Events

Learn more about the CSO Forum

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ABOUT THE CSO FORUM

The African Civil Society Forum (CSO Forum) is a group of Civil Society Organizations from the five African regions, namely, East, Southern, North, West and Central, through their regional child networks. The Forum exists to speak with one voice in pursuit of the common interest of the rights and welfare of African children as articulated in the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACRWC) and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC).

The Forum meets at least twice a year, before the sessions of the ACERWC, to take stock of progress, challenges, and priorities of children in Africa and prepare submissions for the ACERWC sessions. The CSO Forum has a standing slot at the ACERWC Sessions, where it presents statements covering key issues agreed on during the CSO Forum Sessions, which precede the ACERWC Sessions.

The CSO Forum sessions bring together CSOs and Pan African Human Rights Institutions working on the rights and welfare of children across Africa, key child rights experts, development partners, academics and researchers, to take stock and deliberate on various child rights thematic areas thus coming up with recommendations for strategic interventions by the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACERWC).

The 24th Ordinary session of the CSO Forum is scheduled to take place from 13th – 14th April 2024, before the ACERWC sessions, scheduled for 15th – 25th April 2024, in Maseru, Lesotho. There is also a planned children’s side event preceding the CSO Forum, which will be held virtually on April 6, 2024. The theme of the forum sessions will focus on children’s right to education. This is in line with the African Union Summit theme for 2024, which is “Educate an African Fit for the 21st Century: Building Resilient Education Systems for Increased Access to Inclusive, Lifelong, Quality, and Relevant Learning in Africa.”

Expected Outcomes

Improved partnerships and collaboration with the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACERWC)
Enhanced Child Rights CSOs voice and common position on key advocacy issues through the Outcome statements and communique’ to the Committee.
Improved and meaningful child participation and inclusion in decisions that affect them.
Increased knowledge and skills of CSO members on Child Rights reporting and governance, result in improved child rights programming.
Concrete action plans and advocacy strategies for addressing relevant child rights issues by member CSOs.
Strengthened networks and partnerships among CSOs, fostering long-term cooperation.

MASERU, LESOTHO

The 24th session of the CSO Forum will take place in Maseru, Kingdom of Lesotho. Click the Icon above to learn fun facts about Lesotho

DATES

The 24th session of the CSO Forum will take place will on the 13th-14th of April, 2024. Click the Calendar Icon to add a reminder of the event.

VENUE

The Venue for the 24th CSO Forum will be communicated in due time. In the mean time, know more about the expected weather in April

Registration

All participants are required to pay a subsidized registration fee of $100.00 (one hundred and Dollars). The said amount contributes towards expenses relating to the conference package (conference room, tea and coffee, lunch, water, interpretation equipment and interpreters’ fees, projector, documentation, stationery and other administrative logistics/support) provided during the Forum only. Furthermore, note that the said amount must be paid by ALL participants in cash at the registration desk

FOR PATICIPANT REGISTRATION - CLICK HERE

FOR SIDE EVENT REGISTRATION - CLICK HERE

24TH ORDINARY SESSION OF THE CSO FORUM

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About the CSO Children's Forum

To realize the principle of child participation as envisioned in both the Charter and the CRC, the CSO Forum always holds a children’s
session preceding the main sessions. Children from the various regions come together for a dialogue and consultation on the given theme. The outcome statement of the session is then presented by a child representative at the CSO Forum and ACERWC Sessions. Both the ACRWC and UNCRC provide that every child has the right to a clean and healthy environment. Climate change has a direct impact on human rights and thus on the rights of the children.

WHERE?

The session for the children's Forum will take place virtually. The application that we are going to use for the event will be zoom. Click the icon above to download zoom for your desktop or smart phone