Banjul, 14 November 2016
IHRDA, Plan International and the International Coalition Ratify OP3CRC are organising a two-day sensitization and advocacy meeting with State and civil society actors from various West and Central African countries on the Third Optional Protocol to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child on a Communications Procedure (OP3CRC).
The meeting that runs from 14-15 November 2016 is taking place in Dakar, Senegal.
The OP3CRC was adopted by the UN General Assembly on 19 December 2011 and entered into force on 14 April 2014. This Protocol is intended to provide children with the opportunity to access justice at the international level; but this can only materialize when States ratify the Protocol. Some States around the world have begun to express their strong commitment to child rights by ratifying the Protocol, whereas only Gabon has done so in the whole of West and Central Africa.
The conference will provide relevant State and civil society actors an opportunity to better understand the OP3CRC, its relevance, and how it fits into the broader child protection and access to justice frameworks. It will also enable civil society actors to develop or improve their advocacy strategy on OP3CRC ratification.
Besides co-organizing, IHRDA is facilitating some of the discussions and is equally sharing experience on litigating before the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child and the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights.
