DOI Children’s Rights Project Participate in Child Rights Litigation Training

Dr. Usang Maria Assim and Dr. Robert Nanima researchers with the Children’s Rights Project this week participated in a 3-day child rights strategic litigation training and case-identification workshop from 10 - 12 September 2019 in Mombasa, Kenya. The workshop organised by IHRDA and East Africa Child Rights Network falls within the framework of the African Children’s Charter Project (Phase II) coordinated by Plan International.

Dr. Assim facilitated two sessions, the first one was on the normative content of the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child. This session’s aim was to make participants understand the content of the Charter. The second session she facilitated looked at states reports and supplementary reports. It highlighted:

The importance/utility of submitting reports in order to fill the gaps and lacuna appearing in the States’ initial and periodic reports.
The form and content supplementary reports.

Dr. Robert Nanima facilitated a session focused on the rights of children affected by armed conflict and this session is geared towards enabling participants to understand the human rights issues that face children affected by armed conflict, and the different categories of children affected by armed conflict. He also facilitated a session on problems hampering the enjoyment of children’s rights in East and Horn of Africa. At the end of this session, participants were able to identify major issues that can be reported to the African Committee of Experts and the Rights and Welfare of the Child.

The other topics that were covered include concepts of human rights and child rights; procedures before the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACERWC) and Observer Status with the ACERWC. Discussions also touched on other African regional mechanisms for child rights protection (the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights); challenges to the enjoyment of child rights in East and Horn of Africa; strategic litigation of child rights in Africa and the ACERWC litigation toolkit, as well as States and Supplementary Reports.

The workshop was attended by about thirty lawyers and civil society organisations in East and Horn of Africa.