By Belinda Matore, an LLD candidate and project officer at the Centre for Human Rights in the Faculty of Law at the University of Pretoria
Images of children participating in sport are widespread across social media, club websites, newsletters and broadcasts. While such images celebrate achievement and community, they also expose minors to risks such as exploitation, cyberbullying, identity theft and digital permanence. In South Africa, legal protection for children’s images arises from the Constitution, common law personality rights and the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013 (POPIA). Yet these frameworks only partially address how children’s images intersect with safeguarding in digital environments.
Pretoria University Law Press (PULP) on 6 December 2024 launched its second of a series of commentaries on African human rights treaties, The African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child: A Commentary.
The Centre for Human Rights (CHR), in partnership with the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ), hosted a Judicial Colloquium on Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights (SRHR) of women and girls in Nairobi, Kenya, on the 2nd and 3rd of July 2024. The event brought together judicial officers from Southern and Eastern African Countries.
Since its adoption in July 1990 and entry into force in November 1999, the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (African Children’s Charter), has become a key instrument within the African human rights system, governing children’s rights in Africa. To date, 51 out of 55 African Union member states have ratified the African Children’s Charter, which demonstrates a growing commitment to respect, protect and promote the rights of children. There is no doubt that the Charter, since entering into force, has significantly contributed to the development of standards and practice related to children in Africa.
The Centre for Human Rights, in partnership with the Centre for Child Law both at the Faculty of Law, University of Pretoria and Dullah Omar Institute for Constitutional Law, Governance and Human Rights, University of the Western Cape hosted the annual Advanced Human Rights Course on Children’s Rights in Africa from 17 to 21 June 2024. This year, the course was also supported by the Global Campus of Human Rights.
