Thinking Children?s Rights in Africa: Emerging Issues

Children remain among the most vulnerable members of society, and the responsibility of protecting their rights requires ongoing intellectual, legal, religious, cultural and social engagement. Since the adoption of the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACRWC) in 1990, African states have made significant progress in developing legal frameworks and mechanisms protecting children. However, emerging challenges and deep-rooted structural issues continue to hinder the full realisation of children’s rights across Africa. Thinking Children’s Rights in Africa: Emerging Issues is a response to this reality. It is a multidisciplinary volume that brings together a wide range of voices – academics, practitioners, philosophers, theologians, social workers, and child rights advocates – to reflect on the progress, contradictions, and persistent gaps in Africa’s child protection landscape. The volume consists of fourteen chapters and includes the work of more than nineteen contributors, many of whom have conducted empirical research, engaged with policy and existing literature, and/or drawn from years of practical experience. The book begins by exploring traditional and theoretical foundations of children’s rights in Africa, emphasising the relevance and tensions between customary norms and contemporary child protection discourses. It then considers the legal and policy dimensions as well as lived realities and emerging challenges, including child marriage, trafficking, sexual abuse, and the situation of children in street contexts. The role of religion, law, and policymakers in shaping the future of child rights on the continent is emphasised.

Isaac Mutelo is a Catholic priest belonging to the Dominican Order and currently serves as Lecturer and Director of Quality Assurance, Research and Innovation at Arrupe Jesuit University in Harare, Zimbabwe. He holds a total of eight degrees across Theology (BTh), Philosophy (BA, BA Hons, MA, PhD), Education (PGDE), and Law (PGDHREEL, LLM). Dr Mutelo has authored numerous articles and book chapters on topics including human rights law, environmental issues, politics and religion, artificial intelligence and robotics, interreligious dialogue, and philosophy. He is the author of Muslim Organisations in South Africa: Political Role Post-1948 (2023) and editor of Human Rights in Southern Africa: Theory and Practice (2024). He has presented at several conferences locally and internationally.

Joyline Gwara holds a Doctor of Philosophy in Philosophy from the University of KwaZulu- Natal, South Africa, making her the first woman in Zimbabwe to earn a doctorate in this field. She is a Senior Lecturer at the University of Zimbabwe and a Research Fellow with the Decoloniality Research Group at the University of Pretoria. Her teaching and research interests focus on African philosophy and related disciplines.

Monica Nyachowe is an educationist and Lecturer at Arrupe Jesuit University in the School of Education and Leadership. She holds a PhD in Leadership and Management in Education from the University of KwaZulu-Natal. Currently, she serves as the Coordinator of the BAHonours in Transformational Leadership and is a Certified Coach from the Benedictine Sisters of Pittsburgh, USA. Her research interests focus on Leadership and Management, Anti-Human Trafficking, and Coaching.