Abstract

SUMMARY It has been 30 years since the adoption of the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child. This article takes the opportunity to reflect on where the child rights discourse is going to allow for proactivity in addressing emerging challenges and changing child rights context on the African continent. Using positional reflexivity as the methodology, I identify what I call six transformative promptings which are engendering a shift to the child rights discourse. I argue that for the discourse to be more erudite in ensuring the protection as well as well-being for children on the African continent, these six issues must be seriously considered. The first issue is a shift from child rights alterity to trans-disciplinarity. The second issue involves the evolution of the child rights promotional obligation. The third issue is on the nexus between exponential urbanisation on the African continent and fulfilment of children 's rights. The fourth issue is on the rise of the nebulous information communication technology. The fifth issue is on addressing cross border child rights violations and lastly the small matter of financing child rights using domestic resource mobilisation. Key words: positional reflexivity; children's rights; African Children's Charter

Highlights

  • The third issue is on the nexus between exponential urbanisation on the African continent and fulfilment of children’s rights

  • This article provides a prognostic perspective of the child rights discourse in Africa, in the context of reflecting on 30 years since the adoption of the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (African Children’s Charter).[1]

  • I argue that the celebration of 30 years since the adoption of the African Children’s Charter should present an opportunity to reflect on where the child rights discourse is going, to allow for proactivity in addressing the emerging challenges and changing context on the African continent

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Summary

Introduction

This article provides a prognostic perspective of the child rights discourse in Africa, in the context of reflecting on 30 years since the adoption of the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (African Children’s Charter).[1]. There is still limited ICT governance on the continent which is creating many grey areas on which perpetrators of violations of children’s rights are capitalising Going forward, this issue must be at the centre of the child rights discourse to ensure that as Africa embraces technology, risks associated with it are mitigated. I raise a trepidation that whilst the promotion of free movement of people is a welcome initiative towards a cohesive Africa, it comes with opportunities for increased cross-border child rights violations This brings regional economic communities and other regional mechanisms into the child rights discourse equation. In attending to these issues, I use positional reflexivity methodology, which is enunciated in the part

Reflexivity
PH Collins Black feminist thought
Unpacking ‘child rights discourse’
12 E Ellis et al ‘Autoethnography
15 TA van Dijk Prejudice in discourse
Transformative prompting 1
17 AL Enobi Terrorism financing
20 B Udegbe ‘Social policy and the challenge of development in Nigeria and Ghana
Transformative prompting 2
26 The Dakar Framework for Action
Transformational prompting 3
28 African Development Bank ‘African Economic Outlook 2019
33 E Riggio ‘Child friendly cities
Transformational prompting 4
45 The Digital Watch Observatory ‘Cambridge Analytica explained
Transformational prompting 5
Transformational prompting 6
60 A Bhushan et al Financing the post-2015 development agenda
Conclusion
Findings
64 B Moyo ‘How to make societies thrive
Full Text
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