This report documents the developmental journey taken by the Government of Sierra Leone (GSL) towards the protection, promotion and fulfilment of the rights of all of its children as protected by the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACRWC).

This report, from the African Child Policy Forum, is aimed at informing and accelerating pan-African, regional and national efforts to prevent and respond to violence against children.

The Guidelines for Kinship Care, Foster Care and Supported Independent Living in Liberia are intended to provide harmonized national guidance for child welfare practitioners in order to improve the quality of family-based alternative care services in Liberia, particularly for children without appropriate care (CWAC).

This report summarises the presentations and conclusions from the 2nd Pan-African annual conference on parenting held on the 16-17th October 2013 in Malawi on the theme of "Understanding realities of teenage parenting: a special focus on adolescents (boys and girls) with parenting responsibilities."

This Strategic Plan for the Ministry of Social Welfare, Gender and Children Affairs (MSWGCA) of Sierra Leone outlines priority critical issues and challenges and key activities/interventions under four strategic areas.

This country care review includes the care related Concluding Observations adopted by the Committee on the Rights of the Child as part of its examination during the sixty-third session (27 May-14 June 2013) of Guinea Bissau’s second through fourth periodic reports to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, as well as other care-related concluding observations, ratification dates, and links to the Universal Periodic Review and Hague Intercountry Adoption Country Profile.

Representatives from International Social Service, Save the Children, and SOS Children’s Villages met with the African Committee on Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child during its 21st session on 15 April, 2013 to present on the international Guidelines for the Alternative Care of Children (UNGA resolution A/RES/64/142) and its new implementation Handbook “Moving Forward.”

This country care review includes the Concluding Observations for the Committee on the Rights of the Child adopted as part of its examination of Liberia's second and fourth periodic reports at the 61st Session of the Committee held between 17 September and 5 October, 2012. The Committee’s recommendations on the issue of Family Environment and Alternative Care as well as other care relevant issues are highlighted.

Thirteen agencies working in Africa have issued a Joint Statement calling on African governments to strengthen their child protection systems to secure the right of children to a life free from violence, abuse, exploitation and neglect in both emergency and non-emergency settings.

Care related Concluding Observations adopted by the Committee on the Rights of the Child on the initial report of Burkina Faso under the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography.