Civil society reviews SA reporting to the African Committee

The Parliamentary Programme at the Community Law Centre hosted a civil society meeting to discuss the state reporting process of the South African Government and civil society before the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child.

At this meeting, possible outcomes and follow up strategies were discussed with the view to developing the way forward for 2015 and beyond. It attracted representatives of civil society from a wide range of organisations.

At the end of 2013, the South African Government finally sent its initial Country Report on the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child. 35 authors representing 27 organisations prepared a Civil Society Complementary Report that was submitted to the African Committee on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACERWC) in February 2014.

Subsequently a civil society delegation made a presentation to the ACERWC in Addis Ababa in April 2014 and the South African Government sent a delegation of approximately 20 officials in October 2014. We are expecting the ‘Concluding Observations’ or recommendations from the ACERWC to the South African government at the end of December 2014.

The government and civil society complementary reports, report on a wide range of children’s rights issues in South Africa. These include systems for leadership and accountability on child rights; child survival, nutrition and healthcare; access to justice and child protection; violence against children; the rights of children who are particularly marginalised or excluded such as children with disabilities, migrant and refugee children; social security; foster care systems; and child justice amongst others.