has come to be recognised as the principal treaty dealing with children on the African continent. By December 2015, it had been ratified or acceded to by 47 AU member States. The Children’s Charter’s almost universal acceptance as the foremost treaty framework was a gradual process. The milestone of its entry into force, which required ratification by 15 States, was reached after about a decade, on 29 November 1999. By the end of the first decade (1990-1999), 16 States had become party to the treaty; by the end of the second decade (2000-2009), another 29 States had been added; in the last five years (2010-2015), only two States joined. The advent of the new millennium, in 2000, saw the largest number – six States – ratifying in a single year. The accelerated acceptance by States at the time coincided with the transition of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) into the African Union (AU). The seven States that are not yet State parties have at least signed the Children’s Charter. By signing the Charter, they have shown that they are prepared to align themselves with its object and purpose. The adoption of the African Children’s Charter’s and its subsequent level of acceptance irrevocably changed the basis on and the way in which continental organs and member States deal with children. Under the Children’s Charter, children are no longer viewed as objects of concern and sympathy, but are accepted as autonomous rights holders. This understanding of the child, particularly the girl child, has been resisted by forces of patriarchy and those holding deep-seated traditional views about the child’s subservient position in society. While some conceptual contestation continues, the Charter has set the continent on a constant course of growing acceptance of the independent personhood of children. Together with the shift in the discourse towards accepting children as rights holders came the recognition that States bear the duty to uphold these rights. Accountability of the State – in the form of the current government – is based on the synergy between rights holders and duty bearers. The Children’s Charter has given us a continental basis for State accountability to uphold the independent 2