Prof James
MOUANGUE KOBILA, the Chairperson of the Cameroon Human Rights Commission (CHRC)
participated in a workshop on implementing the decisions and recommendations of
the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACERWC
) in Nairobi Kenya from 23 to 24 February 2023.
22 NHRIs attended
the workshop, including those that have
affiliate Status before the Committee, as well as NHRIs from countries to which
the Committee has issued recommendations. The workshop equally saw the
participation of the Network of African National Human Rights Institutions
(NANHRIs), the CSO Forum and the five regional CSO networks on Child rights. It
was equally graced with the presence of Hon. Anne MUSIWA, the Vice Chairperson
of the Committee, and Hon. Aboubekrine EL JERA, the Rapporteur of the Committee
and Chairperson of the Working Group on Implementation of recommendations.
The purpose
of the CHRC's participation was to establish its leadership as the champion of
the 46 NHRIs in the domain of Child Rights. Hailed as the first
ACERWC-affiliated institution during the session in Maseru (Lesotho) in
November 2022, the NHRI of Cameroon was applauded twice in Nairobi for this
pioneering role in collaborating with the Committee. First of all, before the
first speech of the Chairperson on the first day of the workshop, and then the
following day, with the NHRI of Ethiopia, when the first two NHRIs affiliated
to the Committee (there are now 17) were called upon to share their experience
in monitoring the implementation of the ACERWC recommendations.
The first
presentation by the CHRC Chairperson was more general. It was on
"Experience sharing on the structure and functioning of the CHRC in child
rights and protection". In this
presentation Chairperson MOUANGUE KOBILA demonstrated that despite the absence
of a structure devoted to the Rights of the Child in its organisational chart
(a defect that needs to be corrected), the NHRI has done a lot of work -
particularly with its Rights of the Child focal point - for the promotion and
protection of children's rights.
The
participants in this workshop requested and gratefully received various
documents on the CHRC, such as: the compendiums of statements and press
releases 2021 and 2022, the 2019 annual report and folders containing the 2020,
2021 and 2022 actions of CHRC in 10 points, the human rights situation in
Cameroun in 10 points and the independance of the CHRC in 12 points.
The
participants particularly appreciated the visuals that accompanied the CHRC
statements, the experience of the CHRC in media relations, as well as the
suggestions made to ACERWC for better dissemination of its recommendations
across the continent and elsewhere.
After
listening to the CHRC Chairperson and looking at the materials distributed,
Hon. Aboubekrine EL JERA concluded that
"the NHRI in Cameroon is very advanced". He suggested that the
Chairperson of the CHRC accompany the Committee in achieving its missions. The
representative of the Child Rights Network in Central Africa (REDEAC) summed up
the overall impression that "the NHRI of Cameroon has done an exceptional
job".
The various
other presentations were delivered during the workshop and panel discussions
ended with some recommendations and
action points. Thus, NHRIs should:
- further
apply for affiliate status before the Committee, and those that have affiliate
status should actively engage the mandates of the Committee by submitting
shadow reports and briefings to the Committee,
- encourage
their Governments to submit State Party reports to the Committee,
- monitor
the implementation of the decisions and recommendations of the Committee,
- establish
and strengthen child rights structures within their institutions.
The
Committee shall develop a detailed report of the Workshop which will be made
available on the website.
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