Overview Of The African Charter On The Rights And Welfare Of The Child

The African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACRWC/the Charter) was adopted by the Organisation of African Unity on 11 July 1990 and came into force on 29 November 1999. The Charter is a regional human rights instrument addressing issues of particular interest and importance to children in Africa.

To date 50 AU Member States have ratified the Charter and 5 Member States have not ratified it. These are Morocco, Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, Somalia, South Sudan and Tunisia.

Three (3) Member States have entered reservations to some provisions of the Charter namely, Egypt, Mauritania, and Sudan.

Reservations

Member State Reservations
Egypt

Article 24- Adoption Article 30 (a- e)- Children of imprisoned mothers Article 44- Communications; and (decisions of the Committee) Article 45 (1)- Investigations by the Committee
Mauritania

Article 9 – Freedom of conscience and religion
Sahrawi Republic

The reservations are on the following articles:

- Article 10 ;

- Article 11, paragraph 6 ;

- Article 18, paragraph 2 ; and

- Article 21, paragraph 2.
Sudan

Article 10 – Protection of privacy Article 11 (6) – Education of children who become pregnant before completing their education Article 21 (2) – Child marriage and betrothal of girls and boys