The African Civil Society Forum (CSO Forum) is a group of Civil Society Organizations from all the five African regions, namely, East, Southern, North, West and Central through their regional child networks. The Forum exists to speak with one voice in pursuit of the common interest of the rights and welfare of African children as articulated in the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACRWC) and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). The CSO Forum was established in 2009 to provide a platform for African child focused CSOs working on the rights and welfare of children across Africa to engage with the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACERWC/the Committee), UNCRC, Member states to the African Charter, key child rights experts, African Union representatives, and relevant stakeholders engaged in advancing child rights in Africa.
The African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACRWC) was adopted in 1990 and came into force in 1999. The instrument established the ACERWC as the institutionalized mechanism for monitoring and holding member states accountable for its implementation. The Charter also provides for the active involvement of civil society actors in supporting the role of the Committee and in ensuring the effective implementation of the Charter at country level as well as the UNCRC. The CSO Forum has a standing slot at the ACERWC Sessions where it presents Statements covering key issues agreed on during CSO Forum Sessions which precede the ACERWC Sessions and the Council on the UNCRC.
The CSO Forum meets twice a year; at the beginning of the year for organizational and/or strategic issues, and at the end of the year for programmatic issues before the sessions of the ACERWC. These sessions bring together CSOs working on the rights and welfare of children across Africa, key child rights experts, development Partners, and African Union representatives.
The 26th Session of the CSO Forum take place on the 3rd to 5th April 2025 in Maseru Lesotho, under the theme, “Reparation and children – Safeguarding civil society space for children’s rights’’.
The main Objective of the 26th session was to:
To empower African civil society organizations (CSOs) to effectively advocate for and implement child-sensitive policies and programs within the African Union’s (AU) framework.
This session presented a crucial opportunity for all stakeholders not to only take stock of the gains made in enhancing the child rights landscape but also collectively plan on how to holistically address past and present injustices that have and continued to threaten the welfare of children on the continent.
The forum kicked off with an insightful session led by Save the Children, focusing on building the capacity of CSOs on the intersection of child rights and business. Child rights in business refers to the responsibility of companies to respect, protect, and promote the rights of children in their operations and supply chains. This includes avoiding practices such as child labor and exploitation, ensuring products are safe for children, and supporting children’s access to education and development. Prioritizing child rights in business operations is a key aspect of ethical corporate responsibility.
The African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child provides for comprehensive protections for children which are relevant to the business environment. The ACERWC has identified four general principles (pillars) which are fundamental to the interpretation of all other rights enshrined in the ACRWC. These are the principles of non- discrimination, the best interests of the child, the right to life and the obligation of state parties to ensure the survival and development of the child, and the right of the child to express opinions and to participate. All of these may be implicated in the context of business, in cases where children’s survival and development is impeded by their involvement in child labour, or where their best interests are threatened by such involvement.