In November 2008 the African Child Policy Forum launched the African Report on Child Wellbeing which addresses commitment of African governments towards children’s issues by scoring and ranking 52 African countries using an index of more than 40 indicators. The child-friendliness index shows how committed individual governments are to child wellbeing by assessing their performance in the protection of children through laws and policies; their budget allocation and their achievement of good outcomes for children through health, education, etc.
The report highlights that some of the poorest nations are the most child-friendly because they have put in place appropriate laws and policies to protect child rights and effectively target their limited resources to provide basic needs for their children. Some wealthier African nations languish at the bottom of the league for failing to protect their children against exploitation and harmful traditional practices and because their minimum ages – particularly for marriage and criminal responsibility – are too low and in some cases also discriminatory.
Click here for the full report
Focal point: Getu Shikur
