RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE AFRICAN COMMITTEE OF EXPERTS ON THE
RIGHTS AND WELFARE OF THE CHILD TO THE GOVERNMENT OF
THE REPUBLIC OF THE SUDAN ON THE INITIAL REPORT
ON IMPLEMENTATION OF THE AFRICAN CHARTER
ON THE RIGHTS AND WELFARE OF THE CHILD
The African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child
presents its compliments to the Government of the Republic of The Sudan and would
like to extend to the latter its gratitude for submitting to it, within the prescribed
timeframe, The Sudan’s initial report on the status of implementation of the African
Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child in conformity with Article 43 thereof,
and for having accepted to present and discuss the said report at the 20th session of
the Committee held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, from 12 to 16 November 2012.
The Committee commends the State Party for having fielded a robust highlevel delegation led by Madam Amal Abdula Mahamoud, Secretary General of the
National Council for Child Welfare (NCCW). Following consideration of this report,
the Committee has the honour to address to the Government of the Republic of The
Sudan, the following observations and recommendations:
Article 1:
OBLIGATION OF STATES PARTIES
The Committee commends the Government of the Republic of The Sudan for
having adopted several constitutional and legal texts guaranteeing the rights of the
child and for having taken children’s rights on board in the constitutional and legal
framework of peace agreements.
The Child Act of 2010 has narrowed much of the gap in terms of the texts
governing a large number of child related issues. Besides, many of its provisions are
consistent with the criteria outlined in the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare
of the Child.
However, the Committee remains concerned at the fact that the Act does not
expressly proscribe child marriage. Furthermore, The Sudanese Government’s Initial
Report has highlighted the deficit of statistics and data on the situation of children.
The Committee recommends to the Government of the Republic of The Sudan
to undertake the necessary steps to implement the provisions of the 2010 Child Act
and put in place a permanent system for gathering disaggregated data on the
situation of children.
Article 2:
DEFINITION OF A CHILD
The Committee commends the Government of the Republic of The Sudan for
having incorporated in the 2010 Act (Article 4) a definition of a child in accordance
with the provisions of the Charter.
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