Strengthening of national child protection systems and community mechanisms

Written on 10 June 2020. Posted in Children

Policy Priority Area 5:  Strengthening of national child protection systems and community mechanisms

Objective: Enforcing of child protection systems in the EAC region

Progress in the implementation of Priority Area Five:

• The EAC has adopted a Framework for Strengthening Child Protection Systems and Community Mechanisms in the East African Community. The framework lays out a comprehensive agenda for harmonising of standards and approaches on promotion and protection of child rights across the EAC Partner States. It also provides practical guidance on addressing child protection more holistically, by giving greater focus on prevention and strengthening the critical roles of the key sectors and stakeholders. The Framework also helps Partner States to conduct self-monitoring and review for continuous strengthening of their national child protection systems through set of standardised indicators.
  
  

• The EAC Secretariat with support from the African Child Policy Forum (ACPF) and Save the Children has so far conducted learning workshops in all Partner States; and in a bid to domesticate the framework into National Programming, Partner States have identified country-specific priorities and developed an action plan to fast track the implementation of the framework.

Providing quality education, health and social protection to children

Written on 10 June 2020. Posted in Children

Policy Priority Area 6:  Providing quality education, health and social protection to children

Objective: To encourage ministries to integrate programmes with other agencies and stakeholders

Progress in the implementation of Priority Area Six:

The EAC has adopted the Minimum Standards for Comprehensive Services for Children and Young People in the East African Community. The Minimum Standards target all young people below the age of 24 years with a recognition that most times 18-24-year olds fall through the cracks if they have not been adequately supported throughout the various stages of childhood. The guiding principles of the Minimum Standards stress the importance of ensuring that services especially in Education, Health and Social Protection are accessible and appropriate for the wellbeing of all young people. The Minimum Standards use psychosocial wellbeing as the entry point to provide clarity and guidance as to what services are needed and at what levels, to ensure the holistic needs of children and young people are met. The With support from RIATT-ESA, the Minimum Standards have been published and disseminated in various fora and learning workshops.

Child protection in conflict and emergencies

Written on 10 June 2020. Posted in Children

Policy Priority Area 7:  Child Protection in Conflict and Emergencies

Objective: To provide an internal mechanism for detecting and responding to conflict and emergencies

Progress in the implementation of Priority Area Seven:

The EAC Secretariat participated in the 2019 in the Pan African Conference on Children and Armed Conflict that was held from 15-17 October 2019 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The EAC committed to promote the protection of children in armed conflict and to prevent violations by implementing the following actions:

1. Establish mediation mechanisms with a mandate to engage and dialogue with all political actors, communities, local leaders, and the armed groups. For example, establish a panel of eminent persons from neighboring countries who are accepted, respected and regarded as impartial.
2. Strengthen the existing early warning mechanisms such as the AU/EAC Conflict Early Warning and Response Mechanism to identify violence hot spots and potential conflict situations
3. Institute measures to ensure safety for children in existing public spaces as well as ensuring availability of new safe public spaces for children.
4. Conduct trainings and capacity building of defence forces, standby forces and peace keeping missions on humanitarian principles, human rights and child protection.
5. Increase documentation and collection of evidence on violations of child rights.
6. Promote and enable birth registration without time limitations at the country level through concrete safe measures (children ask) - birth registration in emergencies
7. Include child protection indicators in the M&E framework for silencing the guns targets.

The EAC also committed to fastrack specific actions for the Republic of South Sudan and Burundi as follows:

A: Focused and Accelerated Program for South Sudan (based on the 2018 Baseline Study on Child Rights in South Sudan)

1. To strengthen the Child Protection System in South Sudan (as guided by the EAC Framework for Strengthening Child Protection Systems) especially building the capacity of the social service workforce.
2. Undertake a sustained advocacy and awareness programme for Government to provide Humanitarian Access and Security (to facilitate service provision but also reporting violations committed against children and the perpetrators - for proper accountability).
3. Support the government of the Republic of South Sudan on Child Rights Governance especially the ratification and submission of the initial report of the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child; and implementation of the EAC Child Rights monitoring and reporting framework.

B: Support for the Republic of Burundi

1. In Monitoring and Reporting on the UNCRC, ACRWC, and the EAC Child Policy.
2. Conduct a needs assessment of the demobilized and reintegrated youth and children including capacity building in order to support the government of Burundi in designing a responsive Technical Vocational Education Training (TVET) programmes.  

Resourcing of Child Welfare Services and Institutions

Written on 10 June 2020. Posted in Children

Policy Priority Area 8:  Resourcing of Child Welfare Services and Institutions

Objective: To increase resources and upgrade the level of investment for resourcing of child welfare services.

There is currently no institutionalised budgeting and funding strategy for Child Rights both at regional and national levels. There is need to follow through with the commitments of the 2nd EAC Child Rights Conference whose theme was on ‘Investment in Children’.

Thus, there is need to conduct an analysis on Child Responsive Budgeting in the EAC in response to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child General Comment No. 19 on Public Budgeting for the Realization of Children’s Rights.

Monitoring, Evaluation and Reporting of Child Rights

Written on 10 June 2020. Posted in Children

Policy Priority Area 9:  Monitoring, Evaluation and Reporting of Child Rights

Objective: To develop coordination of monitoring, evaluating and reporting of child rights among the Partner States and other experts on children

Progress in the implementation of Priority Area Nine:

1. In an effort to implement the priority area, the EAC Secretariat with support from ACPF has finalised the regional framework for monitoring, evaluating and reporting on child rights within EAC. The framework aims primarily to promote accountability for child rights at Partner States level. The framework in addition to enabling Partner States and EAC Secretariat to monitor and evaluate compliance and enforcement on the Child Policy will also guide Partner States in harmonizing and streamlining their reporting obligations under various international instruments, notably the ACERWC and UNCRC. The framework provides a set of standardized indicators for Partner States to continuously self-monitor, evaluate and report progress to the EAC policy organs, encourage peer review and continuous learning, reflection and policy guidance.

The EAC will this year conduct a review of the implementation of the Child Policy and also provide a regional report on Status of Implementing the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child.

Child Participation

Written on 10 June 2020. Posted in Children

Policy Priority Area 10:  Child Participation

Objective: Promote and empower children's participation in programs to inform them of their rights and protection

Progress in the implementation of Priority Area Ten:

1. The ACERWC in collaboration with RECs and CSOs working on Child rights and Welfare have developed guidelines for the effective participation of children in policy and programme implementation at all levels. The EAC in turn hopes to finalise a strategy on Child Participation. The strategy will guide EAC Partner States on creating and maintaining spaces and opportunities for the meaningful and effective participation of children in implementing the EAC Child Policy.
   
   
2. The EAC Secretariat with support from Save the Children and Cherie Enns Consulting has finalised a child-friendly version of the EAC Child Policy. The child friendly version will ensure that children understand what is provided for in the EAC Child policy, and therefore be able to engage actively and productively in its implementation. The EAC Secretariat has thus developed a plan to popularise the EAC Child Policy in primary and secondary schools throughout the region.
   
   
3. Discussions on the mechanisms of establishing a Regional Council for Children are still underway. The Technical Working Group (TWG) on Youth and Children will provide guidance on the way forward at the next meeting of the Sectoral Council for Gender, Youth, Children, Social Protection and Community Development.

2nd EAC Child Rights Conference

Written on 15 August 2016. Posted in Children

East African Community (EAC) Partner States under Article 7 (2) of the Treaty for the Establishment of the East African Community,  have agreed to abide by the principles of good governance, including adherence to the principles of democracy, the rule of law, social justice and the maintenance of universally accepted standards of human rights.

The promotion and protection of the rights of the child is a key priority of the EAC. As emphasised in Article 120 (c) of the Treaty, Partner States undertake to closely co-operate amongst themselves in the field of social welfare with respect to the development and adoption of a common approach towards the disadvantaged and marginalized groups, including children, the youth, the elderly and persons with disabilities through rehabilitation and provision of, among others, health care, education and training.

Child Rights Situation within the East African Community region

According to the EAC strategic plan for gender, youth, children, persons with disabilities, social protection and community development, children constitute more than 50% of the EAC population. Each of these children has the right to development, survival, participation and protection as enshrined in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) (and its Optional Protocols) and the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACRWC) some of which have been ratified and domesticated by the EAC Partner States.

A lot of progress has been made both at national and regional levels since the first EAC child rights conference which was held in September 2012 in Bujumbura, Burundi. The conference provided a platform through which the children of EAC shared views, opinions, fears and concerns.  The EAC has put in place a number of policy frameworks to facilitate the implementation of child rights in the region. Key among these is the EAC development strategy (2012-2016), the EAC Social Development Framework 2013, the EAC Strategic Plan for Gender, Youth, Children, Persons with Disability, Social Protection and Community development (2012-2016), the EAC Youth Policy (2014) and the newly adopted EAC Child Policy (2016) which is specifically targeted to children.

The EAC Child Policy is the culmination of various processes geared towards the harmonisation of standards and approaches to the implementation of child rights in the EAC. The Policy seeks to provide the region with an operational, legal, policy, and institutional framework to facilitate the development, co-ordination and strengthening of national efforts geared towards the promotion of children’s rights. The EAC Child Policy will facilitate the harmonisation of Child Rights standards in EAC Partner States as guided by the ACRWC and the UNCRC as the normative instruments for promoting child rights. The policy has also set out the priority areas in promoting child rights, and defined innovative strategies towards achieving the vision of ‘an East African Community where child rights and wellbeing are guaranteed.’

EAC Partner States have further, in their individual capacity, signed and/or ratified a range of documents on children’s rights, and adopted a variety of legislative, policy and programmatic measures to implement the resulting obligations.  It should further be noted that the EAC Vision 2050 already stipulates that Children and Youth constitute up to 80% of the total population of EAC, a figure that is projected to grow much larger by 2050. Therefore, any strategic development programs and interventions must take into account this demographic dividend in order to sustainably meet the community’s vision of transforming growth and development.

With all the above developments therefore, there is a need to review progress and reaffirm the strong commitment of the EAC in promoting, protecting and fulfilling the rights of all children in the region. The conference is organised on the basis of the understanding that children are involved and empowered to articulate issues that affect their wellbeing and duty bearers understand, appreciate and uphold children’s rights across the governments, private sector as well as communities and households.  

As the EAC consolidates the implementation of the Customs Union and the Common Market Protocols, moves towards the realisation of the Monetary Union and the Political Federation, it is imperative that we assess the impact of these processes on the realisation of child rights and put appropriate policies to ensure that all children benefit from the regional integration process.
 

The Necessity of an EAC Child Rights Conference

Using the EAC Child Policy as the point of convergence, the EAC Secretariat is advocating for “An East African Agenda for the Promotion of the Rights of the Child”. This Agenda will be implemented through enhancing the contribution of a wide range of stakeholders including Children. The Agenda will present general principles and strategies that will ensure EAC’s actions are exemplary in ensuring the respect of provisions of the UNCRC, the ACRWC and the EAC Child Policy.  

Furthermore, Partner States need to enhance accountability in Child Rights, especially budget allocation, delivering social services to children such as quality education, health, water, sanitation and social protection.

Special focus should be given to vulnerable children, for example Internally Displaced Children, refugees, children in disaster, conflict and other emergency situations, children living and working on the streets, children with disabilities, children in conflict with the law, children heading households, child forced into prostitution, among others

It is worth mentioning that children in the East African Community region and across the continent still face numerous challenges including lack of adequate resources, weak child protection systems, insufficient social protection, HIV and AIDS, inequitable access to quality services, inadequate space for meaningful participation and harmful practices. This situation poses a social and security threat to the East African Community that requires concerted efforts in addressing them. However, it is important to note that most of the issues concerning adequate service delivery to children cut across many sectors. Therefore, there is need to further explore innovative strategies of promoting a systems approach to the protection of child rights.

It is in this context that the second EAC Child Rights conference is organized by the EAC Secretariat in collaboration with the Inter-Agency Working Group on Child rights, UNICEF and other stakeholders to map out a collaborative agenda in the implementation of the EAC Child Policy.

This important and crucial Conference will enable representatives of children, governments, the EAC, CSOs, NGOs, and Development Partners to develop innovative and creative solutions to problems impacting the realisation of the Child Rights in the EAC.

Objectives of the 2nd EAC Child Rights Conference 

The objectives of the conference are to:

a.    launch the adopted EAC Child Policy and discuss the strategies for national implementation;

b.    take stock of the progress made towards the realisation of Child Rights based on the 1st EAC Conference and the Bujumbura Declaration commitments.

c.    share experiences on the progress made in the realisation of Child Rights in the EAC and how to address the challenges encountered during implementation;

d.    Identify key and common barriers that negatively impact on the realisation of Child Rights in the EAC; and

e.    Provide a platform for facilitating children participation in the definition of processes for integration of the EAC Child Policy at national level. 

Expected Outputs of the EAC Child’ Rights Conference

a)    Declaration on the EAC Agenda on the promotion of Child Rights;
b)    The framework for operationalising the EAC Child Policy in Partner States;
c)    The Conference Report with recommendations on the issues discussed.  

Theme  and topics of the Conference

Theme:   ‘Coordinated and Sustained Investment in Children’

Priority Area: Children in Conflicts and Emergencies
Topics:
-    Internal displacement of children
-    Coordinated approach to emergency response

Priority Area: Ending Violence against Children
Topics:
-    Child marriage
-    Albinism
-    Harmful Practices
-    Physical and humiliating punishment
-    Review of progress on ending violence against children in the EAC Partner States
 

Priority Area: Integrated approach to the implementation of Child Rights
Topics:
-    Health, Education and Social Protection
-    Child sensitive and HIV Inclusive social protection

Priority Area: Resourcing Child Rights Implementation    
Topics:
-    Over view of Investment in Children progress, trends and challenges within the region
-    Why is Investment in Children important
-    Suggested Policy Proposals
-    Coordination for implementation of Child rights

Conference Programme and Discussion Areas

The conference will be held over a period of two days and will adopt an open space approach with thematic open group sessions, plenary discussions and keynote presentations.


(a) Keynote address: ‘Investing in Children’

EAC Partner States have ratified the several international and regional instruments such as the UNCRC, the ACRWC and the EAC Child Policy among others, which obligate them to ensuring the realisation of rights of Children. Article of the UNCRC specially states that; ‘States Parties shall undertake all appropriate legislative, administrative, and other measures for the implementation of the rights recognized in the present Convention. With regard to economic, social and cultural rights, States Parties shall undertake such measures to the maximum extent of their available resources and, where needed, within the framework of international cooperation’ (UN, 1989).

Investing ensures that children survive and develop to their full potential and yields positive benefits to economies and societies. The foundation of an individual’s well-being is laid in early childhood. Programmes that invest in early childhood development generate considerable cost savings for government. Investments in children are increasingly seen as one of best and most valuable long-term investments we can make. 

Therefore, how can governments, the civil society, families and all stakeholders institute concrete actions, effectively implement policy commitments and work together to advance the rights and interests of children?

We know that ‘the world of tomorrow will inherit the children of today’. Are we therefore providing adequate investments that enable children to thrive today and in the future? 

How are children and young people (as rights bearers) involved in shaping their future and in making and decisions that affect them?

The Keynote address will attempt to answer the above questions, share best practices around the world and suggest practical approaches and interventions that the EAC can apply to realize positive impacts of investing in Children. 


(b) Status of Investment in child rights the EAC region
This presentation will highlight governments’, development partners’ civil society and private sector initiatives depicting investment in each child rights pillar to give an EAC overall picture.   

Discussion areas – Breakout Group Sessions  

Children in Conflicts and emergencies

Conflicts and disasters emerge without warning and adversely affect populations that usually unprepared to respond. The East African region is faced with several emergencies ranging from Ebola and Cholera breakouts, natural disasters to civil conflicts and wars within its borders or in the neighbouring countries. Children are forced to flee their homes and end up in refugee camps in other countries or are displaced within their own countries. During these humanitarian crises, children are exposed to child protection violations that can cause harm to their safety and survival, well-being, dignity and development. This includes all forms of physical, sexual and emotional abuse, exploitation, neglect and violence.
 

This session will attempt to discuss the issue of internal displacement and suggest approaches that relevant and responsible authorities, humanitarian agencies, civil society organizations and representatives of affected populations can coordinate child protection efforts in order to ensure full, efficient and timely responses.  

Ending Violence against Children

According to the Global Partnership to End Violence against Children, “Every five minutes, a child dies as a result of violence. An estimated 120 million girls and 73 million boys have been victims of sexual violence, and almost one billion children are subjected to physical punishment on a regular basis.” In target 16.2 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s) governments have committed end abuse, exploitation, trafficking, torture and all forms of violence against children by 2030.

In this session, EAC Partner States will present and discuss the initiatives they have undertaken and the progress made in ending violence and ensuring all children – girls and boys alike – grow up free from violence and exploitation.


Integrated approach to the implementation of Child Rights

Effective implementation of Child Rights requires integrated approaches where institutions and mechanisms are strengthened to address multiple vulnerabilities and maximize linkages between social protection and outcomes in child protection, HIV/AIDS, education and health – among other areas. This is often impeded by various resources and structural barriers.

This session will therefore explore and suggest meaningful and sustainable approaches in the promotion of child rights in Partner States’ policies and programmes.  Such approaches may involve participatory, collaborative, intersectional and creative approaches in planning and programming interventions complemented by wider policy initiatives that address and remove structural barriers and inequalities.

Resourcing Child Rights Implementation    

It is through government budgets that policies and commitments to children rights can be implemented and services to children delivered. Despite the UNCRC in Article 4, calling on all governments to ensure that they commit national and global resources to the ‘maximum extent’ possible in order to implement children's rights, issues such as child health, early childhood development, recreation and social protection are not usually top of the spending priorities of most governments.

Therefore, there is a need for deliberate and strategic actions by all stakeholders to influence the process and outcomes of budgeting in order to make government budgets responsive to all children.

This session will discuss the impact of national budgets on implementation of child rights and explore collaborative strategies to mobilise resources, efficient implementation of programmes and the tracking of state/stakeholder resourcing for children.

Collaboration between EAC, UNICEF and the Inter-Agency Working Group on Children

The Inter-Agency Working Group on Child Rights and Wellbeing (IAWG) is a group of international and regional non-governmental organisations (Save the Children, Plan International, World Vision, African Child Policy Forum, Elisabeth Glaser Foundation, African Platform on Social Protection, RIATT-ESA) that was formed in 2012 with a commitment to supporting the process of the development and implementation of the East Africa Community Child Policy.
Through this collaboration, the EAC, UNICEF and the Inter-Agency Working Group intend to place more focus on children issues in the regional integration process.  
 

Promoting Psychosocial Wellbeing of Children in East Africa Community

Written on 08 December 2015. Posted in Children

Psychosocial wellbeing is when individuals, families, or communities have cognitive, emotional, and spiritual strengths combined with positive social relationships. This state of wellbeing motivates the development of life skills which enables individuals, families or communities to understand and engage with their environment, and make healthy choices which leads to hope for the future.

Children and youth across East Africa experience a range of challenges which affect their overall development. These challenges include HIV and AIDS, poverty, orphan hood, unemployment, limited access to basic services such as education and health (including sexual reproductive health), abuse, violence, exploitation and neglect. Studies show the negative short- and long-term psychosocial and mental health impacts of these challenges.

The EAC together with the Regional Psychosocial Support Initiative are developing a programme to:

• work with other stakeholders to develop and domesticate the minimum package of services for children and youth in the region;
• develop indicators for psychosocial support and strengthen monitoring capacity at Partner States level;
• sensitise and raise awareness at the EAC Secretariat, to parliamentarians in the East African Legislative Assembly and to Policy makers at Partner States level on the psychosocial needs of children and youth in the region;
• create platforms to share good practices and information across countries so as to promote the psychosocial wellbeing of children and youth in the region;
• support EAC Partner States to develop, implement and monitor initiatives to improve the psychosocial wellbeing of children and youth; and,
• jointly mobilise resources to strengthen the capacity of mainstreaming and delivering psychosocial support in the region.

Bujumbura Declaration on Child Rights and Wellbeing in East African Community

Written on 08 December 2015. Posted in Children

The declaration was made in Bujumbura on 3rd September 2012 during the First EAC Child Rights Conference under the theme, “Addressing the issues that negatively impact on the realisation of child rights in the EAC”.

The declaration was subsequently adopted by the 27th Ordinary Meeting of EAC Council of Ministers.

It is the as the foundation for the development of the EAC Child’s Rights Policy.

Children

Written on 08 December 2015. Posted in Children

The primary source of inspiration for the work of the EAC on the rights and welfare of the child is mandated under Article 120 of the Treaty establishing the East African Community. Under the provision, Partner States have agreed to closely cooperate in the field of social welfare and to develop common approaches towards supporting the disadvantaged and marginalized groups including children.

As such, the EAC has developed Child and Youth Policies that provide a functional regional framework to facilitate the development, coordination and strengthening of policies and programmes that aim towards the protection and promotion of the rights of children and young people.

The Action Plans of the policies set out various priority areas that include provision of care and services to the most vulnerable, strengthening national child protection systems and community mechanisms within the EAC region; and developing an integrated approach to providing quality education, health and social protection to children among others.

With support from partners who comprise the Inter-agency Working Group on Children (IAWG), the EAC Secretariat and Partner States are implementing the action plans and various initiatives to respond to some persistent and emerging child rights issues are underway.

Key Priority areas, Actions and Achievements

International Instruments

Child Rights

Citizenship and Identity

Cross Border Violations

Child Protection

Education, Health & Social Protection

Conflict & Emergencies

Welfare Services & Institutions

Monitoring, Evaluation & Reporting

Child Participation