The COVID-19 pandemic has had devastating consequences for children’s rights. It has also had grave physical, emotional and psychological effects on children in countries that instituted mandatory stay-at-home, lockdown or confinement measures. In recognition of the consequences of COVID-19 on the rights and welfare of children in Africa and noting the unprecedented nature of the pandemic and the measures taken to curb its spread, the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACERWC/ Committee) is responding to policy gaps in mitigating the COVID-19 crisis. In April 2020, the Committee developed a Guiding Note to Member States of the African Union (AU) on COVID-19 and its implication on children’s rights and welfare in order to encourage the integration of child protection measures in Member States’ responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. Following the development of the Guiding Note, the ACERWC has further developed two documents, namely: The Continental assessment of the impact of COVID-19 on the rights and welfare of children and the Guidelines on the Safe Return to Schools during the COVID-19 Pandemic, which are released online today.
Continental assessment of the impact of COVID-19 on the rights and welfare of Children
The assessment provides an overview of the situation of children in Africa during the COVID-19 pandemic and assesses the extent to which African Union Member States addressed children’s needs. The findings shed light on children’s major challenges during the pandemic. In particular, the assessment finds that most of the fundamental rights of children, including their best interests, were either swept up into general approaches to the pandemic or tacitly ignored in the name of “the greater good”.
The assessment seeks to draw the attention of Member States to the need to address the challenges that children face during public health crises such as COVID-19 pandemic. Doing so requires implementing child-specific protection systems premised on the best interests of the child and other child-protection principles. The Committee also calls on Member States to expand consultation mechanisms with children’s organizations, especially those in which children have a consultatory or decisive voice, to ensure that public health measures include a children’s perspective.
Download:
Continental assessment of the impact of COVID-19 on the rights and welfare of Children
English French
Guidelines on the Safe return of children to school during and after COVID-19
The guidelines and strategies developed in collaboration with the Network of African National Human Rights Institutions guide governments in ensuring children’s safe return to school during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Guidelines provide guidance on how governments can ensure that children who have dropped out of school due to teenage pregnancies, early and forced marriage or are involved in the labor market, together with children with disabilities, children in conflict, or low-income settings and orphans are targeted in the reopening of schools using the Child Rights Based Approach. The Guidelines also identify the measures to be undertaken by Member States and other stakeholders in making schools a safe place where the risk of exposure to COVID-19 is minimized.
Download:
Guidelines on the Safe return of children to school during and after COVID-19 English French
For further information, please contact:
Anteneh Bizuayehu | Consultant ACERWC’s Response to COVID-19 | E-mail: [email protected] | ACERWC Secretariat | Maseru, Kingdom of Lesotho |
Opal Masocha Sibanda | Technical Expert | E-mail: [email protected] | ACERWC Secretariat | Maseru, Kingdom of Lesotho |
For media inquiries, please contact:
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