128 Mezmur/18th birthday of the African Children’s Rights Charter However, the influence of these non-binding instruments on the African Children’s Rights Charter pales in comparison when the extent to which the provisions of the CRC (not only what is contained in the CRC, but also what is not) have informed its content. In fact, the idea for the African Children’s Rights Charter was triggered as a spill-over of the negotiation process to adopt the CRC.9 In particular, the very limited number of African countries that were meaningfully involved in the drafting of the CRC stood as a concern.10 Therefore, in 1988, with the support of UNICEF, the African Network for the Prevention and Protection Against Child Abuse and Neglect (ANPPCAN)11 convened a meeting that aimed to look at the draft CRC, and deliberate on the extent to which it covers peculiar issues that children in Africa were facing at the time.12 The main recommendation of the meeting was the need to draft and adopt an Africa specific instrument on children’s rights. There is an adequate amount of literature interrogating13 and comparing the provisions of the Charter with the CRC.14 Suffice to mention that the issue of children living under apartheid,15 the involvement of children in armed conflict, the protection of refugees and internally displaced persons, the special vulnerability of the girl child including in relation to accessing education during and after 9 See, in general, D Chirwa ‘The merits and demerits of the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child’ (2002) 10 International Journal on Children’s Rights 157; BD Mezmur ‘The African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child: an update’ (2006) 6 African Human Rights Law Journal 550. D Olowu ‘Protecting children’s rights in Africa: a critique of the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child’ (2002) 10 International Journal of Children’s Rights 127; J SlothNielsen ‘Strengthening the promotion, protection and fulfilment of children’s rights in African context’ in Alen et al (eds) The UN Children’s Rights Convention: theory meets practice (2007) 81. 10 One of the reasons for a separate African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child was that during the drafting process of the CRC, Africa was underrepresented. Only Algeria, Morocco, Senegal and Egypt participated meaningfully in the preparatory meetings. Furthermore, specific provisions on aspects peculiar to Africa were not sufficiently addressed in the UN instrument. 11 More details on ANPPCAN available at http://www.anppcan.org/. 12 P Ankut ‘The African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child: linking principles with practice’ (2007/2008) available at http://www.fairplayforchildren.org/ pdf/1299577504.pdf (accessed 10 October 2017). 13 See, for instance, B Thompson ‘Africa’s Charter on Children’s Rights: a normative break with cultural traditionalism’ (1992) 41 International and Comparative Law Quarterly 432; F Viljoen ‘Supra-national human rights instruments for the protection of children in Africa: the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child’ (1998) 31 CILSA 199; F Viljoen ‘The African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child’ in C Davel (ed) Introduction to child law in South Africa 214. 14 See, for instance, O Ekundayo ‘Does the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACRWC) only underline and repeat the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC)’s provisions?: examining the similarities and the differences between the ACRWC and the CRC’ (2015) 5 International Journal of Humanities and Social Science 143; BD Mezmur ‘The African Children’s Charter versus the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child: a zero sum game?’ (2008) 23 SA Public Law 1; T Kaime The African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child: a socio-legal perspective (2009). 15 Article 26 of the Charter.