The African children’s charter @ 30: A distinction without a difference?
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Date
2020
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Brill
Abstract
I would like to start with three recent concerning developments on children’s
rights in Africa that the media has highlighted. First, in Somalia the draft
Sexual Offences Bill that allowed child marriage has ruffled feathers (UN News,
11 August 2020). In Cameroon, a video of soldiers executing two mothers and
their children that went viral in 2018 almost came to a full circle when a military court conducted behind closed doors convicted four soldiers to a mere ten
years’ imprisonment (Human Rights Watch, 23 September 2020). In Nigeria
too, the sentencing of a 13-year old boy for 10 years, ‘in a Sharia court in Kano
State in Northwest Nigeria after he was accused of using foul language toward
Allah in an argument with a friend’ (CNN, 16 September 2020) has drawn condemnation from organisations such as unicef
Description
Keywords
Children’s rights in Africa, Adoption, Sexual Offences, African charter
Citation
Mezmur, B. D. (2020). The African Children’s Charter @ 30: A distinction without a difference?, The International Journal of Children's Rights, 28(4), 693-714. doi: https://doi.org/10.1163/15718182-28040015