The African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACERWC)
extends its compliments to the Government of Tanzania and wishes to acknowledge
with thanks receipt of the initial Report on the status of implementation of the African
Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child which was submitted in accordance with
the State Parties obligation under Article 43. The ACERWC congratulates the
Government of Tanzania for having presented and discussed the contents of the Report
at its 14th Session held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia from 16 to 19 November 2010.
The Committee commends the State Party for its large delegation headed by the
Permanent Secretary for Gender Affairs and its high-level inter-ministerial composition.
Following a consideration of this Report and the discussions at the 14 th Session, the
Committee has the honour to submit to the Government of Tanzania the following
observations and recommendations:
Discrimination in the treatment of girls who are pregnant and still in school and
marriage.
In the State Report, Zanzibar has enacted a law allowing pregnant schoolgirls to be readmitted to school afterwards whereas in Tanzania mainland there is no such law,
clearly demonstrating that there are coordination problems between the laws of the two
places. The State Report mentions that churches are responsible for catering for family
legal matters in Zanzibar but the churches are not agents of the State party, neither are
they supported by it. There is no mention of the Mainland’s position with regards to this
issue. Concerning marriage, the Law of Marriage Act vests the responsibility to provide
maintenance to the child during and after the dissolution of marriage in the father,
regardless of whether or not the child is in his custody. This is contrary to the provisions
of Article 18 of the ACRWC, and should be reconciled to reflect the Member State’s
obligations, hereunder.
The Hague Convention on Adoption, and the requirement for the domestication of
other treaties and conventions already ratified.
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