5. Overview of the objectives and program of the Forum Mr John Njoka, Facilitator of the Forum, introduced the objectives of the Forum and the program of work. He highlighted that the main objectives of the Forum are to; - accelerate the process of ratification and reporting; encourage the withdrawal of reservations; solicit the implementation of the Charter and the recommendations of the Committee raise awareness on the Guidelines on State Party Reporting; Identify good practices and challenges in the above issues; and encourage CSOs engagement on reporting and implementation of the African Children’s Charter. The Facilitator also presented the program of work for the participants and emphasized that all expectations will be met during the Forum. 6. Introduction to the African Children’s Charter This session focused on a theoretical exposure on the African human rights system with focus on the African Children’s Charter as well as why countries ratify and also make reservations. Two presentations were made by the ACERWC Secretariat officers. Presentation on the African human rights system with a focus of the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child and its monitoring body Mr. Ayalew Getachew, from the Secretariat of the ACERWC made a presentation to introduce the African human rights system and give a brief background of the Charter as well as the works of the ACERWC. Mr. Ayalew made reference to the fact that human rights protection can be provided at national level, regional level and global level. He highlighted that the need for establishing a regional system beyond the national and global system arises from the specificity and context based response it offers. In addition, it was underlined that such regional systems offer faster response due to political and economic ties; higher possibilities of reaching agreements; and sense of belongingness. Mr. Ayalew indicated that the African human rights system is composed of normative frameworks and institutions. The normative frameworks include: The African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights on the Rights of Women, the Organization of the African Union Convention governing the specific aspects of the problems of refugees in Africa, the African Charter on Democracy, Elections, and Governance, and Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of Refugee 5|Page