Oil production in South Sudan: A lifeline for the economy or an infringement on children’s right to a safe, clean and healthy environment?
Posted: 22 November, 2024 Filed under: Akot Makur Chuot, Yeabsira Teferi | Tags: accountability, African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, business enterprises, children’s rights, Constitution of the Republic of South Sudan of 2011, deaths of children, economic interference, effective remedies, environment, environmental assessments, environmental pollution, fairness, human rights, international human rights law, legislation, Ogoni people, Oil production, oil sector, oil-fields, South Sudan, UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, violations of children’s rights Leave a comment
Author: Akot Makur Chuot
LLM Candidate, Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria
Introduction
Oil-operating companies have been acting carte blanche with absolute impunity in South Sudan without complying with international practices premised on human rights considerations. The human rights violations in Unity and Upper Nile States are a testimony that private businesses in the oil and gas industry are unfettered in South Sudan. As a result, the actions and omissions of oil-operating companies in South Sudan have resulted in violations of children’s rights as will be explored in section 4 of the article. This is attested by the birth of children with deformities, stillbirth and several health concerns. It can be argued that the failure of South Sudan to regulate the business enterprises in the oil sector is a breach of its obligations under international human rights law.
Implementation beyond banning: the prohibition of child marriage in Sierra Leone
Posted: 21 October, 2024 Filed under: Sorie Bangura | Tags: ACRWC, African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, child education, child marriage, Child Rights Act, children’s rights, early marriage, educational level, end child marriage, girls, income poverty line, lack of investment, poverty, Prohibition of Child Marriage Act 2024, reproductive health, Sexual Offences Act, Sierra Leone, teenage pregnancy, toilet facilities, Universal Periodic Review Leave a comment
Author: Sorie Bangura
Manager, Save the Children, Sierra Leone
In 2022, during the third cycle of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) on Sierra Leone, the UPR working group urged Sierra Leone to ‘allocate adequate budgetary resources for the promotion and protection of children’s rights; harmonising laws to prevent and end child marriage, and undertaking comprehensive awareness-raising on the negative consequences of child marriage on girls; and enforcing the Child Rights Act and enabling the bill on the prohibition of child marriage.’ Fast forward to June 2024, Sierra Leone has enacted the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act 2024. The Act which prohibits and criminalises marrying anyone under the age of 18 also seek to protect the rights and development of girls which has long been violated and hindered.
Beyond obligation: The more reasons why States should keep reporting to the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child
Posted: 15 April, 2024 Filed under: Adiam Zemenfes Tsighe | Tags: advancement of children’s rights, African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, children’s rights, concluding observations, follow-up visits, National Human Rights Institutions, periodic reports, recommendations, State Party reporting Leave a comment
Author: Adiam Zemenfes Tsighe
Technical Expert, African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACERWC).
Adopted in 1990 by the then Organisation of African Unity (OAU), the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (the Charter), as of March 2024, has been ratified by 50 Member States of the African Union; Morocco, Saharawi Arab Republic, Somalia, South Sudan, and Tunisia are yet to ratify. Pursuant to article 43 of the Charter, Countries that have ratified the Charter are required to submit reports on the status of the implementation of the provisions of the Charter two years after ratification and every three years thereafter. The African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACERWC/Committee), established under article 32 of the Charter, assumes the mandate to receive and consider such reports. As of February 2024, 42 State Parties have reported to the Committee at least once while 8 State Parties have not submitted any report namely, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gambia, Libya, Mauritius, and Sao Tome and Principe. Among the 42 State Parties that have reported, 23 of them have submitted periodic reports of which 6 State Parties have submitted their second periodic reports. These 6 Countries are Burkina Faso, Kenya, Niger, Rwanda, Senegal, and South Africa. Rwanda has the highest number of reports by submitting its third periodic report to the Committee.
Ending child marriage: A call to action
Posted: 13 October, 2020 Filed under: Mary Izobo | Tags: 11 October, ACRWC, Africa, African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, both boys and girls, child marriage, complications from pregnancy, financial freedom, fundamental human rights, Gender discriminatory norms, gender-sensitive laws, girl child, ICRW, International Council of Research on Women, International Day of the Girl Child, My voice, our equal future 2 Comments
Author: Mary Izobo
International Human Rights Lawyer and Gender Advocate
Introduction
The International Day of the Girl Child is commemorated globally every year on 11 October since 2012 to highlight the injustices girls face based on their gender, while advancing the fulfilment of their rights, development and wellbeing. The United Nations theme for the International Day of the Girl Child 2020 is ‘My voice, our equal future.’ There is a specific emphasis on the girl child because there is a direct form of discrimination against girls who are often deprived of their fundamental human rights. Millions of girls from birth are discriminated against on the grounds of sex and gender. This year, as we commemorate the International Day of the Girl Child, it is important to bring to the world’s attention, child marriage which continues to be an unending anathema that serves as a challenge in the fulfilment and enjoyment of the rights and welfare of the girl child.
Child marriage is the marriage of a child before he or she turns 18 years of age. It is a global phenomenon that continues to obstruct the wellbeing of young boys and girls. Child marriage affects both boys and girls, but nine in ten children married off before they turn 18 years are girls. Every two seconds, a girl is married off, before she is physically, psychologically or emotionally developed enough to become a bride or mother. An estimated 650 million women and girls in the world today were married before they turned 18 years and one-third of these women and girls were married off before they turned 15 years. According to United Nations International Children Emergency Fund (UNICEF), out of the world’s population, 1.1 billion are girls and 22 million of them are married off before they attain adulthood.
Promoting and protecting children’s rights in Africa: Case of the Talibés of Senegal.
Posted: 31 May, 2018 Filed under: Henrietta Ekefre, Jonathan Obwogi, Samuel Ade Ndasi, Susan Mutambasere | Tags: ACERWC, African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, children's rights, daaras, financial targets, forced child begging, la Rencontre Africaine pour la Defense des Droits de l’Homme, RADDHO, religious schools, Senegal, street begging, Talibés 1 CommentAuthors: Coordinator and members of the Implementation Clinic of the Centre for Human Rights
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| Henrietta Ekefre | Samuel Ade Ndasi | Susan Mutambasere | Jonathan Obwogi |
In 2012, the Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria, together with La Rencontre Africaine pour la Defense des Droits de l’Homme (RADDHO), an NGO in Senegal, submitted a case to the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACERWC). The case concerned children forced into street begging in Senegal.
Since the 1980s, Senegal has had a challenge with access to primary education, which leaves thousands of children unable to get absorbed in the mainstream schools. Further, religion plays an important role in the upbringing of children. These have contributed to a situation where at least 100 000 children are enrolled in daaras (religious schools) often far away from their parents. The daaras are administered by marabouts who are religious leaders and not trained educators. These children who are called talibés live in deplorable and overcrowded conditions where they are subjected to various forms of abuse. The marabouts exploit the talibés by making them beg on the streets. In some instances, children are given financial targets to reach, failure of which results in punishment. There is no provision of medical care should the talibés fall sick as they essentially have to fend for themselves.
Sexual violence against children: Are girls in Mozambique little angels or sex objects?
Posted: 15 June, 2015 Filed under: Michael Addaney | Tags: African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights, African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, Child Assault Units, child marriages, child protsitution, child sexual abuse, Children and Social Affairs, Children’s Act of 2008, Children’s Court, constitution, Convention on Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women, Convention on the Rights of the Child, CRC, cruel treatment, family, health, international human rights obligations, Juvenile Justice Act of 2008, Ministry of Gender, Mozambique, post-trauma counselling, rights and welfare of children., sexual violence, UNICEF, victims, violent 2 Comments
Author: Michael Addaney
Student (MPhil Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa), Centre for Human Rights, Faculty of Law, University of Pretoria
Global statistics indicate that child sexual abuse is increasing with an estimated 150 million girls and 73 million boys under the age of 18 having experienced forced sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual abuse. According to the East, Central and Southern Africa Health Commission, one out of three girls in Sub-Saharan African experiences some form of sexual violence before the age of 18. In Mozambique alone, 33% of children between 12 and 15 years have been victims of sexual violence, one of the highest rates in the world.
Also, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) observes that child prostitution is a growing concern in Mozambique. The Mozambican Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Affairs links the increased sexual violence with the country’s failure in the realisation of the child’s right to education with an estimated 36% of girls aged between 13 and 18 years married instead of being in school.
This situation is also attributed to the Mozambican civil war which weakened institutions particularly those protecting the rights and welfare of children. Despite major sector-specific strategic frameworks to combat sexual violence against children, these are often done with little consultation and coordination. This has had a deleterious effect on the enforcement of children’s rights through the existing legal and institutional arrangements.
Meanwhile, Mozambique is a state party to the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACRWC), African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (African Charter), Convention on Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and all the relevant international human rights instruments. The domestic framework for addressing sexual violence against children includes the Children’s Act of 2008 and Juvenile Justice Act of 2008 which translate the CRC and the ACRWC into national child rights legislation.
Nigerian schoolgirl kidnappings not just an act of terrorism
Posted: 19 May, 2014 Filed under: Karen Stefiszyn | Tags: #bringbackourgirls, African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, Bok Haram, criminal law, gender-based violence, kidnapping, militant, Nigeria, Northern Nigeria, patriarchal society, Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa, school girls, terrorism, UNICEF Leave a comment
Author: Karen Stefiszyn
Programme Manager: Gender Unit, Centre for Human Rights
The kidnapping by Boko Haram of over 200 school girls in Northern Nigeria is an act of gender based violence for which not only Boko Haram is responsible, but also the Nigerian government. Indeed the militant group has carried out atrocities against boys and men that are equally deplorable, however, in this instance it is not by chance that Boko Haram kidnapped girls. They were targeted because they are girls.
The leader of Boko Haram said in a video shortly after the kidnapping that he would sell the girls in the market. His statement is reflective of an exceptional disdain for girls, which did not exist in isolation, but within a patriarchal society where harmful stereotypes perpetuate girls’ inferiority and enable violence against women to be an accepted norm. Amnesty International has reported that up to two thirds of Nigerian women may have experienced violence in the home by an intimate partner. While domestic violence differs in nature from the kidnapping of over 200 school girls, the common thread is the context within which the acts occur; in a society which does not accord women equal value and provides the structural conditions whereby a girl or woman can be abused in the home or kidnapped and threatened to be sold in the market.
Education for all, even for children with disabilities in Kenya
Posted: 5 April, 2013 Filed under: William Aseka | Tags: African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights, African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, Children with disabilities, Committee on Economic Social and Cultural Rights, Constitution of Kenya, Convention on Rights of People with Disabilities, education, human rights, international human rights, Kenya, United Nation Convention on the Rights of the Child, Universal Declaration of Human Rights 4 Comments
Author: William Aseka
Program Assistant (Human Rights Advocacy for Children with Disabilities), Governance Consulting
There is no outright definition of what education means, however commentators such as Milter has defined it as, an act, process or experience that systematically promotes learning, knowledge and development. By the same token, writers such as Mialeret have defined education from a much narrower view than the above stated, to mean formal instruction of knowledge within recognised and well-structured system of institutions and programmes. This definition by Mialeret is also seen in the 1997 International Standard Classification of Education. Therefore, having known what education means, then the question that comes next is: what is the right to education?
General Comment No. 13 of the Committee on Economic Social and Cultural Right (CESR) defines education as both a human right itself and an indispensable means of realising other human rights. The committee goes further to state that as an empowerment right, education is the primary vehicle by which economically and socially marginalised adults and children can lift themselves out of poverty and obtain the means to participate fully in their communities. These economically and socially marginalised groups include children with disabilities in Kenya and all over the world. This essentially means that children with disabilities are well protected and are entitled to education and it is not a favour that any government would be doing to these groups.
AfricLaw 
Corporal punishment as a public health concern: Breaking the cycle of violence against children in Africa
Posted: 25 September, 2025 | Author: AfricLaw | Filed under: Nqobani Nyathi | Tags: 1.2 billion children, Africa, African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, Children with disabilities, corporal punishment of children, dropout rates, General Comment 9, global public health concern, Guidelines on Ending Violence Against Children in Africa, no benefits, physical force, public health crisis, religion, religious traditions, tradition, violence, World Health Organisation (WHO) | 1 CommentDoctoral Candidate, Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria
On 20 August 2025, the World Health Organisation (WHO) launched a report declaring corporal punishment of children a global public health concern. By definition, corporal punishment is any punishment where physical force is used with the intention of causing some degree of discomfort or pain, however light.
The statistics are staggering. An estimated 1.2 billion children around the world are subjected to corporal punishment at home every year. Children exposed to such violence are more likely to suffer from anxiety, depression, low self-esteem and emotional instability. These effects often persist into adulthood, increasing the risk of alcohol and drug use, and violent behaviour. In schools, corporal punishment contributes to dropout rates and poor educational outcomes.
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