African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child

Seat: Maseru, Lesotho        Instrument: ACRWC       Operating Since: 2002 

The African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACERWC) is charged with protecting human rights in Africa and interpreting the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACRWC). Until December 2020, the ACERWC had been based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, but it relocated its headquarters to Lesotho following an agreement between the AU and Lesotho. The Committee generally holds biannual ordinary sessions at its headquarters. It is made up of 11 individuals elected by the Assembly of the African Union to serve for one term of five years. 

Out of the African Union’s 55 Member States, 50 have ratified the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child. Those 50 States are: Algeria, Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Chad, Central African Republic, Comoros, Congo, Cote d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Madagascar, Mali, Malawi, Mozambique, Mauritania, Mauritius, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principle, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. The Democratic Republic of Congo became the 50th State to ratify the ACRWC, in December 2020. [ACERWC] 

The Committee’s activities include issuing “general comments,” guidance and interpretation regarding the ACRWC; monitoring the ACRWC’s implementation; reviewing reports by States and civil society organizations concerning States parties’ implementation of the ACRWC and issuing recommendations (“concluding observations”); deciding “communications,” complaints that allege violations of the ACRWC by States parties; conducting fact-finding and promotional missions concerning systematic violations of child rights in States parties; and, establishing standards and guidelines to guide States parties in fulfilling their obligations. 

The ACRWC and the Committee’s revised Rules of Procedure establish its composition and procedures.