aforementioned risks of recourse to informal or customary mechanisms is concerning and compounded by the lack of written provisions to guide decision-making, which leads to significant gaps in the knowledge base.

This study aims to contribute insights to this gap by examining primary qualitative and quantitative data from a pilot initiative conducted by Terre des hommes Foundation from 2013, focusing on community justice mechanisms in two districts of Assiut governorate, Egypt. Specifically, the study examines how the best interests of children have been determined and upheld in cases of marriage dispute dealt with through community-based arbitration, by answering the following questions. - How do arbitrators understand the concept of “best interests of the child”? - What factors are taken into account, and whose opinions are sought, when arbitrators are asked to intervene in cases of marital conflict? Where is the voice of the child? - What are the implications for international child protection workers who seek culturally appropriate and rigorous practice?