An estimated 35 million children without parental care in Africa need immediate strengthened protection systems and quality care services

Addis Ababa, November 08, 2023. The African Committee of Experts on the Rights
and Welfare of the Child (ACERWC/the Committee), in collaboration with African Union
Member States, partner organizations, children and young people, launches the first of
its kind Continental Study on Children Without Parental Care (CWPC) in Africa. The
study, conducted from 2020 to 2022, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, covered over 43
countries in the five regions of Africa. Primary and secondary data collection methods
were utilized in various Government entities, organizations, leading academicians, child
rights advocacy groups, children and young people.
Some of the findings include:
• There are an estimated 35 million children without parental care in Africa
• These children are routinely exposed to various forms of violence including
sexual, forced labour, trafficking, unprecedented separation from parents and
family or flee, natural man-made disasters, getting in contact with the law,
substance and drug abuse, mental health issues, limited access to education,
and healthcare
• The study identified various causes and drivers for the situations of CWPC
including war and conflicts, climate change and natural disasters, pandemics,
poverty, loss of parents due to death, child trafficking, socio-economic and
cultural factors.
• The policy frameworks of a considerable number of African countries do not
explicitly include provisions for the protection and care of CWPC. More than 70%
of countries in various regions of Africa lack explicit comprehensive child
protection policy frameworks and guidance. (For example, in East and West
Africa region, up to 80% of the countries lack explicit policies on CWPC. The
majority of Southern African countries (70%) lack comprehensive CWPC policies
and 87.5% of the countries in Central Africa region lack policies, strategies, and
action plans to address protection issues for CWPC.)
____________________________________________________________________
ACERWC Secretariat | I E-mail: acerwc-secretariat@africa-union.org | Tel: +266 52 01 00 18 | Balfour Road,
Maseru, Kingdom of Lesotho | Web: acerwc.africa | Follow Us: Facebook | Twitter | LinkedIn| YouTube
• To address the vulnerabilities of CWPC, Governments and various implementing
partners, have been undertaking programmes which include: the prevention of
family separation through community empowerment, the provision of care and
protection services, advocacy for child rights, reintegration and reunification of
children back into families of origin, strengthening community structures and
systems, and the care systems reforms to ensure adherence to international and
continental policies and standards. The most commonly practiced alternative
care options for CWPC across the five African regions include kinship care,
foster care, kafalah, residential care and institutional care. The availability of
these options varies by region.
• The study reported that, in the context of Africa, with appropriate regulatory
provisions and support, kinship care option provides significant opportunity to
ensure that children remain within family setting when they encounter the risk of
loss of parental care or family separation.
• The study captured the perspectives of children regarding, among others, their
health, education, and nutrition in different settings including Governmental,
private, faith-based, community-based and street situations. Children who are in
alternative care setting, provided positive feedback regarding their health and
access to education while in contrast, children in streets situation encountered
poor health and access to education. From the children in alternative care
setting, 43% reported having some fear of losing their caregivers, while most of
them worry about what the future holds for them when they turn 18. As many as
96% of children in alternative care expressed gratitude for receiving care, while
many children also felt abandoned and unwanted.
The study report recommends:
• African regions should integrate CWPC into their discussions and encourage
State Parties to consider the provision of various alternative care options,
• State Parties should include CWPC in national statistical databases or periodic
studies such as demographic health surveys (DHS), multi-indicator cluster
surveys (MICS) and national household surveys.
• A framework should be developed to assist Member States of the African Union
in incorporating CWPC issues in their policy frameworks. A guiding framework
should be developed to assist Member States in formulating national-level
policies, strategies and actions plans regarding CWPC.
• National policies and legislation should ensure provision of appropriate highquality
care options that meet the needs of CWPC. Policies should ensure the
development and implementation of family-based and family-like care settings,
with the aim of moving away from institutional care.
• Member states need to develop and implement quality standards for all
alternative care options implemented in their countries. This means that
____________________________________________________________________
ACERWC Secretariat | I E-mail: acerwc-secretariat@africa-union.org | Tel: +266 52 01 00 18 | Balfour Road,
Maseru, Kingdom of Lesotho | Web: acerwc.africa | Follow Us: Facebook | Twitter | LinkedIn| YouTube
governments should ensure the availability of suitable care options, effective
gatekeeping mechanisms, case management structures and systems, and
comprehensive national information management systems focused on CWPC.
• State parties should enhance child protection and safeguarding systems to
ensure that all children under the various care options are protected from all
forms of abuse and neglect. This also calls for, among other measures,
enhancing community-based structures and systems that monitor and facilitate
appropriate case management, reporting and response mechanisms in
collaboration with local governments.
• Regarding, programmatic responses to the issues facing CWPC, African regions
are encouraged to gain a well-informed understanding of CWPC issues through
the promotion of regional learning and information-sharing. A key focus should
be on social protection measures that address the root causes and the drivers of
CWPC. African regions should identify best practices in their member states and
adopt these as common benchmarks.
• State Parties should establish systems for licensing and quality inspection of
alternative care provision in all settings to ensure quality standards and the
wellbeing of the children.
Note to Editors:
The African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACERWC)
ACERWC is an African Union Organ mandated to monitor the implementation of the
African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACRWC) as well as promote
and protect children’s rights in Africa. Following the entry into force of the on November
29, 1999, the Committee was established in July 2001, in accordance with Article 32 of
the Charter. To date, the Charter has been ratified by 50 of 55 Member States of the
African Union. The mandate of the Committee is derived from Articles 32-45 of the
Charter and provides among others to undertake research and studies on children’s
rights issues.