Do African Children Have Rights

The United Nations 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) constitutes a landmark in the development of international human rights law and reflects an historic turn in universal thinking about children and their rights. Many children in Africa today face the future with a deep sense of uncertainty and foreboding. Many have no hope of education and the issues of child trafficking, sexual exploitation and child labour reflect a profound crisis of the family. The current socio-economic situation has radically changed the world views and the life expectations of the African child. This book attempts to respond to some of the questions that could be asked: to what extent have the provisions of the CRC been implemented in the national legislations of African States? What effect have they had on children in Africa? What mechanisms exist to prevent and sanction rights abusers? Are children's rights in Africa reality, or simply rhetoric?

This collection is anchored in an African conception of children's rights and the law, and reflects contemporary discourses taking place in the region of the children's rights sphere. The majority of contributors are African and adopt an individual approach to their topic which reflects their first-hand experience. The book focuses on child rights issues which have particular resonance on the continent and the chapters span themes which are both broad and narrow, containing subject matter which is both theoretical and illuminated by practice. The book profiles recent developments and experiences in furthering children's legal rights in the African context, and distils from these future trends the specific role that the law can play in the African children's rights environment.

The African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child: A socio-legal perspectiveby Thoko Kaime2009ISBN: 978-0-9814420-4-4Pages: xii 247Print version: AvailableElectronic version: Free PDF available.

The Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), which was adopted unanimously by the United Nations General Assembly in 1989, marked a turning point in the perception of children in international law and policy. Although it was hoped that the Convention would have a significant and positive impact on the lives of all children, this has not happened in many parts of the world. This edited volume, based on empirical research and Non-Governmental Organisation project data, explores the progress of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, and to a lesser extent, the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, in nine African countries in the 25 years since it was adopted by the UN General Assembly. The book considers the implementation of the Convention both in terms of policy and practice, and its impact on the lived experiences of children in societies across the continent, focusing on specific themes such as HIV/AIDS, education and disability, child labour, witchcraft stigmatisation, street children, parent-child relationships and child participation. The book breaks new ground in blending legal and social perspectives of the experiences of children, and identifies concrete ways forward for the better implementation of the CRC treaty in the various political contexts that exist in Africa.

Master's Thesis from the year 2017 in the subject Law - European and International Law, Intellectual Properties, grade: A, University of Pretoria (Centre for Human Rights), course: LLM Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa, language: English, abstract: The African Union (AU) has put in place a robust and comprehensive framework for the promotion and protection of Children’s rights in Africa. This was achieved in 1990 with the adoption of the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (African Children’s Charter). The African human rights system is the only regional system that has a child rights instrument. The African Children’s Charter addresses issues that are specific to the African child. The African Children’s Charter entered into force on 29 November 1999. As at the time of conducting this study, the African Children’s Charter had been ratified by 48 African states, whiles even others are yet to ratify same. The African states that are yet to ratify the Charter are: Democratic Republic of Congo, Kingdom of Morocco, Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, Republic of Somalia, Republic of São Tomé and Príncipe, Republic of South Sudan, and Republic of Tunisia.

Most children in Africa start working from a very early age, helping the family or earning wages. Should this work be abolished, tolerated, or encouraged? Such questions are the subject of much debate. International and national organizations, employers, parents, and children often have diverse opinions and put pressure in different directions. The contributions in this book offer intensive fieldwork and careful analysis of children's activities, considering childhood and family, work and play, work in rural and urban contexts, paths to learning, work and school, and children's rights. (Series: Reports on African Studies / Beitrage zur Afrikaforschung - Vol. 52)

About the publication Human rights norms will largely remain hollow if they are not translated into the lived realities of people on the ground. Given the diversity and complexities of human rights norms, the arrays of institutions, mechanisms and resource required to give full effect to these norms, implementation of human rights norms is a continuous and progressive undertaking. Progress, to be meaningful, should have milestones and mechanisms for tracking it. The reporting mechanisms are human rights’ monitoring and evaluation plans and systems to track progressive implementation. This book provides an assessment of the reporting mechanisms of child rights treaty bodies. It highlights what is working or not working and why, making recommendations for further improvement of the reporting mechanism to better work for children in Africa. The findings and recommendations in the book are based on a study commissioned by the Centre for Human Rights, to assess the effects of reporting to United Nations and African Union child rights treaty bodies on the enjoyment of rights, protection and welfare of children in Africa. It covers 17 African countries, and provides a historical snapshot of the situation as at the end of 2017.

In 2020, the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACRWC) celebrates 30 years since its adoption. To date, 50 African States have ratified the ACRWC, and 28 have submitted the initial report, 12 have submitted both initial and periodic reports to the African Committee of Experts on the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACERWC) on the implementation of the ACRWC and have received recommendations from the ACERWC. To ascertain the extent of children’s rights protection in Africa, the Centre for Human Rights was commissioned to undertake a study on the implementation of the ACRWC in 10 countries, namely: Algeria, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Ghana, Mozambique, Namibia, Sudan and Tanzania. In-country researchers were engaged to collect data using desk-based research to obtain information consisting of literature, documents and online sources that was then thematically analysed.