Banjul, 8 February 2023: IHRDA has concluded a regional training workshop for children’s rights defenders from West, Central and North Africa on mainstreaming children’s rights into transitional justice processes.
The workshop that was held from 7-8 February 2023 in Bujumbura, Burundi, sought to build the capacity of participants on mainstreaming children’s rights into transitional justice processes and engaging with the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACERWC) on transitional justice issues.
Discussions at the workshop touched on transitional justice concepts and principles, AU transitional justice policy and transitional justice mechanisms in West, Central and Northern African countries, the normative content of the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, and ways of mainstreaming and protecting children’s rights in transitional justice processes in Africa using the ACERWC Study on children on the move, including opportunities for engaging with the ACERWC during transitional justice processes in Africa.
The workshop was formally opened by the Chairperson of the ACERWC, Honourable Joseph Ndayisenga, who doubles as Director General in the Burundi Ministry of National Solidarity, Human Rights and Gender. It comes in a context where several African countries are undergoing transitional justice processes, without a concerted focus on the role of and impact on children in these processes, considering the continuous widespread violation of children’s rights before and during the transitional periods.
This activity falls within the framework of a project funded by The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation to strengthen transitional justice in Africa.
