Recommendation on Situation of Children’s Rights in Africa
We, the participants to the Forum on the Participation of NGOs in the 44th Ordinary Session of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights held in Abuja, Federal Republic of Nigeria from 7th to 9th November, 2008,
Considering the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, the African
Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, the Protocol to the African Charter on the Rights
of Women in Africa, the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), the UN
Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW),
the Global UN Study on Violence against Children (2006), and the AU Declaration on
an Africa fit for Children;
Considering the Resolution on the Right to a Remedy & Reparation for Women & Girls
Victims of Sexual Violence made during the 42nd Ordinary Session of the Commission;
Considering the Resolution on the situation of Women and Children in Africa (source:
Seventeenth Annual Activity Report of ACHPR 2003 – 2004);
Considering the consultative meeting related to the necessary collaboration of AU
organs (28-30 September, 2008 in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso);
Considering that a Child is every human being under the age of 18 years (article 2
ACRWC);
Considering the challenges still at stake for the survival and development of children in
today’s Africa which were emphasized in the Call for Accelerated Action on the
implementation of the Plan of Action towards Africa Fit for Children 2008-2012: that the
situation of children in Africa remains critical due to socio-economic, cultural, political
challenges including poverty, conflicts, harmful traditional practices, violence, abuse,
neglect, exploitation, trafficking, natural disasters and generally preventable diseases
including HIV and AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria;
Concerned about the increasing vulnerability of millions of children on the African
continent due to poverty and its acute impact on the children, their families and society
as a whole and the insufficient political will to protect them;
Concerned with the deepening spiral of social exclusion – especially with regards to
particularly vulnerable groups of children, including children with disabilities, girls,
refugee and IDP children, children belonging to minority, autochthones and nomadic
groups, street children, children used as slaves and children victims of armed conflict –
creating problems in access to rights and services, including to education and other
social services;
Further concerned with the gaps in the registration of children in Africa which affect
their right to an official identity and nationality and their access to and enjoyment of
many of the other rights they are entitled to and noting the particular challenge of
registration of children born in the context of displacement, whether due to armed
conflicts or to other reasons;
Concerned about widespread violence against children on the continent, which occurs
in private and public settings and takes the form of physical, psychological, sexual and
verbal abuse and neglect;
Noting with concern the persistent impunity of perpetrators of child rights violations;
Noting with concern that many member states of the African Union are yet to ratify the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child and the Protocol to the African
Charter on the Rights of Women in Africa;
Concerned that several State Parties to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’
Rights and to the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child are not fulfilling
their implementation and reporting obligations under these human rights protection
instruments;
Noting that to effectively address children’s rights issues on the continent, diverse, widereaching and strong partnerships are required;
Noting further that the exchanges and collaboration between the African Commission
on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and
Welfare of the Child need to be further strengthen and enhanced for the realization of
children’s rights in Africa;
Hereby Recommend that the African Commission:
1. Multiply its collaborative efforts with the African Committee of Experts on the
Rights and Welfare of the Child by exploring the following:
- Establish a formal relationship with the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACERWC)
- Designate a Focal Point on the Rights of Children in Africa, who would be the main contact point between the two treaty bodies;
- Encourage regular attendance at the Committee’s sessions;
2. Address the issue of children’s rights in a cross-cutting manner through its own
mechanisms by:
- Carrying out joint missions with ACERWC members in the implementation of the mandates of Special Rapporteurs, during promotional and investigative missions;
- Sharing information on children’s rights stemming from the consideration of state party reports, with the ACERWC;
- Taking into account progress of State implementation of other child rights/human rights treaties while examining state reports;
- Making children´s rights a cross- cutting theme in the special mechanisms of the Commission;
3. Accord high priority to the Call for Accelerated Action and the Plan of Action on
Africa Fit for Children on its agenda and work in collaboration with the African
Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child and the Department
of Social Affairs in implementing these commitments.
Done in Abuja, November 9th, 2008
