Children, especially children in Africa, are disproportionately affected and their rights violated, as a result of the physical impacts of climate change. UNICEF has reported that 32 of the 45 ...countries identified globally in the Children's Climate Risk Index as the worst affected by climate change are in sub-Saharan Africa. Climate change threatens not only the immediate survival of children, but also their growth and development, as well as their ability to learn, play, and reach adulthood. Furthermore, the majority of Africa's children live in families and communities with little resilience to adapt to both climate-induced emergencies and slow-onset events. This as a backdrop, litigation is one important tool used, often as a measure of last resort, to address and expedite climate change action. The topic is of increasing interest regionally, and this article looks specifically at the convergence of child rights and climate change litigation in Africa. It is an attempt to respond to the question "what are the opportunities as well as challenges for current and future child rights-based climate change litigation in Africa"?
The 'Convention on the Rights of the Child ('CRC')' is definitely informed by many documents - binding and non-binding - that actually predate it. Of course, these include the 'International Covenant ...on Civil and Political Rights ('ICCPR'), the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the 'Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women' ('CEDAW'). There are also instruments that are not per se 'human rights instruments' but that actually inform the CRC. For example, the 'Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction' or the 'Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption' can be mentioned.
The efforts to create a world fit for children, including for those affected by armed conflict, remain a work in progress. Increasingly, regional organizations, prime among them the African Union and ...its organs, are being asked to play a more meaningful role in pushing for the realization of the rights and protections of children in armed conflict. This piece explores trends and developments in respect of children and armed conflict in Africa, and offers few ideas on how the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, which holds significant promise, can continue to rise to this challenge.
I was not terribly sure how many people I could reasonably expect for this lecture, especially since the former Prime Minister, the Hon. Tony Abbott, has said that Australians are ‘sick of being ...lectured to by the United Nations’ (Cox 2015). Thank you for your presence and for the opportunity.A few disclaimers are in order. First, I am a migrant. Second, this lecture does not intend to engage in detail with the laws, processes, structures, and so on of Australia, but rather offers an ‘outsider’s view’ of the obligations in the 'Convention on the Rights of the Child' (CRC or ‘the Convention’). Third, the State Party Report of Australia under the CRC was submitted early in 2018, expected 15 January 2018, and submitted on the same date (a big credit to the State). When I accepted the invitation to present the Annual Lecture a year ago (in 2017), this was not yet the case. This is a revised version of the Annual Human Rights Lecture presented by the author on 22 March 2018 in Sydney at the University of New South Wales.
Mezmur offers reflections on how the CRC Committee does and should address age-based discrimination against children. He prioritizes four topics to which the Committee should pay close attention: ...guidance to states parties on domestic law, addressing reservations, using the Optional Protocol on a Communications Procedure ("OPIC"), and clarifying the appropriate use of the best-interests-of-the-child principle to address age-based discrimination against children.
November 2017 marks the 18th anniversary of the coming into force of the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, its transition from ‘childhood’ to ‘adulthood’. The anniversary indeed ...offers an opportunity to reflect and take stock of the limited progress so far, and the work that remains to be done, in our collective efforts to create an African fit for children. Apart for discussing the ‘slow start’ the Charter faced, as well as reservations entered into it by few States, the piece focuses on three substantive issues that the Charter has added value on, namely, the definition of a child, child marriage, and children and armed conflict. The section that follows delves briefly into the core business of the African Committee, namely, consideration of State party reports, dealing with individual complaints, and conducting investigative missions. The piece concludes that, despite limitations, the Charter is not counting its days but making its days count.
TITRE ET RÉSUMÉ EN FRANÇAIS: Joyeux 18ème anniversaire à la Charte africaine des enfants: ne pas compter ses jours mais faire en sorte que ses jours comptent RÉSUMÉ: Novembre 2017 marque le 18ème anniversaire de l’entrée en vigueur de la Charte africaine des droits et du bien-être de l’enfant, son passage de ‘l’enfance’ à ‘l’âge adulte’. L’anniversaire offre en effet l’occasion de réfléchir et de faire le point sur les progrès limités jusqu’ici, et le travail qui reste à faire, dans nos efforts collectifs pour créer une afrique convenable pour les enfants. Outre les discussions sur le ‘démarrage lent’ de la Charte, ainsi que sur les réserves émises par quelques Etats, cet article se concentre sur trois questions de fond sur lesquelles la Charte apporte une valeur ajoutée: la définition d’un enfant, le mariage des enfants et les enfants dans le contexte des conflits armés. La section qui suit décrit brièvement les principales activités du Comité africain, à savoir l’examen des rapports étatiques, le traitement des plaintes individuelles et la conduite de missions d’enquête. La pièce conclut que, malgré les limites, la Charte ne compte pas ses jours mais fait en sorte que ses jours comptent.
No fewer than 25 African countries have been identified where attacks on and killings of persons with albinism have in recent years been perpetrated. These attacks and killings raise multiple human ...rights questions. The communication of X v United Republic of Tanzania decided by the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities concerned a complaint by a person with albinism, who was attacked. Issues such as ratione materia; remedies; legal aid; delays in solving cases; being equal before and under the law, and equal and effective legal protection of the law; torture and re-victimisation; as well as protection of the integrity of the person are the thematic issues covered in the article. In conclusion, the implications of the Mr X decision and how it should reverberate beyond the borders of Tanzania are addressed.
In 2016 the African Children’s Committee dealt with its first amicable settlement under the African Children’s Charter. The article discusses amicable settlements within the African human rights ...system, and analyses Government of Malawi v Institute for Human Rights and Development in Africa – the first amicable settlement dealt by the African Children’s Committee. Some thematic reflections are proffered relating to the definition of a child, child marriage, the notion of ‘serious and massive violations’ of children’s rights, reparations, the mandate to initiate an amicable settlement, and the follow-up to the amicable settlement reached.
A fundamental component of the protective mandate of the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (the African Children’s Committee) is the communications procedure, which ...allows the Committee to receive and consider complaints on issues that fall within the scope of the African Children’s Charter. In its early years, the African Children’s Committee did not have a smooth take-off, especially in relation to its communications procedure. In the last decade, however, it has managed to rise above the challenges that affected its communications procedure in its early years. It has since then made significant strides by considering the communications submitted to it and rendering decisions on the merits of these communications. It has also resolved one communication through an amicable settlement. This indeed offers an opportunity to interrogate the efforts made by the African Children’s Committee to follow up on the implementation of these decisions. The follow-up is crucial to ensure that these decisions have an impact on the lived realities of children at national levels. The article argues that, despite the fact that the African Children’s Committee recognises the importance of the follow-up process and has undertaken a broad range of measures to this effect, there is still a great need for improvement in this regard. The article proposes some possible additional approaches that the African Children’s Committee could explore in order to improve its follow-up procedure to facilitate the implementation of its decisions on communications.
TITRE ET RÉSUMÉ EN FRANCAIS: ‘Suivi’ en tant qu’un choice-less choice: vers l’amélioration de la mise œuvre des décisions du Comité africain sur le droit et le bien-être de l’enfant sur les communications
RÉSUMÉ: Un élément fondamental du mandat de protection du Comité africain d’experts sur les droits et le bien-être de l’enfant est la procédure de communication qui permet au Comité de recevoir et d’examiner des plaintes sur les droits des enfants africains. Dans ses premières années, le Comité a eu quelques défis, notamment en ce qui concerne sa procédure de communication. Au cours de la dernière décennie, le Comité a réussi à surmonter les difficultés qui ont affecté sa procédure de communication dans ses premières années. Depuis ce temps, il a fait de grands progrès en examinant les communications qui lui ont été soumises et en rendant des décisions sur ces communications. Il a également résolu une communication par un règlement à l’amiable. Cela offre en effet l’occasion d’interroger les efforts déployés par le Comité pour faire un suivi de la mise en œuvre de ces décisions. Le suivi est crucial pour garantir que ces décisions ont un impact sur les réalités vécues par des enfants aux niveaux nationaux. Malgré le fait que le Comité reconnaisse l’importance du processus de suivi et qu’il a pris toute une série de mesures à cet effet, il reste encore beaucoup à faire à cet égard. Cet article propose également des approches supplémentaires possibles que le Comité africain des enfants pourrait explorer afin d’améliorer son suivi.
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