Eleventh Issue of The African Child E-Newsletter!

This eleventh issue of The African Child E-Newsletter features an interview with Professor Asher Ben-Arieh, Director of the Haruv Institute. The Special of the Month feature is Achieving Child Friendly Justice in Africa. Includes other news on children's issues as well as information on upcoming events. For all the latest news and events go to http://www.africanchildinfo.net

The “Africa Fit For Children” Declaration and Plan of Action endorsed by the 37th Session of the OAU Assembly of Heads of States and Governments in July 2001 are among the regional instruments developed for expediting the implementation of the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACRWC) and creating an Africa Fit for Children.

A mid-term review of progress in implementing the Declaration and Plan of Action of Africa Fit for Children was conducted at the 2nd Pan-African Forum, held in 2007 in Cairo, Egypt. In this meeting, Member States agreed and committed themselves to the Call for Accelerated Action on the Implementation of the Plan of Action Towards Africa Fit For Children (2008-2012), which highlights eight priority areas of action. These are: legislative and policy framework; institutional framework; resource mobilization; enhancing life chances; overcoming HIV and AIDS; and rights to education, protection and participation.

The African Union Commission (AUC) in partnership with CSOs is organizing the Third Pan-African Forum on Children with the theme “Accountability for Investment in Children” to review progress so far and initiate discussions on the challenges and the way forward. The Forum is scheduled to take place from 19 to 21 November 2012 in Addis Ababa and expected to bring together key stakeholders including member states, civil society organizations, development partners and members of the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child.

The 3rd Pan-African Forum on Children will be informed by the assessment of the progress based on the AUC Monitoring and Evaluation Framework (EN l FR) developed with the technical support of the ACPF. In addition to Member States, the AfricaWide Movement for Children (AMC) has also carried out assessments in three countries: Cameroon, Senegal and Uganda. The synthesis report on "Cairo+10: Progress and Challenges" will provide CSOs perspectives to enrich discussions on enhancing monitoring efforts and thus implementation of the provisions of the ACRWC.

For more information about the Third Pan-African Forum on Children, please click here.

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One of the major projects at ACPF is the Harmonisation of Laws on Children, which falls under the Child and the Law Programme. The Harmonisation Project aims to contribute to full compliance of national laws of African countries to the principles and standards in international and regional instruments related to children, the main ones being the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. The Project does so through an ongoing process that involves comprehensive audit of existing laws, policies and regulations, as well as regular monitoring of compliance with the ratified international and regional instruments. Other strategies include documentation of good practices on legislation and enforcement, undertaking training, sharing information and assisting in the formulation of national laws, polices and standards.

Through this project, ACPF has undertaken an audit of national laws, policies and practices related to children in 30 countries across Africa. The Project initially focused on 19 Eastern and Southern African countries. In 2008, the project was extended to 11 West and Central African countries. The Project intends to carry out similar reviews in the African countries that have not been covered so far. ACPF has also initiated a comprehensive thematic harmonisation review on different aspects of child rights, including, ‘gender and children’s rights’, ‘HIV/AIDS and child rights’, ‘children’s rights in the justice system’ and ‘intercountry adoption and the law in Africa’. ACPF will continue to work with policy makers in their implementation efforts so as to translate the recommendations derived from this Project into concrete policy, legislative and substantive changes which will enhance the protection and wellbeing of children in Africa.

A number of publications have been issued under this project. These include:

Child Law Resources Volume I

Child Law Resources Volume II

Harmonisation of Laws in West and Central Africa

Harmonisation of Laws in Eastern and Southern Africa

Achieving Child-friendly Justice in Africa (download in EN l FR)

Harmonisation of Laws on Children in Africa: Country Briefs

For more information about the Harmonisation Project, please click here.

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The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child is holding its 61st session from 17 September to 5 October 2012, in Geneva, Switzerland. The Committee has received periodic reports from Ethiopia, Ghana and Morocco and has reviewed the reports of Liberia and Namibia.

The 2012 Day of General Discussion was held on 28 September 2012 in Geneva, Switzerland on the theme of “rights of all children in the context of international migration”. The main objective of the discussion was to foster a deeper understanding of the contents and implications of the Convention as they relate to international migration, and to promote the rights of all children in the context of international migration at all levels.

For more information, please visit the OHCHR website.

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Interview with Prof. Asher Ben-Arieh, Director, the Haruv Institute

"Kids think differently from adults and if we won’t include them in the discourse we won’t know what is important for them and sometimes we will invest a lot of efforts to things that don’t matter to kids and after all we are all here for the kids", he says.... Read the full interview | English |

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Our Special of the Month feature is Achieving Child Friendly Justice in Africa. "Based on the fact that children come in contact with the justice system in different ways, both in the formal and informal justice systems, or the criminal and civil justice systems, the study charts the progress made and the challenges remaining with regard to justice for children in Africa.

Achieving Child Friendly Justice in Africa, ACPF l Download

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