Matheus Mendes wins the Jaap Doek Thesis Prize 2024 for his research on the right to read
Matheus Mendes was awarded the 12th Jaap Doek Thesis Prize at a ceremony on 13 December 2024 for his thesis on the right to read. The prize honours outstanding master’s theses in children’s rights.
‘Today’s world is not a very friendly world for children.’ Ton Liefaard kicked off the 12th award ceremony for the Jaap Doek Thesis Prize with an urgent message: the research performed by children’s rights students is invaluable in pursuing a fair and safe world for children. This is why the Jaap Doek Thesis Prize celebrates the future children’s rights professionals who hope to make a difference.
The Jaap Doek Thesis Prize is named after Jaap Doek, Emeritus Professor of Children’s Rights at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and a celebrated former member of the Committee on the Rights of the Child. The prize is awarded by the Department of Child Law and Health Law in collaboration with Defence for Children, and honours outstanding master’s theses in the field of children’s rights. This year’s nominees came from the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, the Vrije Universiteit Brussel, the Erasmus School of Law and Leiden University. The winner received a trip to Geneva – including a visit to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child – and prize money of €500 to be spent freely.
The ceremony featured notable speakers, including:
- Ton Liefaard, Professor of Children’s Rights and holder of the UNICEF Chair in Children’s Rights at Leiden University
- Mirjam Blaak, Director of Defence for Children
- Professor Jonathan Todres from Georgia State University and Leiden University
- and, of course, Jaap Doek himself.
The ceremony opened with speeches from Ton Liefaard and Mirjam Blaak. Professor Todres, the keynote speaker, discussed the way that research into child development and children’s rights can benefit each other and work together.
Each nominee then presented their thesis, offering insights on topics such as intergenerational equity in child-led climate litigation and the benefits of legal representation for children in out-of-home placements.
And the winner is…
Finally, it was up to Jaap Doek to announce the winner: Matheus Filipe Andrade Mendes.
Matheus’ thesis deals with the right to read from the perspective of children’s rights. This includes the right to education, access to educational materials and the right to accessible materials (for example, for children who are blind). He highlighted the importance of reading to the cognitive, social and emotional development of children, including the opportunity to learn about other cultures and ways of life.
We spoke to Matheus after he received his reward:
1. What did you write your thesis about?
My thesis is about the right to read, a human right that is already implicit in the legal content of other rights, such as the right to education and the right to freedom of expression, but is still waiting for further studies into its definition, legal nature, and scope. I explore how the international human rights law framework, particularly the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), implicitly acknowledges this right. However, explicit recognition is crucial to address ongoing issues like global illiteracy, book censorship, and disparities in access to reading materials.
2. Why did you choose this topic?
In the human rights field, we talk a lot about how fundamental reading is – how it enhances cognitive skills, political participation, and the realisation of many other rights. But I noticed that we rarely discuss reading sufficiently from a legal standpoint. We lack understanding and proper monitoring of how reading is being promoted globally.
I believe that there is growing momentum in children’s rights scholarship to uncover new frontiers and expand the legal dimensions of rights. We need children’s rights to be recognised as central to human development, hence the importance of legal research into topics that are often explored primarily in the field of child development, like reading, ensuring they are also examined through a child rights-based approach.
3. What impact do you hope to have in the world of children’s rights?
There are still many challenges worldwide to guarantee that every child is able and free to read and has access to books. For instance, the world is falling behind in literacy achievement, and there is a growing trend of books being banned or censored from libraries due to sexual, religious, or political content. I hope my thesis can contribute to raising awareness about these issues and will inspire further research into the topic.
4. Which challenges did you encounter in writing your thesis?
The biggest challenge was definitely the scope of the topic. It’s so broad, with so many issues still to discuss. Just off the top of my head: digital literacy, cultural rights, linguistic minorities, socio-economic factors, the role of public libraries, gender disparities, how it intersects with other rights, and so on. It was tricky to frame everything and make the thesis as cohesive and well-rounded as possible. Luckily, I had brilliant supervision from Dr Sheila Varadan, who helped me see the bigger picture and get the framing right. But still, who knows... maybe one day I'll have the opportunity to tackle some of these issues in a longer piece of research!
Read more on the Defence for Children website.