North Africa

Members

Hope for Children

International HIV/AIDS Alliance

Save the Children UK

SOS Children's Villages

Street Child Africa

Students Supporting Street Kids (SSSK)

Publications

A Civil Society Forum for Francophone Africa on Promoting and Protecting the Rights of Street Children
This report documents The Civil Society Forum for Francophone Africa that was held in Mbour, Senegal, at the beginning of June 2004, was the fourth and last forum for Africa organised by the Consortium for Street Children. It was, arguably, the most ambitious as it attempted to unite Francophone Africa to debate and discuss issues and situations concerning street children.

A Civil Society Forum for North Africa and the Middle East on Promoting and Protecting the Rights of Street Children
This is the fifth in a very successful series of forums the Consortium has undertaken in the last three years, and was developed in response to the identified need by Consortium partners working in the region to strengthen participatory partnerships and identify good practices of work with street children in the context of child rights, social exclusion and poverty alleviation. This regional forum was also an opportunity to build partnerships between Governments and NGOs and strengthen mechanisms for dialogue between these stakeholders to produce action-oriented policy recommendations.

Born to High Risk: Violence against Girls in Africa
The African Child Policy Forum believes that ending violence against girls in Africa is one of the most pressing challenges facing Africa today. Hence, this report which has been prepared to inform the discussions at the Second International Policy Conference on the African Child: Violence Against Girls in Africa (May 11 and 12, 2006). The report pulls together information from three sources: existing literature in violence against girls; thematic studies on five settings in which African girls experience violence; and retrospective surveys of young girls' experiences of violence. This rich and revealing information has been analysed to give an overview of the magnitude of the problem, its causes and consequences, as well as the elements of a possible strategy for the way forward.

Building Resilience A Rights-based Approach to Children and HIV/AIDS in Africa
As the vulnerability of children living in communities affected by HIV/AIDS becomes a clear challenge, governments, international agencies, civil society, neighbourhoods, and families have mobilised to try to tackle the issues these children face. This report provides a brief overview of the responses of the international community and governments in rising to these challenges, the roles of the private and civil society sectors, as well as the responses of families and communities dealing directly with the children.The report argues that a Rights-based approach can rectify many of the distortions that have arisen from a crisis-driven response to children affected by HIV/AIDS, poverty, and conflict, and can provide a beacon for moving forward. The underlying principles of universality, indivisibility, responsibility, and participation provide a firm foundation for framing priorities and responses to vulnerable children and families.

Charged with being Children: Egyptian Police Abuse of Children in Need of Protection
This report by Human Rights Watch documents the routine arrest and detention, and subsequent abuse, of children considered "vulnerable to delinquency" or "vulnerable to danger" by the Egyptian police.

Difficult Circumstances: Some Reflections on “Street Children” in Africa
This article cautions against the dangers of adult-centered approaches in child research, calling for more child-centred research methodologies.

Forum de la Société Civile pour l’Afrique Francophone sur la Promotion et la Protection des Droits des Enfants de la Rue
This report documents The Civil Society Forum for Francophone Africa that was held in Mbour, Senegal, at the beginning of June 2004, was the fourth and last forum for Africa organised by the Consortium for Street Children. It was, arguably, the most ambitious as it attempted to unite Francophone Africa to debate and discuss issues and situations concerning street children.

Gender-based Violence and Property Grabbing in Africa: A Denial of Women's Liberty and Security
Property grabbing is a new form of gendered violence against women, threatening the security of women across Southern and East Africa. Forced evictions are often accompanied by further acts of violence, including physical and mental harassment, and abuse. Widows are particularly vulnerable, partly as a result of weakened customary practice and social safety nets that used to provide support to widowed women and their children, a situation made worse by the HIV and AIDS epidemic. Defending their property has cost some women their lives, while other women have lost their shelter and source of livelihoods, and have become destitute. The harassment and humiliation that often accompany property grabbing further strip women of their selfesteem, affecting their ability to defend their rights.

Inside the Home, Outside the Law: Abuse of Child Domestic Workers in Morocco
This report looks at child labor by girls under age eighteen who perform household tasks while living with their employers. Young girls engaged in child domestic labor are referred to as "petites bonnes" in Morocco, a term without a specific age cutoff but which is meant to differentiate between them and older girls or women engaged in domestic labor. The report assesses the treatment of child domestic workers according to international law, as set forth in the CRC, the Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, and other international human rights instruments. These instruments establish that children have the right to freedom from economic exploitation and hazardous labor, the right to freedom from trafficking for forced labor, and the right to an education, among other rights.

Life without Basic Service ''Street Children Say''
This study builds on the learning of Street Diary (Save the Children UK, 2001), giving theopportunity for a group of children to represent their own analysis of their situation. Itexamines the human and emotional dimension of life on the street. This is not astatistical or quantitative research but is representative of the feelings of children livingon the street about their lives and organisations working with them.

List of Countries which have Signed, Ratified/Acceded to the African Union Convention on the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child

Networking for Policy Change: An Advocacy Training Manual

Organizational Diagnosis for Advocacy
When groups are considering advocacy, it is helpful for them to assess what advocacy actually can offer their organization, what some of the benefits and risks might be and what organizational barriers might influence their success.

Policy brief: Southern Sudan's children: time to deliver peace and development
April 2010: This coming year is crucial for southern Sudan's children. Five years after the end of civil war, the first multiparty elections in 24 years are due in April, followed by a referendum in January 2011 on whether the region should become independent. The international community has a vital role to play. Thorough contingency planning and the right financial, political and technical support could make the benefits of peace a reality and give children access to the healthcare, education and protection they have so far been denied.

Policy Paralysis: A Call for Action on HIV/AIDS-Related Human Rights Abuses Against Women and Girls in Africa
Human Rights Watch has documented many gender-based human rights abuses in Africa that fuel the epidemic and make unbearable the lives of women and girls already living with HIV/AIDS. Their research is based largely on the moving and often horrifying stories told to us by African women and girls who have suffered abuse; many such stories are featured in this report. It is our hope that some understanding of the human reality of these abuses will lead to greater protection of the rights of the girls and women like those who have courageously told us of their experiences at the center of a deadly epidemic.

Rapid Situation Assessment Report on the Situation of Street Children in Cairo and Alexandria, Including the Children's Drug Abuse and Health/Nutritional Status
This report documents the findings fro a Rapid Situation Assessment (RSA) of street children in Cairo and Alexandria carried out on behalf of three United Nations Agencies.

Social Protection of Africa's Orphans and other Vulnerable Children
This paper reviews initiatives for orphans and vulnerable children by governments, NGOs, and the World Bank, with a view toward delineating good practices. Designing and implementing appropriate interventions to protect orphans in Africa is a daunting task. This paper examines some of the issues in program design, especially those bearing on targeting. It also assesses the advantages, disadvantages, and costeffectiveness of various program interventions, including education and health subsidies, fostering, orphanages, and children's villages.

Sticks, Stones and Brutal Words: The Violence Against Children in Ethiopia
The African Child Policy Forum in collaboration with Save the Children Sweden, conducted this study to generate national information on violence against children. It targeted Addis Ababa and the regional states of Oromia, Amhara, Tigray and the Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples Regional State (SNNPRS). The research focused on physical, psychological and sexual violence against children at home, in schools and in the community.

Street children and Gangs in African Cities: Guidelines for Local Authorities
The objective of this report to provide guidelines for local authorities in Africa on how to deal with street children in their cities. This is done by: 1) Providing an overview of the issue of street children in general 2)Providing an overview of the issue of different roles local authorities can play when addressing the issue of street children.

Street Children in Somalia
This report outlines the situation of street children in Sonmalia examining the context of civil war and prevelance of child labour.

Street Children: The Core of Child Abuse and Neglect in Nigeria
This report examines the situation of street children in Nigeria including child labour, sexual exploitationa and the attitudes of adults with regard to child abuse and neglect.

Sudan's Children at a CrossRoads: An Urgent Need for Protection
In this report, Watchlist has included information on violations against children in Sudan in each of the major categories identified by the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) Resolution 1612 (2005) on Children and Armed Conflict. These violations include killing and maiming, rape and other forms of sexual violence, abduction, denial of humanitarian assistance, attacks on schools, and recruitment and use of children by armed forces and groups. In addition, various other violations, such as forced displacement and  torture, also continue to be committed against children and their families.

The Reversal of a Boy's HIV Status is the Road to New Life. He’s One of Lucky Ones
Article discussing the problem of orphaned children in Ethiopia and the increasing trend of orphans being trafficked to neighbouring countries.

Trafficking in Human Beings, Especially Women and Children, in Africa
The purpose of this study is to provide an overview of key issues related to the trafficking of human beings, particularly women and children, in Africa. The report presents a preliminary mapping of trafficking patterns and provides an indication of emerging good practices on the continent.

Youth on the Streets: The Importance of Social Interactions on Psychological Well-being in an African Context
This study reflects four months of research including a two-week field assignment to Ethiopia, with the overall goal of gaining greater understanding of the impact of street youth programming on psychosocial well-being. The research was conducted through a partnership between the Displaced Children and Orphans Fund (DCOF) and the George Washington University (GWU). It contains three deliverables, including a new framework for child well-being, the identification of five key program components of street children interventions that are most likely to successfully contribute to psychosocial well-being, and the development of indicators to measure outcomes and impacts within these five domains.

Resources