African Child - Children's Rights First Humanitarian Action in Africa: ACERWC

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African Child - Children's Rights First Humanitarian Action in Africa: ACERWC
ACERWC
          African Committee of Experts on
          the Rights & Welfare of the Child

                           16th June

    Day of the
African Child

“   Humanitarian
    Action in Africa:
    Children’s
    Rights First
African Child - Children's Rights First Humanitarian Action in Africa: ACERWC
“Humanitarian Action in Africa: Children’s Rights First “

A. Backgound                                   and impartiality, to deal with instances
                                               that affect the best interests of the child.
1. The theme for the Day of the African        These may be national issues concerning
Child (DAC) 2019 selected by the African       children that warrant a deliberate effort
Committee of Experts on the Rights and         by the States Parties to re-evaluate the
Welfare of the Child (ACERWC), established     approaches, policies, and laws that speak
in accordance with Articles 32 and 33 of the   to the rights and welfare of children.
African Charter on the Rights and Welfare
                                               B. Context of the theme
of the Child (the Charter) is “Humanitarian
Action in Africa: Children’s Rights First.”
                                               5. Humanitarian crises result from various
2. In 1991, the Assembly of Heads of State     factors or events or from a combination of
and Government of the then OAU instituted      several factors, and pose significant risks
the DAC in memory of the 16th June 1976        and threats to the lives, safety, security,
student uprising in Soweto, South Africa.      health or general wellbeing of a large
At that time, students marched in protest      number of people at a time – with little or
against the poor quality of education they     no capacity to cope with the impacts of the
received and demanded to be taught in          crises.1
their own languages.                           6. Humanitarian crises may be natural
3. The DAC serves to commemorate these         disasters, such as earthquakes, tsunamis,
                                               floods, and health epidemics. They may
children and the brave action they took
                                               also be man-made, resulting from factors
in defence of their rights. The DAC thus
                                               such as armed conflicts, tensions, or strife,
celebrates the children of Africa and calls
                                               or the result of human error or action,
for a serious introspection and commitment
                                               such as large scale industrial accidents.
towards      addressing     the   numerous
                                               Humanitarian crises may also come in the
challenges facing children across the          form of complex emergencies, that is,
continent. The Day should not be celebrated    usually, a combination of both man-made
by State Parties and other stakeholders        crises and natural disasters. This broad
as an event but rather as a process that       understanding of humanitarian crises also
draws on previous celebrations to create       calls for humanitarian action by States that
synergies that improve the realisation of      may not be experiencing (armed) conflicts
the rights of children under national and      but other disaster or emergency that
international law.                             requires humanitarian action.

4. The Committee is of the view that States
Parties that do not have humanitarian          1        World Vision International [US] ‘What
crises should engage the principles of         is a humanitarian disaster?’ http://www.wvi.
                                               org/disaster-management/what-humanitarian-
humanitarian action, including humanity        disaster.

Day of the   African Child   2019                                                        1
“Humanitarian Action in Africa: Children’s Rights First “

7. These crises often lead to the violations     10. Humanitarian crises have far-reaching
of children’s rights. These violations include   implications and affect all strata of society,
failure to provide education, health or an       with children being the most vulnerable to
adequate standard of living for children         the impacts, as ‘they have fewer resources
to enjoy their rights, and the effects of        to draw on to plan for, cope with, and
these violations may affect boys and girls       recover from disaster.’3
differently. For example, boys may, to a great
                                                 11. The purpose of humanitarian action
extent be subjected to arbitrary detention,
                                                 is to uphold, as much as possible, the
torture and other inhuman treatment and
                                                 human dignity of those affected by
forced recruitment; while girls often suffer
                                                 humanitarian crises, by among others,
slavery, sexual exploitation like forced
                                                 taking measures to save lives and alleviate
marriages, physical and sexual violations
                                                 their suffering. ‘Humanitarian action
like rape and forced prostitution during or
                                                 provides life-saving services and facilitates
after a crisis.
                                                 the return to normalcy for people and
8. Children in vulnerable situations suffer      communities affected by natural and man-
most from these crises. A case in point is       made disasters. It also seeks to lessen
children with disabilities, who need special     the destructive impact of disasters and
care and attention before, during or after a     complex emergencies.’4
crisis. State Parties are obliged to evaluate
                                                 12. At its core, the selection of the 2019
the viability of their policies to cater for
                                                 DAC theme recognises that children in
children in vulnerable situations, including
                                                 Africa endure the most consequences
children with disabilities, to ensure that
                                                 of armed conflict, tension, strife, and
their rights are upheld.
                                                 other humanitarian disasters/crises. This
9. Complex emergencies usually manifest          phenomenon depicts a greater problem-
in a complete or significant breakdown           the inadequacy in the protection of the
of order and authority, often arising from       child even before a humanitarian crisis
or resulting in violence and loss of life,       takes place.
displacements, damaged economies and a
                                                 13. According to UNICEF, approximately
breakdown of the fabric of society. ‘Security
                                                 1 out of every 4 children live in countries
risks for humanitarian workers’ and the
                                                 that are plagued by humanitarian crises,
‘hindrance or prevention of humanitarian
                                                 resulting in rights violations such as, lack
assistance by political and military
constraints’ are some other features of
complex emergencies.2                            crises/0/steps/22887.
                                                 3        World Vision International.
2        London School of Hygiene & Tropical     4              InterAction,       ‘Humanitarian
Medicine, ‘Health in Humanitarian Crises’,       Action’,     https://www.interaction.org/work/
https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/health-      humanitarian.

Day of the   African Child   2019                                                           2
“Humanitarian Action in Africa: Children’s Rights First “

of access to medical care, clean water and      the use of explosive weapons in densely
sanitation, nutrition, quality education or     populated areas, the destruction of vital
protection.5 It acknowledges that solutions     infrastructure like hospitals and schools.
to the challenges that these children face      Not only does this affect the provision of
lie in the use of human rights law and          humanitarian assistance but it also affects
humanitarian law. Problems like forcible        the positive realization of essential rights
displacement, separation of children from       such as health and education for children.
their families, trafficking or recruitment      The rights to education and health are
for conscription into armed groups,             often relegated in the hierarchy of rights
detention, economic exploitation, physical      that should be upheld during humanitarian
and psychological abuse and sexual              crises because States Parties do not often
exploitations require continued recognition     consider the realization of these rights as
and protection of children’s rights in such     “life-saving”.
humanitarian situations.
                                                16.      According to UNHCR, children
14. While these challenges can be               constitute     a    significant   proportion
addressed through humanitarian action,          of populations on the move across
this requires humanitarian access. UNICEF       international borders globally, with a large
decries the lack of humanitarian access in      number of those children moving from
the protection of the rights of the child in    and across Africa, especially children in
humanitarian situations.6 The lack of access    West and Central Africa.7 In Africa, 50%
is exacerbated through armed conflict, civil    of refugees are children, with about 3
unrest, and high-threat environments that       million children forced out of their origins
target humanitarian workers. This also          due to various humanitarian crises. Among
arises through the continued interference       migrants, nearly 1 in 3 is a child, which is
by parties to the conflicts, who restrict the   more than twice the global average.8
movement of workers, supplies and the
                                                17. Due to this significant number of
affected people.
                                                affected children, UNHCR recognises that
15. These challenges are exacerbated by         children face unique protection risks, that
the continued disregard for international       require that States and other partners work
law by parties to conflicts or in emergency     together to reduce these risks through the
situations. This is sometimes shown in the
deliberate targeting of civilians through       7        UNICEF, ‘In Search of Opportunities:
                                                Voices of children on the move in West and
                                                Central Africa’, 2017.
5       UNICEF, ‘Protecting the Rights of the   8         KM Donato, ‘A Global Mapping of
Child in Humanitarian Situations’, Submission   Migrant and Displaced Children: Trends and
by UNICEF to the OHCHR Report, September        Patterns’,     https://www.oecd.org/migration/
2017.                                           forum-migration-statistics/1.Katherin-Donato.
6       UNICEF (September 2017).                pdf.

Day of the   African Child   2019                                                         3
“Humanitarian Action in Africa: Children’s Rights First “

strengthening of child protection systems.          and child participation) subsist even during
                                                    humanitarian crises and should accordingly
18. In 2016, the ACERWC prepared a 25-
                                                    be prioritized.
year Agenda “Agenda 2040: Fostering an
Africa fit for children”, with the objective        21. Thus, the theme contextualizes the
to restore the dignity of the African child         need for State Parties, in the protection of
through assessing the achievements and              children’s rights, to start from a preventive
challenges faced towards the effective              framework as the first level of complying
implementation of the African Children’s            with their obligations under the Charter.
Charter. With a focus on the African child          This aligns with the right to life, survival
who is affected by emergencies such as              and development, and the principle of the
natural disasters, conflicts, tensions and          best interests of the child as provided in
strife, the restoration of his/her dignity lies     Articles 5 and 4 of the Charter respectively.
in how the States Parties are prepared for,         Humanitarian crises compromise the
and deal with challenges during, and after          realization of these rights and others. This
an emergency situation.                             calls for a deliberate effort by States to
                                                    ensure that children’s rights, beginning with
19. The ACERWC particularly draws the
                                                    the right to life, survival and development,
attention of States Parties to Aspirations
                                                    take     centre-stage       in   humanitarian
7 and 9 of Agenda 2040. While Aspiration
                                                    emergencies.
7 seeks to ensure that “every child is
protected against violence, exploitation,           22. Further, within the bounds of the
neglect and abuse,” Aspiration 9 seeks              theme of the 2019 Day of the African
that “every child is free from the impact           Child- “Humanitarian Action in Africa:
of armed conflicts and other disasters or           Children’s Rights First”, the ACERWC seeks
emergency situations.” These stress the             to evaluate the steps that States have
need to denounce and prevent the violation          taken with regard to the challenges faced
of children’s rights during conflicts and           towards the protection and promotion of
emergencies, and calls for the prioritisation       the rights of the child who is affected by
of the rights of the child during humanitarian      emergencies and humanitarian crises.
situations.
                                                    C. Children’s Rights First
20. The selection of the 2019 DAC theme
reiterates the ACERWC’s commitment to               23. The ACERWC reiterates that the
uphold the rights of the child as laid out in the   physical and psychological safety of children
Charter, even during humanitarian crises.           is key to their health and future prospects.
The core principles of children’s rights (the       Where this safety is threatened, their
right to life, survival and development; non-       rights and needs are ignored. Children who
discrimination; the best interests’ principle;      are affected include adolescents, females,

Day of the    African Child   2019                                                           4
“Humanitarian Action in Africa: Children’s Rights First “

refugees, and displaced children, children         need to uphold the best interests of the
in armed conflict, tension and strife. As          child at all times.
such, the first step towards the promotion
                                                   27. Placing children’s rights first is a
and protection of this safety lies in the
                                                   recognition of the principle in Article 4(1)
application of international human rights
                                                   of the Children’s Charter that should be
law in humanitarian situations.
                                                   interpreted broadly to incorporate all actions
24. The requirement to protect and to              that directly or indirectly affect children. The
ensure the protection of the rights of the         best interests’ principle ought to be used
child, calls for the use of international          as a “gap filling” tool that is used to ensure
human rights law as the measure of first           that the child whose rights are violated
resort in a humanitarian crisis. Reliance          in a humanitarian crisis are subsequently
on human rights law as captured in the             recognized and protected by the States.
African Children’s Charter, for example,
                                                   28. As an example, States that have used
offers protection of children affected by
                                                   the DDR programming need to show how
conflict, crises and humanitarian situations,
                                                   the interventions that are being used are in
and protection in other situations. This
is because human rights standards give
rise to legal obligations that are generally
valid at all times and in all situations,
including during humanitarian crises. Thus,
the application of humanitarian law is a
complementary tool to the protection of
children’s rights in humanitarian contexts.

25. The universally recognized humanitarian
principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality
and independence are themselves linked
to the core principles of children’s rights,
particularly the right to life, survival and
development, non-discrimination, and the
best interests of the child.

26. The requirement to place children’s
rights first is an indication that where
there is an obligation, the requisite body
or individual must fulfil such an obligation
in the interests of the child or children
concerned. This is a restatement of the
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Day of the   African Child   2019                                                              5
“Humanitarian Action in Africa: Children’s Rights First “

the best interest of the child. This should        education, with its content focused on
be evaluated through the tools used to re-         children’s development, is able to prepare
integrate the children who are affected by         children for preventing and dealing with
the humanitarian crisis.                           or responding to humanitarian crises,
                                                   by equipping them equipping them with
29. Closely linked to the child’s right to life,
                                                   practical skills to enhance their protection
survival and development is the right to
                                                   and survival. States Parties are therefore
health. Humanitarian crises affect children’s
                                                   called upon to have strategies in place to
health not only physically, but mentally and
                                                   ensure children can continue to access
psychologically as well. States needs to pay
                                                   education during humanitarian crises.
attention to the health needs of children,
even and especially during humanitarian            31. ‘Children’s rights first’ underscores the
crises, and respond to their survival              interconnectedness of all children rights
needs. Attention should also be paid to the        whether during or outside of humanitarian
health needs of children based on gender           crises. Like the Charter (and the global
differences. For example, adolescent girls         United Nations Convention on the Rights of
in humanitarian crises may have sanitation         the Child – CRC), Agenda 2030 recognizes
and/or menstruation as well as sexual              the interdependence of rights and
and reproductive health needs (including           underscores the importance of the goals
sexually transmitted diseases) that are            to the development of children. Through
different from the needs of other affected         the adoption of a rights-based approach
children.                                          to sustainable development, children’s
                                                   rights are highlighted as the pivot around
30. Also of great importance to children’s
                                                   which State action towards development
survival   and       development       during
                                                   should revolve. This approach increases
humanitarian crises is the right to education.
                                                   monitoring and improves accountability
The ACERWC affirms the importance of
                                                   of governments towards the realization of
securing education for children regardless
                                                   children’s rights in connection to Agenda
of context. Access to education and
                                                   2030 goals.
learning helps children cope with the
trauma of humanitarian disasters, enabling         32. Similarly, it is important for all
them to build resilience and provides them         stakeholders, including those working in
with some form of stability9. Good quality         separate fields of development, policy,
                                                   and human rights, etc. to work together
                                                   and ensure a cohesive and comprehensive
9      Save the Children, «What do children
want in times of emergency and crisis? They        response to humanitarian crises rather
want an education », 2015,https://www.             than working in silos. The protection of the
savethechildren.org/content/dam/global/re-
                                                   rights of the child, including securing their
ports/education-and-child-protection/what-chil-
dren-want.pdf.                                     best interests at such times depends on

Day of the   African Child   2019                                                           6
“Humanitarian Action in Africa: Children’s Rights First “

joint efforts for a long-lasting impact.               in places affected by humanitarian
                                                       emergencies.

D. DAC 2019: Expected outcomes                   d. Report (as receiving States of
                                                    refugees) on the steps taken to
                                                    ensure that the rights of children to
33. Through DAC 2019, the ACERWC affirms            health, education, and a conducive
that the protection of children’s rights            environment are offered to the
should be at the forefront of all humanitarian      children who have been displaced as
actions, and should accordingly, be                 a result of emergencies.
prioritised during humanitarian crises.
                                                 e. Furthermore, to report (as receiving
34. Specifically, the ACERWC envisages              States of refugees) on the steps
the following outcomes from the                     taken to ensure that the perpetrators
commemoration of the DAC in 2019:                   of violations of physical abuse against
                                                    children are brought to justice.
      i. Continental commemoration of
the DAC hosted by an AU Member State.            f. Develop national strategies to
                                                    prevent humanitarian emergencies,
       ii. African governments publically
                                                    and where there exist, steps taken
reaffirm commitments to: Use preventive
                                                    to ensure that the protection of the
measures to avoid humanitarian situations
                                                    rights of children is prioritized.
which lead to the violation of the rights of
the child.                                       g. Regularly undertake consultative
                                                    voluntary national reviews (VNRs)
  a. Prioritise  the    protection    and
                                                    at national and sub-national levels
     promotion of children’s rights during
                                                    to monitor the protection of the
     humanitarian emergencies as a key
                                                    rights of children under humanitarian
     to achieving the desired outcome of
                                                    emergencies.
     Aspirations 7 and 9 of Agenda 2040
     and the broader Agenda 2063.                       iii. DAC celebration events are held in
                                                             two-thirds of AU Member States.
  b. Develop strategies that indicate the
     steps taken to ensure that the best         iv.      The mass sensitisation and
     interests of the child, especially                dissemination of DAC messages in
     children with disabilities are upheld in          national and regional media (such
     humanitarian crises.                              as TV, newspapers and the internet,
                                                       especially social media).
  c. Report the steps taken to ensure
     the recognition and respect of the          v. Children at all levels and from various
     rights of the child in instances of or         backgrounds play a major role in the

Day of the   African Child   2019                                                          7
“Humanitarian Action in Africa: Children’s Rights First “

      planning and implementation of DAC              concerted effort on the specific
      2019 activities.                                needs and concerns of these children.

E. Methodology                                        • The States’ approach to the possible
                                                      violation of the rights of the child
35. The ACERWC, in collaboration with a               should proceed from a preventive
Member State of the African Union, will hold          approach to a protective approach.
a Continental Commemoration of the DAC                This will ensure that a human rights
on or around June 16, 2019.                           approach prevails in the course of
                                                      the humanitarian emergencies
36. The ACERWC recommends that all AU
Member States, in collaboration with civil
society, UN agencies and other partner           G. Opportunities and Strategies
organizations, celebrate the DAC through
a wide variety of national and sub-national      Agenda 2040
events and activities. Member States and
partners are also encouraged to promote 39. The ACERWC calls on Member States
the DAC through local and national media to incorporate Agenda 2040 and particularly
coverage.                                   Aspirations 7 and 9 to guide the protection
                                            of the rights of the child at the national and
37. The ACERWC strongly recommends
                                            regional level. This will aid the pre-emptive
the active participation of children in the
                                            and protective mandate of the rights of the
planning, implementation and monitoring of
                                            child during humanitarian crises.
DAC activities.

F. Key messages                                  The Voluntary National Reviews
38. Member States and partners are en-
                                                 mechanism
couraged to incorporate the following top-
                                                 40. The State government should be
line messages into their activities, while
                                                 accountable with regard to the steps taken
highlighting issues specific to the national/
                                                 to protect and ensure protection of the rights
local context, for example, a focus on the
groups of children whose rights may not be       of the children. This accountability is seen
at the forefront during a humanitarian crisis.   in consultative voluntary national reviews
                                                 (VNRs) at national and sub-national levels.
  •   Africa’s Agenda 2063 and 2040
                                                 41. The ACERWC welcomes the use of
      cannot be achieved without attention
                                                 this positive development and encourages
      to the children whose rights are
                                                 other Member States to carry out reviews
      continually violated in humanitarian
                                                 conduct the VNRs and sign up to submit the
      emergencies. There is need for a
                                                 reports in 2019 and beyond. By so doing,

Day of the   African Child   2019                                                          8
“Humanitarian Action in Africa: Children’s Rights First “

Member States will increase momentum for the
realization of children’s rights in their countries.

H. Commemoration of the DAC and
Reporting

42. The ACERWC calls upon Member States
to give serious attention to the protection and
promotion of the rights of the child before,
during and after the occurrence of humanitarian
emergencies. Consequently, the proper
organisation of programmes and activities to
mark the DAC 2019 should be prioritized. The
ACERWC will be better able to establish the
state of protection of the rights of the child in
humanitarian situations.

43. The reports made by the States Parties will
be instructive in gauging the steps that Member
States have taken and enable the ACERWC to
measure success against the objectives of the
DAC 2019 while dealing with the question of
violation of the rights of the child. Through the
reports, the ACERWC is also able to highlight
progress made and best practices with regard

                             .
to the protection of the rights of children in
humanitarian emergencies

Day of the   African Child   2019                                    9
“Humanitarian Action in Africa: Children’s Rights First “

                                                 ANNEX

    Monitoring Framework for Reporting on Commemoration of the Day of the African Child
            2019: Template: “Humanitarian Action In Africa: Children’s Rights First”

This template is a reporting framework that the AU Members States and other stakeholders may use to report
to the Committee on the celebration of the DAC on 16 June 2019, on the theme, ‘“Humanitarian Action In
Africa: Children’s Rights First”.

Country/Organization:

Partners:

Measures and Activities undertaken:

•    Summary/Analysis of the theme as it applies to national, local or organizational context

•    Legal, Policy, Administrative and other measures in place to identify and reach the
     children affected in humanitarian situations.

•    Measures to be undertaken to identify, reach and promote awareness about the dangers
     of the non- protection of the rights of children during a humanitarian crisis.

Report on Events organized on or leading up to 16 June 2019

     Event      Details Of          No. Of Participants/       Details Of        National, Regional
                 Event               Those Reached           Implementing         Or District Level
                                         (Children)⃰            Agency                Impact

*Provide disaggregated data on age, sex, place of origin, etc.

Day of the      African Child       2019                                                             10
ACERWC
African Committee of Experts on the Rights & Welfare of the Child
P.O.Box: 3243, Roosevelt Street

                                                                    #DAC2019
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

For more informations:
Ms. Catherine Wanjiru Maina
Email: MainaC@africa-union.org
Tel: +251-11 551 77 00                                                 www.acerwc.africa
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