Information Note
Experts’ Consultation on Laws and Policies on Violence against Children in Africa
In collaboration with Plan Norway
December 13-14, 2010
Addis Ababa
The African Child Policy Forum
P.O. Box 1179
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Tel: 251-11-662-8192/96/97/99
Fax: 251-11-662-8200
Website: www.africanchildforum.org
www.africanchild.info
Experts’ Consultation on Laws and Policies on Violence against Children in Africa
Background
Across Africa the protection of children from violence calls for urgent action. Children in
Africa are exposed to various forms of physical, sexual and psychological abuse in the home,
school and community. Much as children are valued as precious beings both in their own
right and as sources of social and economic security, they are also treated with little
sensitivity, consideration or respect in their everyday life. This happens either in the name of
what tradition dictates or because they are not viewed as whole human beings with all the
rights that adults have.
There are several underlying reasons why violence remains widely prevalent, largely invisible
and socially accepted, but three below are especially important.
 First, there is insufficient recognition of the serious consequences and
unacceptability of violence against children resulting in complacency. This has its
genesis in a general acceptance of violence as a form of discipline and in the
continued justifications given for traditional practices, harmful though they may be. At
the political and policy level, the reticence and complacency of leadership is related
in part to insufficient knowledge on the huge nature of the problem and its impact on
child survival, development and wellbeing, and ultimately on the establishment of a
culture of peace, rights and good governance in Africa. Civil society organisations
have not (yet) been able to change public opinion and attitudes towards violence
against children. Nor have they been able to penetrate the political and policy level
with sufficient argumentation on the detrimental consequences of violence and the
legal national, regional and international prohibitions in place to curb and stop its
occurrence.
 Second, inequality between men and women and the overall subordination of women
and girls in society at large contributes to the persistent violence. The social belief
that women are fundamentally of less value than men results in deeply entrenched
gender inequalities and in institutionalised social customs, norms and attitudes. This
in turn supports and perpetuates violence against girls. Although civil society
organisations are actively engaged in combating gender inequalities and lobbying for
gender issues, the fruits of these efforts are still relatively small. A stronger civil
society united around cases of gender based violence and harmful traditional
practices against girls and women using common evidence based advocacy tools
would be fundamental in changing the status quo.
 Third, violence continues to prevail because of weak legal and policy frameworks and
response mechanisms. Despite progress in some countries in enacting national
legislation to curb violence, many are yet to put in place national legal frameworks
that prohibit or penalise violence. Where laws exist, they suffer from various
shortfalls such as: the limited awareness of the laws among duty bearers; the
absence of provisions prohibiting specific forms of violence such as corporal
punishment; and, the non-prohibition of harmful traditional practices. Although many
civil society organisations work on popularising national laws and regional and
international legal instruments, the absence of a comprehensive overview of the
legal frameworks in African and the status of their implementation in African
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countries limits many organsiations from making a strong case to outlaw violence.
Finally, where good legislation is in place, enforcement remains a key obstacle due to
insufficient budget allocation and capacity to ensure implementation. Consequently,
The African Child Policy Forum (ACPF) has taken up the theme of Budgeting for
Children in its bi-annual African Report on Child Wellbeing as a means of brining out
the assisting gaps. The African Union has emphasised the importance of budgeting
by making it the theme for the Day of the African Child in 2010. Data and analysis of
how countries are allocating resources to prevent violence against children is
imperative for civil society to tackle this challenge.
The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and the African Charter on the Rights
and Welfare of the Child (‘the African Charter’) expect state parties to undertake legislative
and other measures to implement the rights enshrined in the treaties. In Africa, progress and
success rates in realising Article 19 (1) and 16 (1) of the CRC and the African Charter that
oblige states to provide appropriate legislative, administrative, social and educational
measures to protect children from all forms of violence varies from country to country.
Countries apply different approaches and processes in amending existing provisions or the
introduction of new provisions and harmonisation of the provisions of the national laws in
order to eliminate inconsistencies, contradiction or gaps with the international and regional
principles.
Indeed significant developments have been marked at the national level, in terms of the
constitutional recognition of children’s protection rights and the development of national
legislations and policies designed to ensure their realisation. Others are pursuing legislative
review to achieve full prohibition. Despite this, research by The African Child Policy Forum
(ACPF) indicates that gaps and inconsistencies within national laws still persist, indicating the
need for adequate legal and policy instruments concurrent with the appropriate provisions at
the various levels to ensure that the rights recognised in the CRC and African Charter are
respected, protected and fulfilled.
The proposed experts’ consultation meeting will offer an opportunity for policy makers,
practitioners, civil society, and academics from Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Democratic
Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, Senegal, Uganda and Zambia to reflect
and debate on the steps needed to strengthen the national legal and policy instruments
concurrent with the appropriate provisions at the various national levels to ensure the
realization of the rights recognised in the CRC and the African Charter. This is part of a wider
ACPF initiative on the Family and Child programme. The overall goal of the programme is to
invest in the family which is at the centre for child protection and wellbeing.
In order to achieve this goal, the consultation will be based on two objectives. First, provide
up-to-date data and knowledge on the law and policy environment, prevention and response
mechanisms and national programmes put in place to end violence against children in Africa.
Secondly reach consensus on the way forward for change by proposing a way forward for
legislative and policy reform.
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Objectives

to provide latest data and information on laws, policies, implementing and monitoring
mechanisms to eliminate all forms of violence in all settings against children selected
African countries.

to produce a Plan of Action for legislative and policy reform for the protection of
children from violence in Africa to be proposed to the African Committee of Experts
on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (the Committee)1.

to promote further national law and policy reforms by proposing options for
establishing adequate legal and policy instruments concurrent with the Convention
on the Rights of the Child and African Charter.
Outcomes
The expected key outcomes include:




Increased awareness of and support for laws, policies and institutional reform
for the protection of children from violence in Africa
A Plan of Action for legislative and policy reform on protection of children from
violence in Africa
A strengthened constituency to stimulate further national law and policy reforms
for the elimination and prevention of violence against children in their settings
Renewed governments’ commitment to: i) ensure zero tolerance to violence
against children in all settings, ii) strengthen the protection and response
mechanisms and iii) provide the appropriate support and assistance to parents
Partners and Participants
The meeting is being organised by ACPF in partnership with Plan Norway. Participants will
include government representatives, policy makers, child rights experts, researchers, and
CSOs from ten African countries.
Consultative Meeting Programme
The programme includes sessions on the following:

Message from the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Violence against
Children

Violence against Children in Africa: An Overview

Positive Initiatives on Full Prohibition of Corporal Punishment Across the Region
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On the occasion of the 15th Session of the Committee and during a special session on violence
against children, the Committee, pledged to lobby for violence against children to be the theme of
an AU Heads of State Summit in the year 2012. This experts’ consultative meeting will be an input
to putting issues of violence against children on the pan-Africa agenda.
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
Combating Violence against Children in Africa: A summative analysis of the legal and policy
strategies in selected African countries

Child Protection and Response Mechanisms in Africa

Violence against Children with Disabilities

Children and Youth Participation

Draft Plan of Action for Legislative and Policy Reform on the Protection of Children from all
forms of Violence in Africa
ACPF’s Publications on Violence against Children to be presented at the Experts’
Consultation
1. A Review of Laws and Policies on Violence against Children in Africa
2. Une Revue des Lois et Politiques sur la Violence Contre les Enfants en Afrique
3. Laws, Policies and Realities for Ending Violence against Children in Ethiopia,
Kenya and Uganda
4. Childhood Scars in Africa: A retrospective study on violence against girls in
Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo, Nigeria, and Senegal
5. Breaking the Silence: Violence against Children with Disabilities
6. Briser le Silence: violence contre les enfants en situation de handicap en
Afrique
7. Breaking the Silence: Violence against Children with Disabilities
An advocacy Report
8. Female Genital Mutilation in Africa: Promising Actions and Persisting Challenges
9. Mutilations Genitales Feminines: Actions prometteuses et defies persistants
Launch Ceremony on December 13, 2010
Experts’ Consultation Programme
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Protection of Children against Violence in Africa
December 13-14, 2010 at CCRDA, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Time
Activity
Resource Person
Day One
8:30 – 9:00
Registration
Welcome Note
Opening Remarks
9:00 – 10:00
ACPF
David Mugawe,
Executive Director, ACPF
H.E. Wzo. Zenebu
Tadesse, Minister of
Women, Children, and
Youth Affairs, Ethiopia
Representative from
Plan Norway
Keynote Address
10:00 – 10:20
Coffee Break
10:20 – 11:05
Violence against Children in Africa: An Overview
11:05 – 11:15
Documentary: Beating Violence
11:15 – 11:45
Positive Initiatives Across the Region
Presentation: Progress towards full prohibition of Corporal
Punishment in Africa
11:45 – 12:15
Plenary Discussion
12:15 – 13:00
Presentation: Combating Violence against Children in
Africa: A summative analysis of the legal and
policy strategies in selected African countries
13:00 – 14:00
Lunch
14:00 – 14:30
Presentation: Child Protection and Response Mechanisms
in Africa
14:30 – 15:15
Plenary Discussion
The Vulnerable Position of Children with Disabilities
15:15 – 15:30
Presentation: Breaking the Silence: Violence against
Children with Disabilities
15:30 – 15:50
Coffee Break
Mrs. Agnès Kabore,
Chair of ACERWC
CRDA
Saba Lishan,
Programme Officer,
ACPF
ACPF
Sonia Vohito,
Programme Officer,
ACPF
Dr. Benyam Dawit, Vice
President of ACERWC
Dr. Atangcho Nji
Akonumbo,
University of Yaoundé
II– Cameroon
CRDA
Dr. Eddy Joshua
Walakira, Makerere
University
Dr. Benyam Dawit, Vice
President of ACERWC
Bob Ransom, Ethiopian
Center for Disability and
Development
CRDA
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15:50 – 16:30
Plenary Discussion
Dr. Benyam Dawit, Vice
President of ACERWC
Day Two
Children and Youth Participation in Protection
9:00 – 9:15
Documentary: Of Life and Death What Children Say
ACPF
9:15 – 9:45
Presentation: Children and Youth Participation
9:45 – 10:05
Message from the Special Representative of the SecretaryGeneral on Violence against Children
David Mugawe,
Executive Director, ACPF
10:05 – 10:30
10:30 – 10:50
10:30 – 11:00
Plenary Discussion
Coffee Break
Presentation: Draft Plan of Action for Legislative and Policy
Reform on Protection of Children from
Violence in Africa
Participants
CRDA
Dr.Eddy Joshua
Walakira, Makerere
University
11:00 – 11:10
Briefing on the Group Work Session
11:10 – 13:00
Group Work Session
13:00 – 14:00
Lunch
14:00 – 15:30
Plenary Presentation: Working Session Outputs
15:30 - 16:00
Coffee Break
16:00 – 16:30
Closing of the conference
Yehualashet Mekonen,
Senior Programme
Manager, ACPF
Dr. Benyam Dawit, Vice
President of ACERWC
Group Leaders
CRDA
Group Leaders
CRDA
H.E. Bience Gawanas,
Commissioner for Social
Affairs, African Union
ACERWC: African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child
Proposed group leaders
Dr. Atangcho Dr. Atangcho Nji
Dr.Eddy Joshua Walakira
Professor Jacquline Oduol
Mrs. Grace Tikambenji
Mrs. Judith M A Mulenga
Contact person
Saba Lishan:
Programme Officer
Email: [email protected]
Telephone +251 116 62 81 92/96/97/99
Fax: +251 116 62 82 00
ACPF
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