Report of Workshop on Popularization of Agenda 2040 and Cross
Border Issues affecting Children in the East African Community
1.0. Background
The African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child in 2015
developed Africa’s Agenda for Children 2040, otherwise known as Agenda 2040. The
Agenda was developed during the celebration of the 25 th anniversary of the African
Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child which aimed at assessing the situation of
children’s rights in Africa in the 25 years following the adoption of the Charter with a view
of ‘looking behind to look forward’. Based on the findings of the assessment during the
conference, Agenda 2040 was developed to set aspirations for African countries which
will be implemented and achieved in the next 25 years of the Charter. The Agenda sets
10 main aspirations in the area of effective continental framework, child friendly legal and
institutional system, birth registration, survival and health, education, access to basic
necessities, violence against children, child sensitive justice system, armed conflict, and
child participation.
A two-day workshop organized by African Committee of Experts on the Rights and
Welfare of the Child (ACERWC) and hosted by the East African Community (EAC) was
held in Arusha, Tanzania on 23rd and 24th October 2018. The workshop was part of a
series of workshops planned to take place in all the Regional Economic Communities
(RECs). Participants of this workshop included representatives of the Partner States,
representatives from the East African Community (EAC) Secretariat and the African
Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare (ACERWC), Civil Society Organisations
(CSOs) in the EAC and other stakeholders in the sub-region. The workshop was geared
towards popularizing Agenda 2040, and also identifying main priorities, challenges, and
possible strategies on the implementation of the Agenda. It also aimed at identifying cross
border issues in the EAC in relation to children’s rights and the aspirations of the Agenda.
The specific objectives of the popularization of Agenda 2040 in the EAC included:
a) enhancing awareness and knowledge about Agenda 2040 among the Secretariat of
EAC and the respective Partner States;
b) creating a sense of ownership of Agenda 2040 in the EAC;
c) identifying priorities, challenges and worrying trends in the EAC taking into
consideration the specific and peculiar context of the EAC region;
d) identifying cross-border issues affecting children’s rights in the EAC to better inform
areas of collaboration and joint activities in the implementation of Agenda 2040;