Nairobi, Kenya

DATE: 16^th –18^th August 2023

VENUE: Merina Hotel- Yaounde

TIME: 9AM

The Network of African National Human Rights Institutions (NANHRI) in collaboration with the Cameroon Human Rights Commission-CHRC has organized a 3 days capacity building in-country workshop in Yaounde Cameroon, from 16^th -18^th of August.

NANHRI is a regional umbrella body that brings together 46 African National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs). NHRIs generally refers to bodies established by states to contribute in the promotion and protection of human rights within their respective jurisdictions through handling complaints, conducting investigations, and conducting research, advocacy and educational programmes in line with the Paris Principles. NANHRI seeks to support and strengthen NHRIs in Africa as well as to facilitate coordination and cooperation among themselves and between them and other key human rights actors at the regional and international level.

The in-country capacity building workshop is a European Union funded workshop under the aegis of NHRI.EU Phase 3 project which is directly aligned to the EU action plan on human Rights democracy (2020-2024), which commits to supporting NHRIs in line with the Paris Principles, including engaging with them in the context of the implementation of the sustainable development goals.

NANHRI therefore, through its Working Group on SDGs, is organizing to undertake an in-country workshop session to enhance collaboration between the Cameroon Human Rights Commission and the National Institute of Statistics. The workshop is aimed at strengthening the capacity of the NHRI and the National Institute of Statistics (NIS) to support SDGs implementation and data collection through enhancing monitoring and integration of a human rights-based approach as part of their role in the accountability and realisation of the Principle “leave no one behind”.

1. Participants

Participants will be primarily drawn from Sub-commission and key departments of the CHRC; the National Institute of Statistics in Cameroon; CSOs, publics administrations, development partners, the Government of Cameroon and the Line Ministries of Justice and Planning.

1. Training objective

The objectives of the workshop will be:

• to increase the CHRC and NIS knowledge and understanding of human rights-based approach to SDGs implementation and to data collection;
• to enhance the CHRC’s capacity to initiate and maintain effective collaboration with the NIS;
• to enhance the CHRC and NIS capacity to develop and utilize human rights indicators for the monitoring of SDGs implementation;
• to initiate discussions on formulating and signing an MOU between the CHRC and the NIS on a human rights-based approach to data collection on the principles of meaningful participation, disaggregation, self-identification, transparency, privacy, and accountability.

For further information please contact:

Gilbert Sebihogo, Executive Director, Network of African National Human Rights Institutions, Email: Gsebihogo@nanhri.org; Tel: +254 710 867264

Ms. Deborah Nyokabi, Program Officer, Regional & International Mechanisms, Email: dnyokabi@nanhri.org ; Tel: +254 (0) 713547181

For media Enquiries, please contact

NANHRI: Loyce Odhiambo- Communications & Advocacy Officer lodhiambo@nanhri.org ; Tel: +254 (0) 720609651

Cameroon Human Rights Commission: Atud Cynthia Tifuh, Communication Unit- atudtifuh99@yahoo.com ;  Tel: +237 (0) 70044670

“The internet is a great information tool and can be a place where children learn, but we must remember that when children are online, they are in public.”-Mark Kennedy

The Day of the African Child (DAC) celebrated annually on the 16^th of June was instituted by the Assembly of the Heads of State and Government of the OAU in 1991. The day commemorates the 16^th June 1976 student uprising in Soweto, South Africa when students marched in protest against the poor quality of education they received under the apartheid government. DAC commemorates the brave unprecedented action taken by the children to defend their rights. DAC celebrates the spirit of the children of Africa and calls for Member States and other stakeholders to institute measures to redress the numerous challenges facing children across Africa. It is thus an important day to introspect on measures to implement the provisions protecting children rights in national legislation, policies, and regional human rights instruments such as the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (African Children Charter)

The theme of the 2023 DAC as selected by the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACERWC) is “The Rights of the Child in the Digital Environment”.  In the concept note elaborating on the theme, the ACERWC notes that “children represent a third of all internet users in the world…and that the digital era has fundamentally changed the way in which children exercise and realise their rights.” The ACERWC reiterates that  the effect of the digital environment needs to be considered in the context of the protections provided under the African Children’s Charter as the same rights that children have offline must be protected online. 

The ACERWC highlights four core rights under the Charter that must serve as guiding principles in all measures taken to guarantee the promotion and realization of children rights in the digital environment. The four core rights include: non-discrimination (article 3); the best interests of the child (article 4); survival and development (article 5), and child participation as reflected under the right to freedom of expression (article 7). Crucially, in paragraph 7 of the concept note, the ACERWC lists NHRIs among the key stakeholders who have a role to play in ensuring promotion and protection of children’s rights in the digital sphere.

Cooperation between ACERWC and African NHRIs in the promotion and protection of the rights of the child  in the digital sphere is critical since the Paris Principles endow NHRIs with a broad human rights mandate extending to: Advisories; Legislative recommendations; Investigations (including quasi-judicial powers); Promotion of ratification of instruments and reporting on status of implementation and Human rights education among others.

The crucial role of NHRIs in protecting the rights of children was first codified in the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, General Comment No. 2: The Role of Independent National Human Rights Institutions in the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of the Child. At the regional level, the role is codified by Aarticle 42 of the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child as read together the 2018 Guidelines for Granting Affiliate/Associate status to NHRIs.  

Currently 20 African NHRIs hold affiliate status before the ACERWC being the NHRIs of Benin, Ethiopia, Sierra Leone, Kenya, Malawi, Burkina Faso, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Togo, Cameroon, Gambia, South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Ghana, Ivory Coast, and Egypt.  NHRIs with affiliate status have  various privileges and responsibilities including: tabling agenda items; assessing state party reports; providing thematic briefings, following up on the implementation of decisions; and assisting in the dissemination of concluding observations of the Committee among other critical roles relating to advocating for the ratification and implementation of the Charter. They can thus harness their privileges and responsibilities to advocate for the protection of the rights of children in the digital sphere.

As such, NHRIs must be at the forefront in pointing out the double-edged nature of the digital sphere as it pertains to the rights and welfare of the African child. They need to work towards advocating for the indispensable benefits of the internet in expanding the fundamental rights and freedoms of children such as the freedom of association, the freedom of expression, the right to education, and the right to play. They need to advocate for bridging of the digital divide as for instance internet access for children in Africa ranges from 1-13% compared to 59% in Eastern Europe and Asia. Internet shutdowns further compound the problem of internet access for African children.  NHRIs must, therefore, advocate for last mile universal and equitable internet access for African children. On the other hand, the internet poses significant risks to children rights that NHRIs must work towards mitigating and eliminating. As elaborated by the ACERWC these include: online child sexual exploitation and abuse; breaches of the right to privacy; cyber bullying, and exposure to harmful content.

For successful advocacy, NHRIs should be guided by the  international  and regional normative frameworks which include: the UN Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography; the UN CRC General Comment 25 on Children Rights in Relation to the Digital Environment; the International Telecommunications Unit (ITU) Guidelines on Child Protection Online; Africa’s Agenda 2040 for Children; ACERWC General Comment no 7 on Protecting Children from all Forms of Sexual Exploitation and Abuse; ACERWC Resolution 17/2022 on Protection and Promotion of Children Rights in the Digital Sphere; the Declaration of principles on Freedom of Expression and Access to Information in Africa;  the AU Convention on Cybersecurity and Personal Data Protection (the Malabo Convention), and the 2022 AU Data Policy Framework among other instruments.  A key priority for NHRIs will be to advocate for the ratification, implementation, and domestication of the above instruments and report accordingly to the treaty bodies.

NHRIs need to cooperate with Member States, CSOs, the ACERWC, the CRC, AU bodies, UN agencies, and most importantly children themselves to bridge the administrative, institutional, and legislative gaps hindering successful protection and promotion of children rights in the digital sphere.  As a monitoring mechanism, NHRIs with affiliate status before the ACERWC should report the initiatives taken to commemorate DAC 2023  to the ACERWC during its upcoming 42^nd  &43^rd Ordinary Sessions as well as participate in the forthcoming ACERWC Study on the rights of children in the digital sphere. It is evidently highly imperative for NHRIs to work together with other stakeholders to protect children rights in the digital sphere. As Nelson Mandela said. “History will judge us by the difference we make in the everyday lives of children”.