Banjul, 26 January 2021
IHRDA, in collaboration with Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative Africa Regional Office – Accra, organized from 26 – 28 January 2021 a child rights litigation training and case-identification workshop for 15 child rights civil society activists and human rights lawyers in Ghana.
Topics covered include an Understanding of human rights and child rights concepts and terminology; the normative content of the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child; procedures before the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACERWC) and Observer Status with the ACERWC. Discussions also gave insights on other African regional mechanisms for child rights protection, notably the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the ECOWAS Court of Justice. Facilitators equally did an overview of strategic litigation of child rights in Africa and the ACERWC litigation toolkit, and enlightened participants on State party and shadow reporting before the ACERWC.
The workshop ended in a session to identify suitable cases with potential for high impact, which IHRDA will eventually assist domestic child rights defenders to follow up and file for litigation before the relevant regional mechanism.
The workshop comes in a context where a significant gap remains between policymaking and policy implementation, with serious implications on the achievement of child rights in Ghana, as there is continuous widespread prevalence of several harmful traditional practices affecting children, especially girls, in the country.
This activity falls within the framework of phase II of the Pan-African States Accountability Program (PASAP II) coordinated by Plan International.
