ACERWC 1st CSO Forum Child Friendliness Presentation

8/7/2019 ACERWC 1st CSO Forum Child Friendliness Presentation

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How child-friendly are African

governments?

Assefa Bequele, PhD

The African Child Policy Forum

First CSO ForumFriday, 17 April 2009

www.africanchildforum.org


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Child-friendliness: what does it mean?

Childrens closeness to policy and

political agenda

Do we put their best interests as a basis for law?

Do they matter in money matters?

Do we listen to them?


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MeasuringChild-friendliness

Three core principles

Protection

Provision

Participation


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Child-friendliness of African governments

Maximum effort to respect, protect & fulfil

child rights and ensure child wellbeing

Child-friendliness is an aggregate measure

of governments performance in child

protection and provision


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MeasuringChild-friendliness . . . Contd

Based on more than 40 indicators

Covered all 52 African states (except

Somalia and Saharawi Arab Republic)

Assessed performance at a point in time(2004-2005 and 1999- 2001).


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I. How protective are our governments

The report assesses government performance in

child protection by looking at:

Ratification of international and regional legal

instruments relating to children

Existence of provisions in national laws to protect

children against harm and exploitation

Existence of a juvenile justice system, National

Plan of Action (NPA) and coordinating bodies for

the implementation of childrens rights

Existence of a national policy for free primary

education.


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How protective are African governments . . . Contd

Best and worst performers in child protection

Best performers Worst performers

Kenya Guinea-Bissau

Madagascar Swaziland

Burundi Gambia

Morocco So Tom and Principe

Namibia Central African Republic


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II. Ranking of for budgetary commitment

Indicators:

Government expenditure on health

Government expenditure on education

Governments contribution to the EPI budget

Military expenditure

Percentage change in governments expenditure on

health


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Budgets:Most and least committed governmentscontd

Most committed Least committed

Malawi Eritrea

Botswana Comoros

Burkina Faso Sao Tom and Principe

Seychelles Guinea

Namibia Sudan


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Child-friendliness: Recall

Maximum effort to respect, protect & fulfil

child rights and ensure child wellbeing

Child-friendliness is an aggregate measure

of governments performance in child

protection and provision


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Most child-friendly governments

Overall Performance

10

9

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

Cape

Verde

Algeria

alawi

South

Africa

Kenya

orocco

Libya

Tunisia

Namibia

auritius


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Least child-friendly governments

Least child-friendly governments

Country Rank

Guinea-Bissau 52

Eritrea 51

Central African Republic 50

Gambia 49

So Tom and Principe 48

Liberia 47

Chad 46

Swaziland 45

Guinea 44

Comoros 43


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Findings

It is politics, and not economics, that

matter

Two-pronged approach to public policy:

Laws, policies based on the Best

Interests of the Child

Pro-children Budgetary Policies


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Further: Priorities for Budgetary Policy

Combat child illness and death: Increase Health

budget to as high as 20% of government

expenditure, or a minimum of 9%

Raising the proportion of GDP that goes to

education to as high as 13%, with a minimum of

4.3%

Combat orphanhood; keep parents alive; make

ART widely available


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Conclusion: Three things that matter

An African vision based on and around

children and the primacy of human capital

Adoption of appropriate laws and effective

enforcement Laws that protect children

Pro-children and pro-poor budgets that

provide for children & their families


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Final words: Three things matter

Politics that value children

Laws that protect them

Budgets that provide for them.

Thank you



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ACERWC 1st CSO Forum Child Friendliness Presentation

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