Summary: Below is a summary of the results. A full report will be available in the Forum's outcome document.
During the 3rd Forum on the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, Sophie Mosko from Save the Children presented the results of a questionnaire sent to participants of two previous meetings on the African Charter, requesting information on follow-up actions.
The results are based on 22 responses received from 11 countries and are therefore just a taster of developments. It is hoped more organisations will submit information to future questionnaires.
Sophie began by outlining some achievements of the Forum.
One of the goals, she said, had been to provide information to the African Committee. This is being achieved and can be seen in civil society recommendations recorded in the Committee's 13th and 14th session reports as well as the Committee's draft plan of action for 2010-2014.
A second goal was to influence nomination of candidates to serve on the Committee.
Civil society organisations developed and circulated a factsheet on how civil society organisations can participate in the nomination of candidates to the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child.
Survey results
- Elections to the Committee: Following circulation of the factsheet, nominations were discussed in Kenya, Senegal and the Gambia, Malawi, Zambia, Tanzania and South Africa.
Individuals have made efforts to nominate candidates in the following countries: Senegal, Zambia, Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Tanzania, Malawi, Botswana, South Africa, Somalia, Cote d'Ivoire, Ethiopia, Kenya, Chad, Mali.
The African Union Legal Affairs department can now officially receive nominations, although a deadline has not yet been confirmed.
Lobbying States to submit their initial report has been undertaken by organisations in: Togo, Senegal, Cote d'Ivoire, the Gambia (consultant identified to draft initial report), Sudan (due in 2010), Rwanda (to submit updated report).
Lobbying States to ratify the Charter has been undertaken in: Guinea-Bissau, Zambia and Swaziland.
Information about the Forum has been shared in many countries, including: the Gambia, where information was shared with 64 organisations, including media outlets, at a workshop in Burkina Faso and in Senegal, among networks in Zambia, in Kenya at a congress on juvenile justice with pro-bono lawyers. In addition, Kenya has instituted a national forum specifically to monitor implementation of the African Charter. Substantial information about the forum also appears with Google searches and on the CRIN website.
Organisations currently in contact with current Committee members are based in: Mali, Senegal, Burkina Faso, Guinea-Bissau and Kenya. One participant noted that Committee members are based in all these countries except for Guinea, stressing the need to clarify how organisations based in other countries can make contact, particularly with the language barrier that some face.
Training on the African Charter and Committee has been carried out in: Kenya, Senegal, Gambia, Tanzania, Burkina Faso, Guinea-Bissau, Rwanda, Togo, Ethiopia, Zambia, Uganda, Somaliland, Mali, Zanzibar and Sudan. Training has been given to children, club leaders, Ministry of Education, local authorities, hospital staff, teachers, NGO staff, journalists, parliamentarians, elders, religious leaders, academic institutions, among others.
Joint monitoring mechanisms exist in: Guinea-Bissau, Niger, Kenya and Burkina Faso.
Organisations have been involved in national law reform in: Zambia, Guinea-Bissau, Niger, Kenya, Tanzania, Zanzibar, Swaziland, Namibia and Sudan, DRC, Liberia and Cameroon.
Participants also suggested that the CSO forum could help connect coalitions at the sub-regional level and organise regional workshops.
pdf: http://www.crin.org/docs/Progress_report.ppt
