DECISION ON THE ACTIVITY REPORT OF THE AFRICAN COMMITTEE OF
EXPERTS ON THE RIGHTS AND WELFARE OF THE CHILD (ACERWC)
Doc. EX.CL/1125(XXXIV)
The Executive Council,
1. TAKES NOTE of the Activity Report of the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child;
2. URGES Member States which have not yet ratified the Charter, to expedite the ratification process; and State Parties which have placed reservations on the application of the provisions of the Charter to consider their withdrawal;
3. COMMENDS the State Parties which have submitted their Reports on the implementation of the African Children’s Charter and CALLS UPON those that have not done so to submit their reports;
4. ADOPTS the theme for the Day of the African Child 2020: “Access to a Child Friendly Justice System in Africa” and REQUESTS Member States to commemorate the DAC and report on the implementation of the recommendations of the Committee;
5. URGES the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, the Republic of Madagascar and the Republic of Mozambique to fully implement the Recommendations, included in the ACERWC Report concluding observations;
6. RECALLS Article 44 of the African Children’s Charter which gives the ACERWC the mandate to receive and consider Communications/Complaints and URGES the Republic of Cameroon and the Republic of the Sudan to fully implement the Recommendations included in the ACERWC Decisions;
7. WELCOMES the ACERWC’s findings and recommendations of the continental study on children on the move, and ENCOURAGES Member States to widely disseminate the outcome of the study and work towards their implementation;
8. URGES Member States to fully implement the “Africa’s Agenda for Children 2040: Fostering an Africa Fit for Children” adopted by Decision EX.CL/Dec.977(XXXI) of June 2018 and COMMENDS the efforts of the ACERWC in the successful finalization of a continental study on ‘mapping the situation of children on the move within Africa;
9. REQUESTS the Commission, in consultation with the AUCIL, to expedite the required study concerning the suggested amendment of Article 5(1) of the Protocol on the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Establishment of the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights to grant ACERWC direct access to AfCHPR;
10. DECIDES to fund the programme budget of ACERWC from Member States contributions starting from the 2020 budget year, in accordance with Decision Assembly/AU/Dec.561 (XXVI) of January 2015;
11. REQUESTS the Commission, in collaboration with the Kingdom of Lesotho, to expedite the process of implementing Executive Council Decision EX.CL/Dec. 1010(XXXI 11) on the Relocation of the Secretariat;
12. CALLS UPON the Kingdom of Lesotho to speed up the construction of the Headquarters of the ACERWC.