Projects

Country Profiles for the African Great Lakes Region

Photo credit: 123FR/Anke Van Wyk

Analyse the state of children’s rights, highlight promising practices and make a difference

Project duration : 2008 - 2009

In May 2008, the IBCR received the support of the International Organisation of La Francophonie to develop a project to monitor children’s rights in the four states of the Great Lakes region in Central Africa: Burundi, Congo, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Conscious of the fact that numerous reports denounced children’s rights violations in French-speaking countries in the African Great Lakes region, the Bureau wanted to highlight the actions taken by various stakeholders involved in children’s rights, namely governments, local civil societies and international organisations.

Our goals :

Published in the form of national profiles, the primary goal of this analysis was to bridge the gaps in the United Nations monitoring system in this part of Africa with regards to the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) by analysing and documenting the status of the application of the CRC and its optional protocols in those countries.

Furthermore, the analysis sought to promote the sharing of experiences to complement the work done by the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child.

The analyses conducted as part of this project sought to showcase the progress made, the innovative programmes offered and the challenges ahead on the national and regional level in order to facilitate a dialogue with decision-makers in the countries in question and help them integrate their conclusions.

In 2009, the project led by the IBCR resulted in the publication of a national profile of the four countries, painting a picture of each country’s experience in making children’s rights a reality, as well as a regional analysis of advancements that make a difference for local children and can be replicated in the region.