8th November 2023
Civil Society Organizations Forum on the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (CSO Forum) Communique to the 42nd Session of the ACERWC
Salutations:
• The Child representative, Jees from Benin in West Africa, The Honourable Chairperson of the Committee, Honourable Members of the Committee, HoDs of AU organ, Member States representatives, UN agencies’ representatives, fellow CSO representatives, the session delegates, good morning!
• I am here on behalf of child-focused Focused Civil Society Organizations in Africa and five African regions, forming the ACRWC CSO Forum
• We congratulate the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child on holding its 42nd Ordinary Session. We particularly commend the efforts in improving child participation in the Committee sessions, with children continuously participating in these sessions.
• We also want to congratulate the new Chairperson and new Committee members to be sworn in.
• Congratulations on the rich program of this session, which will see state party reports and communications being discussed as well as the launch of research findings and general comments.
• We, the child-focused Civil Society Organizations in Africa met on the 6th and 7th of November 2023 here in Addis Ababa at Sapphire Addis Hotel under the theme “Reflection on children’s vulnerabilities’. The said sitting gave us an opportunity to reflect on the vulnerable situations children find themselves in, existing policies and programs, identify gaps and challenge ourselves on the solutions therefrom.
• As CSOs, we reiterate our support for the mandate of the Committee through monitoring, complimenting and advocating for an Africa that respects, protects, and promotes the rights of its children.
1.Recognizing that:
a. Representation and legitimacy of the CSO Forum need improved participation and representation of CSOs from all regions for robust reflection discussions by the CSO Forum and resolutions therefrom for implementation by both CSOs and children.
b. While Member States continue to sign, ratify and domesticate the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, children are growing up in unfavourable conditions on the African continent, affecting their development.
c. Children’s vulnerabilities vary from access to basic needs such as education, health, water, shelter, and land; harmful practices such as child marriage, female genital Mutilation and early pregnancies; exposure to online sexual exploitation and abuse; adverse effects of climate change; violation of right to birth registration, compromising access to services; adverse effects of civil unrest in many African countries which has predisposed children to many other vulnerabilities. Vulnerability is also exacerbated by continued under resourcing by governments for the promotion, protection and fulfillment of the rights of the child.
2.Appreciating that:
a. Agenda 2040 aspires to facilitate the full implementation of the ACRWC and if fully utilised could usher Africa to a continent fit for her children by addressing children’s vulnerabilities.
b. The ACERWC participates at the CSO Forum sessions, notably this year and at the just ended 23rd session of the CSO Forum whereat members of the CSO Forum were challenged to continuously ensure the representation and meaningful engagement of children in the various ACERWC activities, particularly the Day of the African Child and the Ordinary Sessions of the Committee.
c. CSOs are recognised as a key stakeholder in promoting the ACRWC, monitoring its implementation as well as supporting reports to human rights mechanisms and on the implementation of concluding observations.
d. CSOs are called to enhance collaboration between the ACERWC and CSOs through the CSO Forum, towards the common goal of the child’s wellbeing as well as invest in efforts towards the implementation of the decisions and recommendations to member states by the Committee.
e. The ACERWC implemented some of the recommendations made by the CSO Forum in previous sessions such as making the digital environment and technology a theme for DAC, conducting country missions to Eswatini for child rights violations, addressing research gaps in the Continental study on children without parental care as well as developing the General Comment on FGM and on Education.
f. Accountability and child rights governance can collectively be enhanced through member states – CSO networks beyond treaty reporting.
3.Concerned that:
a. For Africa to be fit for children, the guns have to be silent, however we have seen unrest in a number of African countries with children losing their lives, being displaced and affecting access to basic services, notably in Sudan, Niger, The Democratic Republic of Congo, and Somalia where conflict has been sustained with the acts of terrorism, Ethiopia as well as South Sudan, Eswatini and Mozambique where conflicts are not completely over, going against the African Union Agenda 2063, Aspiration 4 and UN Security Council resolution 1612 (2005).
b. While the continent is working towards a unified common market as well as free movement of people, African States continue to place movement restrictions on Africans through stringent visa requirements as well as transport infrastructure challenges, becoming a hindrance to robust engagements on ending children’s vulnerabilities, facilitating full enjoyment of children’s rights.
4. Commit to:
a. Support the committee’s mandate in public education on the Charter; monitoring implementation of the Charter; monitoring the implementation of the concluding observations, disseminating general comments, creating partnerships with all key stakeholders to the realisation of children as well as show case the state of member states implementation of the Charter through the CSO and children’s reports.
b. Continue to play our critical role in facilitating meaningful participation of children in all platforms where decisions affecting their lives are taken.
c. Create public discourse with communities and children on children’s vulnerabilities that affect full enjoyment of their rights.
d. Fully utilise the findings of the continental researches to inform our interventions and stakeholder engagements
5. Recommend the following:
a. The Committee to continuously engage directly with children, CSOs and NANHRIs as a means of accelerating the domestication of the Charter and support the implementation of the concluding observations at country and sub-regional levels.
b. The Committee is urged to invest in a continental dashboard showing real time data on varies situations of that make children vulnerable as well as progress on the domestication of the Charter.
c. The Committee to facilitate State Parties response to children’s vulnerabilities through decisions and recommendations on State Party reports as well as country missions.
d. The Committee to take the opportunity of the Draft General Comment on Education, to explicitly clarify to Member States, that the right to education includes the right to Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCF), from birth to school age; and to set out States’ obligations relating to the right to Early Childhood Care and Education.
e. The Committee to work with stakeholders, particularly building awareness of policies and systems and identifying areas for reforms and other regulatory interventions around the availability, accessibility and quality child care services for children below pre-primary school age.
f. The Committee in collaboration with other AU organs to facilitated increased awareness and capacity-building on treaties that relate to children’s well-being. In particular, we call for the ratification of the Protocol to the ACHPR on the Rights of Citizens to Social Protection & Social Security, the Disability Charter as well as the Elderly Charter.
g. The Committee through key stakeholders ensure enhanced understanding of treaty reporting by actively engaging with treaty bodies and establish an implementation matrix that allows tracking progress on the implementation of the ACERWC concluding observations.
h. The Committee through stakeholders needs a continued dialogue on child safeguarding in the African context
i. Increased advocacy for the realization of education as a fundamental right for all individuals. This should involve active efforts in promoting effective implementation of school re-entry policies. To ensure the success of these initiatives, we urge stakeholders to consider providing essential support, including financial assistance.
j. Increased efforts on the transformation of human capital, with a special emphasis on the education of young girls, aiming to empower and equip them to become ‘the girl’s generation’ that embodies digital literacy and innovation.
k. Stakeholders are urged to support child participation programmes and ensure that children’s voices are heard and their evolving capacities recognized.
l. Stakeholders need to ensure that policies and programs targeted at women, girls, and children are accessible to all citizens, particularly women, girls and children in both rural and urban communities.
m. CSOs, member states and other stakeholders are urged to place a strong emphasis on the importance of evidence in decision-making, with a shift from merely highlighting problems to advocating solutions that are well-informed by sound evidence.
n. The Committee to take cognizance of “The Kigali Declaration 2023: Turning Words into Action” aimed at closing the funding gap, and the convening of a global summit to secure financial commitments and actions to end FGM/C in the African continent.
o. The Committee to take note of the formation and launch of the END FGM/C Network Africa; an African-led, African-driven network that is committed to ending the practice of FGM/C across Africa, and ensuring that the rights of women and girls at risk of FGM/C are protected.
p. Enforce policies to prevent Online Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse and allocate budgets to address OCSEA. In addition, disseminate policy frameworks for better understanding by key duty bearers.
q. Stakeholders are urged to take all appropriate measures to promote involvement of parents, professionals, responsible authorities in the creation of opportunities for young children (0-8 years) to express their views and feelings
r. Stakeholders are urged to recognise, practice and encourage child participation down from the household level.
s. There is need for consistent engagement of children in decision-making on matters that affect them, especially increasing their agency. In particular, increased efforts on empowering adolescent girls with essential knowledge, skills, agency, peer support, and a supportive ecosystem; to encourage their meaningful engagement in programs and decision-making processes that directly impact their well-being, bodies, and future prospects.
stakeholders to have a ‘childish’ approach to the engagement. In particular, foster more child-centered programs, such as in Early Childhood Development (ECD) projects, through a child-centric approach to achieve meaningful results for children may not be instant but will lead to.
u. As per the Charter, parental responsibilities towards their children need to be re-emphasised so parents could engage in positive parenting as the first role models for children and address children’s vulnerabilities.
v. We are also concerned with the ongoing conflicts in the aforementioned African countries. These conflicts have exposed children in these countries to all forms of grave violations. We therefore urge the Committee to raise its voice, call upon warring parties to a complete ceasefire, and give a chance to dialogue.
w. We urge the Committee to engage as an AU organ with Member States to stop, with immediate effect, the restrictions on Africans freedom to freely move on their continent. Africans only have this one continent and should be allowed to move within the continent freely!
x. We strongly reject the’merging’ of the Committee and the Commission through the AU Reforms, as these will make children’s issues invisible and reverse all the gains made through the ACERWC, particularly on accountability to foster children’s rights by Member States.
y. We urge the collective African Union Member States to engage in wider stakeholder consultations on these AU reforms, and that includes consultations with children and civil society organisations.
z. We urge the African Member States to prioritise the rights of children through equitable resourcing and expenditure to ensure children realise their rights.
Conclusion
Once again, thank you for partnering with CSOs, and we remain committed to working with you for the Africa We Want—the Africa Fit for Her Children.
We wish you fruitful deliberations.
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