Abstract
With 30 years since the adoption of the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, this article discusses how the Charter has contributed to understanding and addressing children's rights to protection. Looking back, the article examines the impetus for the Charter in the context of an emerging field of child protection on the continent. Next, the article charts the paradigm shift in the child protection sector that occurred after the adoption of the Charter and the gradual development of African jurisprudence on child protection and safeguarding. This analysis is based on a comprehensive review of Concluding Observations and Recommendations by the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child and relevant documents, including General Comment 5 on State Party Obligations under the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (article 1) and Systems Strengthening for Child Protection. Looking ahead, the article posits future directions for child protection and safeguarding, including addressing new risks and harms enabled by digital technology. In conclusion, the article underscores the importance of the Children's Committee in articulating African perspectives and catalysing state party action to realise children's rights to protection in accordance with the Charter. Through the state party reporting process and with reference to General Comment 5 and forthcoming guidance, the Committee can continue meaningful dialogue with state parties to address persistent and new challenges to child protection taking a systemic approach.
Highlights
Professor of Law, Department of Public Law and Jurisprudence, University of the Western Cape, Bellville, South Africa; Professor of Children’s Rights in the Developing World, Department of Child Law, University of Leiden, The Netherlands https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8315-1255
Documents, including General Comment 5 on State Party Obligations under the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child and Systems Strengthening for Child Protection
The second part charts the paradigm shift in the child protection sector that occurred after the adoption of the African Children’s Charter and the gradual development of African jurisprudence on the Charter and child protection and safeguarding obligations. This is based on a comprehensive review of Concluding Observations and Recommendations by the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (African Children’s Committee) and an analysis of General Comment 5 on State Party Obligations under the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child and Systems Strengthening for Child Protection (General Comment 5)[7] and other regional measures aimed at introducing safeguarding
Summary
‘Child protection’ is generally defined as the protection of children from all forms of violence, abuse, exploitation and neglect, as well as the various measures for responding to harm.[1] The term is broad, encompassing abuse and exploitation that occurs in all settings both within and outside the child’s home and in the digital environment. It includes areas that are not necessarily violations of children’s rights but that may heighten children’s risk of harm, such as children on the streets or in conflict with the law.[2] In contrast to child protection efforts that work to prevent and respond to all forms of violence against children in all contexts, ‘child safeguarding’ focuses on the realm of organisational responsibility. The term is becoming more commonly understood with reference to the organisational ‘duty of care’ and the responsibility to ‘do no harm’.3. The term is becoming more commonly understood with reference to the organisational ‘duty of care’ and the responsibility to ‘do no harm’.3 There has been greater
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