to children, the African Children’s Committee should draw inspiration from the Youth Charter. A treaty body has not been established under the Youth Charter. By implication, its provisions may form the basis of complaints to the African Commission and African Human Rights Court and, where applicable, the African Children’s Committee. The Protocol to the African Charter on the Rights of Women in Africa (Maputo Protocol or African Women’s Protocol) complements the African Charter, by expounding on the rights of women and girls. In article 1(k), ‘women’ are defined as ‘persons of female gender, including girls’. The Women’s Protocol is, therefore, devoted not only to the rights of women over the age of 18, but also to younger women and girls. Although the Women’s Protocol never uses the term ‘girl’ or ‘girl-child’, some rights are clearly of particular relevance to this category of ‘women’. Examples are the stipulation that the minimum age of marriage for women is 18 years (article 6(b) of the Women’s Protocol); and the prohibition of harmful cultural practices, in particular female genital mutilation (article 5 of the Protocol). In addition to ratifying the African Youth Charter and the African Women’s Protocol, African States should ratify, domesticate and give meaningful effect to the following treaties: ● the AU Convention for the Protection and Assistance of Internally-Displaced Persons; ● the ILO Convention on the Worst Forms of Child Labour (Convention 182); ● the ILO Convention on Minimum Age for Admission to Employment (Convention 138); ● the International Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities; ● the Optional Protocol to the CRC on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography; 5