Executive Summary
This report has two aims: firstly, using a sophisticated rights-based statistical methodology and drawing on a wide range of data, we examine how well African governments are delivering on their promises and commitments to children. We analyse how much effort governments are putting into realising the rights and wellbeing of children, whether they have become more or less child-friendly over the years, and why. Secondly, we go beyond simply scoring and ranking the relative performance of African governments over time to provide a comprehensive, quantitative and qualitative view of the current realities and trends in the state of child wellbeing in Africa, and their implications for the future.
We conclude with one exceptionally important and alarming message. Africa is on the verge of a serious human development crisis which carries grave consequences for the social and economic wellbeing of its people and for the future of the continent. massive investment is needed over the next three decades to avoid the ticking time-bomb of a billion children and young people who are under-nourished, semi-literate or illiterate, jobless or under- employed. We urge African governments to go beyond simply fulfilling their obligations under the united nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACRWC). They must commit to major transformative actions which ensure an Africa of one billion well-fed, well-educated and globally competitive boys and girls.
Chapter 3, in particular, focuses on child protection, highlighting the progress made in legal and policy frameworks and outlining the challenges still ahead.