Mrs. Marie-Christine Bocoum Deputy Chairperson of the ACERWC

1. Mrs. Marie-Christine BocoumDeputy Chairperson of the ACERWC The work of the ACERWC on matters of issues of racism, ethnic/religious discrimination and children’s rights

2. The African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child • Adopted in 1990 and came into force in 1999 • Ratified by 49 Countries • Not Ratified: DRC, SS, Somalia, SADR, Tunisia, and Morocco. • Reservations- Botswana, Mauritania, Egypt and Sudan

3. The four cardinal principles • Non-discrimination • Best interest of the child • Life, survival and development • Participation

4. The principle of non-discrimination Article 3: Non-Discrimination • Every child shall be entitled to the enjoyment of the rights and freedoms recognized and guaranteed in this Charter irrespective of the child’s or his/her parents’ or legal guardians’ race, ethnic group, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national and social origin, fortune, birth or other status. • No discrimination- NOT ONLY BASED ON THE CHILD’S RACE/ETNICITY BUT ALSO BASED ON HIS/HER PARENTS/GUARDIANS STATUS.

5. The ACERWC-Mandate and functions • Established in 2001 to monitor the implementation of the ACRWC. • Functions • Consideration of State Part Reports- concluding observations • Complaint Mechanisms (Communication) • General Comments • Fact finding/investigation Missions • Research and studies

6. State Party Reporting Mechanism Using the State party reporting mechanism, the Committee engaged identified issues in the following countries • Central Africa Regions- Discrimination against children of the so called Ethnic ‘Pygmy’ populations who suffer from racialized discrimination mostly from Bantu people. • Liberia and Sierra Leone- take the position that only those of ‘Negro’ or ‘Negro-African’ descent may be citizens from birth. • Nigeria-The Constitution provides citizenship by birth to be given to those born in Nigeria before the date of independence either of whose parents or any of whose grandparents belong to a community indigenous to Nigeria. • Egypt- In Egypt the rules on naturalisation and recognition or deprivation of nationality discriminate against non-Muslims as well as non-Arabs. • Uganda- Constitutional provisions on citizenship privilege those who are a member of any of the indigenous communities existing and residing within the borders of Uganda as at the first day of February, 1926.

7. State Party Reporting Mechanism • Burundi- Discrimination faced by the minority Batwa children who do not have access to basic services and are discriminated in schools and social arena. • Zambia- children from Muslim background face discrimination in getting birth registration and nationality. • Cameroon- discrimination against Children who belong to indigenous parents. • Namibia- Discrimination against children from indigenous groups such as the San people who are excluded from accessing basic services. • Children who belong to trans-boundary communities- such as: • The Madi and the Acholi in South Sudan who find themselves at the border with Uganda, • Azande on the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo, • The Ngok Dinka of Abyei, • The Kakwa on the Ugandan border

8. Communication Mechanism IHRDA and Open Society Justice Initiative on behalf of Children of Nubian descent in Kenya Vs the Government of Kenya- Where the Committee concludes- • Challenges related to registration and denying Nubian children Kenyan nationality amounted to making them stateless, which is against the best interest of the child. •  The vetting system put in place to decide who gets access to citizenship “unlawfully discriminates”against Nubian children, leaving them stateless or at risk of being stateless, which is a violation of Article 3 of the African Charter. • Effects of such discrimination-Denied Nubians access to adequate health care and education was also found to be in breach of Articles 14 and 11 of the African Charter-

9. Communication Mechanism African Centre of Justice and Peace Studies (ACJPS) and People’s Legal Aid Centre (PLACE) Vsthe Republic of Sudan- where the Committee concludes: • The Republic of the Sudan has violated its obligation under article 3 of the African Children’s Charter, by introducing a legislation which arbitrarily deprives children of South Sudanese origin their Sudanese nationality on the basis of the national origin of their parents.

10. Communication Mechanism Minority Rights Group International and SOS-Esclaves on behalf of Said Ould Salem and YargOuld Salem Vs The Republic of Mauritania- where the Committee concludes: • Slavery persists in Mauritania despite its abolition in 1980 and mostly affects the descendants of black Africans- The Committee notes that slavery is clearly prohibited under the national law of Mauritania and various international human rights laws and it amounts to discrimination under the Charter.

11. The role of UN Mechanisms and NHRIs • UN Mechanisms • To do a joint follow up on implementation • To undertake joint studies on the impact of racism on children in Africa NHRIs and CSOs • Apply for an affiliate or Observer status before the ACERWC • Submit briefings to the ACERWC on matters related to racism, discrimination based on ethnicity/religion, xenophobia and children’s rights in Africa

12. Thank you!