TIME

ACTIVITY

08:00 – 09:00

REGISTRATION

09:00 – 09:15

 ·         Welcome Remarks

o   Dr. Assefa Bequele, Executive Director, ACPF

o   Mr. Abdul Manaff Kemokai, Executive Director, Defence for Children International,Sierra Leone ; President, DCI Movement

09:15 – 10:00

 ·         Opening Statements

o   Honourable Justice Goitseone Nanikie Nkwe, Chairperson, African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child

o   H.E. Mrs. Amira El Fadil, Commissioner for Social Affairs, African Union Commission

o   H.E. Mme Oumou Toure Traore, Minister for the Promotion of Women, Children and Family, Republic of Mali

o   H.E. Wzo. Yalem Tsegaye, Minister of Women and Children’s Affairs, Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia

10:00 – 10:30

 ·         Keynote Speech

       Access to Justice for Children in Africa

o   Ms. Nyaradzayi Gumbonzvanda, AU Goodwill Ambassador on Child Marriage

10:30 – 11:00

TEA BREAK

Session I: Access to Justice for Children in Africa

Chair: Prof. Jaap Doek, Professor of Law, Vrije University, Amsterdam

11:00 – 12:30

·         Access to Justice for Children in Africa

o   Dr. Nkatha Murungi, Head, Children and the Law Programme, ACPF

o   Mrs. Karabo Ozah, Deputy Director, Center for Child Law (CCL), University of Pretoria

o   Prof. Manfred Nowak, Independent Expert for the UN Global Study on Children Deprived of Liberty, University of Vienna

12:30 – 13:30

LUNCH

Session II: Legal pluralism in Africa and its impact on access to justice for children

Chair: Mr. Edmund Foley, Head of Department for Public Law, Ghana Institute of Public Management

13:30 – 14:45

·         An overview of the concept of legal pluralism and its effects on access to justice for children.

o   Mr. Edmund Foley, Head of Department for Public Law, Ghana Institute of Public Management

·         Reflections from the UNCRC and the ACERWC.

o   Prof. Benyam Mezmur, Member, ACERWC; Member, UNCRC

·         Customary Law & Juvenile Justice: An international perspective.

o   Ms. Kristen  Hope-Burchill, Justice Advisor, Terre Des Hommes

14:45 – 15:15

TEA BREAK

Session III: Access to justice for children in the context of armed conflict

Chair: Dr. Remember Miamingi, Child Protection Adviser, Peace and Security Department of the African Union 

15:15 – 16:30

·         The role and approach of the AU Peace and Security Council to enhancing access to justice for children in the context of armed conflict.

o   Dr. Remember Miamingi, Child Protection Adviser, Peace and Security Department of the African Union

·         Challenges and opportunities for children in access to justice in the context of armed conflict in Africa.

o   Mr. Anthony Njoroge, Senior Programme Manager, Child Protection, Save the Children International, Eastern and Southern Africa Regional Office

·         Highlights from the ACERWC’s Study on Children Affected by Armed Conflict.

o   Mr. Ayalew Getachew, International Researcher, ACERWC Secretariat

16:30

END OF DAY ONE

TIME

ACTIVITY

Session IV: Vulnerability and access to justice for children

Chair: Mr. Theophane Nikyema, Board Member, IBCR ; Executive Director, ACPF (2014-2018)

09:00 – 10:00

·         Conceptual challenges underlying a universal understanding of vulnerability in Africa and how it relates to children’s access to justice.

o   Dr. Shimelis Tsegaye, Head, Child Development and Protection Programme, ACPF

·         Governments’ conceptualisation of children’s vulnerability and the impact on programming.

o   Mr. Noah Sang'anyi, Director, Children’s Services, Government of Kenya

Session V: Access to justice for children with disabilities in Africa

Chair: Ms. Yetnebersh Negussie, Senior Inclusion Advisor, Light for the World

10:00 – 11:15

·         Access to justice for children with disabilities in Africa.

o   Ms. Rumbidzai Dube, Senior Programme Officer, Children and Law Programme, ACPF

·         Legislative measures to improve access to justice for children with behavioural disorders: The case of South Africa.

o   Ms. Zita Hansungule, Senior Project Coordinator, Center for Child Law (CCL), University of Pretoria

·         DPO strategies to improve children’s access to justice in Southern Africa.

o   Mr. Kitso Phiri, Legal Advisor, Southern Africa Federation of the Disabled (SAFOD)

·         DPO strategies to improve children’s access to justice in West Africa.

o   Mr. Ousmane Harouna, Education Specialist: Disability Sports, West African Federation of Associations of People with Disability (WAFOD)

11:15 – 11:45

TEA BREAK

Session VI: Vagrancy laws and their impact on children’s access to justice

Chair: Mr. Bright Theu, Head of Department, Practical Legal Skills, Chancellor College, University of Malawi

11:45 – 13:00

·         Trends on the African continent with regard to legislating vagrancy.

o   Mr. Bright Theu, Head of Department, Practical Legal Skills, Chancellor College, University of Malawi

·         Application of vagrancy laws and consequences on children’s access to justice.

o   Ms. Tina Lorizzo, Researcher, Dullah Omar Institute/Article 5 Initiative (DOI/CSPRI)

·         Practical experiences of children living on the streets in accessing justice.

o   Ms. Lynn Kay, Country Director, Retrak

13:00 – 14:00

LUNCH

Session VII: Technology and children’s access to justice in Africa: opportunities and challenges

Chair: Mr. Henry Kabwe, Executive Director, Media Network on Child Rights and Development (MNCRD), Zambia

14:00 – 11:15

·         Challenges and emerging issues in the context of technology and access to justice for children in Africa.

o   Ms. Sabine Katharina Witting, University of Leiden, the Netherlands

·         Online child sexual exploitation and legal redress for children.

o   Ms. Beatrice Gacengo, Programme Specialist, Online Child Sexual Exploitation, ECPAT International

·         ECOWAS’ legal approach to addressing child sex trafficking and online child prostitution.

o   Ms. Ali  Tiloh Bassasso, Programme Officer, Counter Trafficking and Child Protection, ECOWAS

Session VIII: Practical and successful models of facilitating access to justice for children Chair: Benoit Van Keirsbilck, Director, Defence for Children International-Belgium (DCI-B)

15:15 – 16:45

·         Special Taskforce on Children’s Matters under the National Council for the Administration for Justice in Kenya.

o   Honourable Justice Teresia Matheka, Judiciary, Kenya

·         The Children’s Legal Protection Centre (CLPC) in Ethiopia.

o   Mrs. Genet Shume, Coordinator, Child Justice Protect Office (CJPO), Federal Supreme Court, Ethiopia

·         Socio-Legal Defence Centres in Africa.

o   Mr. Abdul Manaff Kemokai, Executive Director, Defence for Children Sierra Leone ; President, DCI Movement.

·         IBCR model of justice delivery for children in Burkina Faso.

o   Mr. Theophane Nikyema, Board Member, IBCR ; Executive Director, ACPF (2014-2018)

16:45 – 17:15

TEA BREAK

Session IX:  The Way Forward

Chair: Dr. Michael Gibbons, Programme Director, Children’s Rights/Education, Wellspring Philanthropic Fund

17:15 – 18:05

·    Adoption of the Call to Action

·    Concluding Comments

o   H.E. Mrs Mashari Al-Dawalab, Ministry of Welfare and Social Security, Republic of Sudan

o   Maitre Malic Coulibaly, President of the National Commission on Human Rights, Former Minister of Justice, Republic of Mali

o   H.E. Honorable William Byaruhanga, Attorney General, Republic of Uganda

o   Mrs. Stella Ayo Odongo, Executive Director, Uganda Child Rights NGO Network; Member, AMC Board of Custodians

·         Expression of thanks

Dr. Assefa Bequele, Executive Director, ACPF

18:05

CLOSING