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The recent developments in Nagorno-Karabakh, a month-long blockade followed by a large-scale offensive on the region by Azerbaijani forces, the protracted conflict and the ensuing humanitarian tragedy have brought great sorrow to the lives of the most vulnerable members of our society, children. Many children faced the harsh realities of malnutrition and limited access to food due to severe shortages caused by the blockade and critical infrastructure damage. Since last week, many children in Nagorno-Karabakh have been brutally killed or injured in their homes or in the streets, or went missing. In the last days, after the cease-fire, hundreds of children along with their families have been deprived of food, sanitation, and shelter, and under difficult circumstances have been forced to seek refuge in Armenia.

On 2 August 2023, the Centre for Human Rights, Faculty of Law, University of Pretoria, hosted a child-led conference on children’s mental health in Schools in Africa, on its Hatfield Campus. The conference was attended by children nationals from Cameroon, Ethiopia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, South Africa, Malawi and Zimbabwe.

LEGAL AND HUMAN RIGHTS CENTRE AND CENTRE FOR REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS V UNITED REPUBLIC OF TANZANIA (The reproductive rights case)

The Centre for Human Rights, Faculty of Law University of Pretoria would like to invite you to the 4th edition of its case discussion series on decisions of African human rights bodies.

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The Centre for Human Rights, the Centre for Child Law both at the Faculty of Law at the University of Pretoria, and the Dullah Omar Institute at the Faculty of Law at the University of the Western Cape successfully hosted the annual Advanced Human Rights Course on Children's Rights in Africa from 19 to 23 June 2023.

Over two days, 25 and 26 May 2023, the Centre for Human Rights, Faculty of Law, University of Pretoria in collaboration with the National Council for Children’s Services and Ministry of Labour and Social Protection convened in Nairobi Kenya for the second workshop on promoting child participation in development frameworks in Africa and strengthening the African base of the Global Child Leading Team.

The Centre for Human Rights (CHR) attended the 22nd meeting of the CSO Forum for the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, held from 26 - 27 April 2023, in Maseru, Kingdom of Lesotho. The meeting was organised ahead of the 41st Session of the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child meeting from 28th April to 6 May 2023, in Maseru, Kingdom of Lesotho.

The Centre for Human Rights, Children’s Rights Unit, in collaboration with the Ministry of Gender, Community Development and Social Welfare, and the Global Campus for Human Rights, successfully conducted a two-day workshop in Lilongwe, Malawi. The workshop focused on promoting child participation in development frameworks in Africa and strengthening the African base of the Global Child Leading Team.

The Centre for Human Rights, Children’s Rights Unit, in collaboration with the Ministry of Gender, Community Development and Social Welfare, and the Global Campus for Human Rights, successfully conducted the first day of a two-day workshop on promoting child participation in development frameworks in Africa and strengthening the African base of the Global Child Leading Team, held in Lilongwe, Malawi.  

Over two days, 15 and 16 November 2022, the Children Rights Unit at the Center for Human Rights, hosted a training workshop to capacitate selected state officials from varied ministries on strategies to incorporate the impact of Climate Change on children’s Socio-economic Rights in their state reports to the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (African Children’s Committee).

The Children's Rights Unit at the Centre for Human Rights launched its Study on Child Participation in Development Frameworks in Africa.

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Child participation is a fundamental right guaranteed in international law, specifically under articles 12 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and 4(2) of the African Children’s Charter. It is a facilitative right that is significant in the intellectual development of the child and vital for a child’s autonomy and social responsibility later in a child’s life course.

In collaboration with the Centre for Human Rights, Faculty of Law, University of Pretoria and the Centre for Applied Legal Studies, Wits University Natural Justice will host a two-day conference to empower young activists and students with knowledge and tools to influence climate justice in South Africa.

We are pleased to invite you to participate in a hybrid conference on children’s rights organised by the Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria. The conference is scheduled, to take place from 28 - 29 June 2022, in Pretoria, South Africa. 

On the 26 and 27 May 2022, the Children’s Rights Unit at the Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria hosted a meeting to validate its draft regional study report on child participation in the implementation of the Global and Regional Development with a focus on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the African Union (AU) Agenda 2063, and the AU Agenda 2040 for Children. 

On 28 and 29 April 2022 the Children’s Rights Unit, at the Centre for Human Rights, Faculty of Law, University of Pretoria (the Centre), in collaboration with the Raoul Wallenberg Institute (Kenya office), hosted a stakeholder meeting and training workshop on Children’s Privacy Rights in Africa. During the event, the Center also launched its study on children’s right to privacy in the digital sphere in Africa. The event was attended by key stakeholders from various countries across the continent and representatives from the African and UN Children’s Committees.

The Centre for Human Rights, Faculty of Law, University of Pretoria, cordially invites you to a webinar organised by the Children’s Rights Unit on the occasion of the 35th Ordinary Session of the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACERWC). The webinar will focus on children’s rights in the digital age in Africa.

The Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria (the Centre), is implementing a two-year project on Children’s Privacy in the Digital Sphere. The overall goal of the project is to promote enhanced protection for children’s right to privacy in the digital sphere in Africa. This goal will be achieved through three main interventions: research for evidence and knowledge building on the standards and practice on children privacy online; evidence-based advocacy for children’s privacy in the digital sphere, and capacity building to enhance the development and implementation of relevant protections to enhance online privacy for children. The first pillar of the project entails knowledge building on the regional and domestic standards governing children’s privacy when navigating the internet. One of the main components of this aspect is a regional study that seeks to foster an evidence-based understanding of key issues relating to children’s privacy online in the African context.

On 16 June 2020, the Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria, held a webinar organised by the Children’s Rights Unit on the occasion of the Day of the African Child 2020. The webinar focused on the issue of access to a child friendly justice system in Africa, against the backdrop of the 30 year anniversary of the adoption of the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, and the prevailing COVID-19 pandemic.

The UNCRC and its practical implications in the African context 

In conversation with Adv Karabo Ozah

The Centre for Human Rights (the Centre) in partnership with Equality Now, Girls not Brides, Human Rights Watch and Plan International hosted a panel discussion on the recently adopted Joint General Comment to End Child Marriages and the Report on Child Marriage, commissioned by the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights (African Commission). 

Bamako, Mali, 24 April 2018

Honourable Chairperson and members of the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, I thank you for this opportunity to address you on the occasion of the 31st Ordinary Session of this honourable Committee. The Centre for Human Rights conveys its gratitude to the Committee for granting our application for observer status during the 30th Ordinary Session in Khartoum, Sudan in December 2017. We are pleased that granting us observer status will further facilitate our engagement with the Committee for the promotion and protection of children’s rights on the continent, especially through the full, effective and efficient implementation of the provisions of African Children’s Charter.

On 20 May 2017, students from the Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa (HRDA) programme launched a campaign against children accused of being witches in Africa. The campaign ended on 7 June 2017. The campaign, also known as #ChildNotWitch, aims to create awareness around children in various African countries, accused of being witches and the abuse and even killings that are a result of these accusations.

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