1st Edition
Routledge Handbook of Children's Rights in Africa
SECTION I: THEORETICAL AND LEGAL FRAMEWORKS OF CHILDREN’S RIGHTS IN AFRICA
Chapter 1: Introduction: Recentring Africa in Children's Rights — Toward a Post-SDG Afrocentric Framework
Clement Chipenda, Musavengana W.T. Chibwana, and Robert Doya Nanima
Chapter 2: The ACRWC Reconsidered: African Philosophy, Postcolonial Critique, and the Normative Limits of the International Children's Rights Framework
Clement Chipenda
Chapter 3: Towards a Child Rights Pluriverse: The African Children’s Charter as a decolonial tool
Musavengana W.T. Chibwana
Chapter 4: An African Philosophical Perspective on Childhood and Children's Rights
Tosin Adeate
Chapter 5: Child Marriages and Harmful Practices: A Comparative Study of Eastern and Southern Africa
Raymond Chirowamhangu
Chapter 6: Regional Integration and Children's Rights: Opportunities for Pan-African Approaches
Zita M. Hansungule-Nefale and Karabo Ozah
SECTION II: CHILD PROTECTION SYSTEMS AND IMPLEMENTATION
Chapter 7: Informal Protection Systems: Community-Based Child Protection Mechanisms in Rural Africa
Mulwayini Mundau, Winnet Hokoza, and Kudzai Mwapaura
Chapter 8: Children's Rights Safeguarding Using Existing Community Structures in Rural Africa: Lessons from Karabo Ea Bophelo Microfinance Clubs in Thaba-Tseka, Lesotho
Thabang John Mtimcolo Hloele, Sophia Thabane, and Malefane Justice Matele
Chapter 9: Measuring Impact in Rights-Based Child Protection: An African Perspective
Megha Nkem
Chapter 10: Between Formal and Traditional Child Protection Systems: Reconfiguring Child Vulnerability through Intergenerational and Collective Care in Ethiopia
Chiara Costa
Chapter 11: Black Children Cannot Play Without Land
Pedro Mzileni and Xatyiswa Maqashalala
SECTION III – CONTEMPORARY CHALLENGES AND VULNERABILITIES
Chapter 12: Artificial Intelligence and Children's Rights in Africa: Towards an African Human Rights-Based Framework
Clement Chipenda
Chapter 13: Digital Safety and Children's Rights: Emerging Threats and Protection Strategies in Urban African Settings
Tamandani Vanessa Kumbambe
Chapter 14: Emerging Technologies and Future Challenges: Anticipating New Threats to Children's Rights
Solomon Tawanda Ndondo
Chapter 15: Child Trafficking and Cross-Border Protection: Contemporary Challenges and Regional Responses
Lydia T. Chibwe and Shyreen Yona-Chirwa
SECTION IV: CHILDREN'S RIGHTS TO HEALTH, NUTRITION AND MENTAL WELL-BEING
Chapter 16: Healthcare Access in Rural Areas: Innovative Models for Rights-Based Health Service Delivery
Ayobami Precious Adekola
Chapter 17: Mental Health Support Systems for Vulnerable Children: Cultural Competency in Service Provision
Reason Mupanga and Witness Chikoko
SECTION V: EDUCATION AND TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION
Chapter 18: Between Digital Divide and Educational Rights: Addressing Technology Access Inequalities
Beatrice Dzingai, Lucia Kahomwe, and Shepherd Gumbo
Chapter 19: Indigenous Knowledge Systems and Digital Education: Bridging Traditional and Modern Learning
Akanksha Yadav
Chapter 20: Inclusive Education Technologies in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Systematic Review of Innovations Supporting Children with Disabilities
Christopher Mutseekwa, Ramiro Martinez, Pinias Chikuvadze, and Kenneth Mukau
SECTION VI: CLIMATE CHANGE, THE ENVIRONMENT AND CHILDREN’S RIGHTS
Chapter 21: Climate-Induced Migration and Children's Rights: Protection Frameworks and Responses
Akot Makur Chuot Chep
Chapter 22: African Children and the Challenge of Climate Change: Seeking Adaptive Options for a Resilient Future
Oluwatoyin O. Ajayi and Olaitan O. Olusegun
Chapter 23: Environmental Justice and Children's Rights in Africa: Climate Impacts, Health Risks, and Rights-Based Responses
Ndumiso Innocent Nzaca and Mercy Chepkemoi
Chapter 24: Environmental Education and Children's Agency: Youth Climate Activism in Africa
Sithandweyinkosi Nkomo, Iggy Gamuchirai Saviere, Gladman Makwenya, and Yasin Adam
SECTION VII: CIVIL SOCIETY'S ROLE IN AFRICAN CHILD PROTECTION GOVERNANCE
Chapter 25: Resource Mobilisation and Sustainability: Strategic Approaches for Civil Society Organisations
Vivian Nyaata
Chapter 26: State–Civil Society Relations in African Child Protection Governance: Power and Social Accountability
Oluwadamilola Titilope Osekita
Chapter 27: Grassroots Movements and Child Rights: Bottom-Up Approaches to Policy Change
Vongaishe Changamire and Clement Chipenda
Chapter 28: Children Affected by Armed Conflict in Africa: Recentring Article 22 in Continental Child Rights Governance
Robert Doya Nanima
SECTION VIII: SYNTHESIS AND FUTURE DIRECTIONS
Chapter 29: Towards an Africa Fit for Children: Synthesis, Structural Reckoning, and the Architecture of a Post-SDG Future
Clement Chipenda, Musavengana W.T. Chibwana, and Robert Doya Nanima
Biography
Clement Chipenda is a Senior Research Fellow at the University of South Africa’s College of Graduate Studies, where he contributes his expertise to the South African Research Chair (SARChI) Chair in Social Policy. He is a co-investigator in the research project ‘The Social Policy Dimensions of Land and Agrarian Reform in International Perspective’ and in ‘Social Policy in the Post-COVID-19 Pandemic Era: Investigating a Transformative and Gender-Sensitive Framework in South Africa’ as well as ‘Gender-Transformative Pathways to Climate Resilience in Zimbabwe's Resettlement Areas: A Social Policy Perspective.’ His research interests span a diverse yet interconnected range of topics, including agrarian political economy, agro-food systems, transformative social policy, children’s rights and child protection, social security, urban and rural sociology, and youth and gender studies.
Musavengana W.T. Chibwana is a seasoned child rights and social policy expert with more than twenty years’ experience. He has worked with agencies such as Higher Life Foundation, UN Women, Progressio, Save the Children, and the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child Secretariat, where he managed the portfolio for children affected by armed conflicts. He is the founding chairperson of the Child Rights Network for Southern Africa (CRNSA), the regional network he was instrumental in forming and establishing. Dr Musa holds a PhD in Development Studies, majoring in Social Policy; a Master of Philosophy in Children’s Rights; a BA Honours in Development Studies; a Diploma in Personnel Management; and several professional certificates, including one in international humanitarian law (IHL). Dr Musa is a research fellow at the Centre for Gender and Africa Studies at the University of Free State in South Africa. Dr Musa has published several articles on children’s rights in Africa.
Robert Doya Nanima is an Associate Professor and Head of the Department of Criminal Justice and Procedure at the University of the Western Cape, South Africa. Before entering academia, he served as a prosecutor with Uganda's Directorate of Public Prosecutions for nine years. A prolific scholar and conference presenter, Professor Nanima serves on the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACERWC) as Special Rapporteur on Children Affected by Armed Conflict, Chairperson of the Working Group on Implementation of Decisions, and a member of the Working Group on Children's Rights and Climate Change. He is also Country Rapporteur for Tanzania, Nigeria, Malawi, Namibia, and Eswatini. He was the lead consultant on the General Comment on Article 22 on Children in Conflict Situations and supported the development of the ACERWC Model Law on Children Affected by Armed Conflict. As technical lead of the African Platform for Children Affected by Armed Conflict, he engages with key bodies, including the UN, the African Union's Peace and Security Council, and the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights. He has shaped global conversations on this issue with Global Affairs Canada, the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the UK's Wilton Park, and the UN Institute for Disarmament Research.
