The African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACERWC) is an African Union Organ established to monitor the implementation of the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (the Charter). As per article 43 of the Charter, the ACERWC has the mandate to receive and consider State Party reports on the status of the implementation of the Children’s Charter. After considering State Party reports it issues concluding observations and recommendations on the measures that States Parties may take to improve the implementation of the Charter. In accordance with Article 44, the ACERWC also has the mandate to consider complaints against States Parties on alleged violations of the Charter. Following the consideration of complaints, the Committee issues decisions for the Respondent State if a violation of the Charter was established. Moreover, the ACERWC may undertake investigations pursuant to article 45 of the Charter on child rights issues after which it issues recommendations and calls for action on the issues under investigation. The ACERWC also issues recommendations and call for actions to Member States of the African Union on children’s rights issues in other forms such as letter of urgent appeals, resolutions, statements, among others.

The ACERWC notes that its recommendations and decisions arising out of its mandates enhance the implementation of the Charter if they are implemented. Hence, monitoring State compliance with the decisions and recommendations of ACERWC is key to the full realization of children’s rights. Accordingly, the ACERWC undertakes various activities to monitor the implementation of its decisions and recommendations and from its activities, it notes that the is a gap in implementation.

Various factors contribute for such non-compliance by States including lack of (Inadequate) legislative and institutional frameworks that can facilitate the implementation of the decisions of ACERWC and sometimes lack of capacity to implement; Lack of political will from some States to implement the decisions of ACERWC; Lack of collaboration among Government Organs and other stakeholders; and lack of an effective and fully operational follow up mechanism to monitor the implementation of decisions.

Cognizant of the above-mentioned issues and the need for regular and continued monitoring of States’ compliance with its decisions and recommendations, the ACERWC established the Working Group on implementation of decisions during its 35^th Ordinary Session, held virtually from 31 August to 08 September 2020. The Working Group is composed of four members of the ACERWC and mandated to undertake its activities as defined primarily by the African Children’s Charter, the Resolution establishing the Working Group and the Standard of Operating Procedures for the establishment of Working Groups as Special Mechanisms within the ACERWC.

The Working Group on implementation of decisions, at its initial meeting held on November 10, 2021, in Bujumbura, Burundi, adopted its workplan for 2022-2023. Accordingly, a first set of activities was implemented in 2022 including the adoption of resolutions and the development of the Study on the status of the implementation of the decisions of the Committee. Currently, the Working Group is working under the objectives of its workplan for 2023 in order to continue reviewing progress made in the implementation of the ACERWC’s decisions and recommendations, which include among others, developing compliance-guidelines to measure whether States parties to the African Children’s Charter comply with the decisions and recommendations of ACERWC as well as preparing internal Guidelines aiming to provide the Committee with guidance that it will need to consider for developing Reparations in its decisions.

In this regard, the ACERWC in collaboration with Expertise France would like to hire a qualified individual consultant to assist the undertakings of the Working Group on Implementation of Decisions of the ACERWC