48.It is also the Committee’s stance that implementation of the obligation as
to ‘legislative measure’ should be viewed in light of child protection
approach. Legislation which underscores the right of children to protection
from all forms of abuse, neglect, maltreatment and degradation is a
necessary element of the fulfillment of the obligation provided under article
1 of the Charter. The legislations should also contain the entire array of
protective measures, which shall include effective procedures for the
establishment of special monitoring units to provide support for the child
and for those who have the care of the child, as well as other forms of
prevention and for identification, reporting, referral, investigation, treatment
and follow-up in instance of child abuse and neglect.
49. With regard to the obligations of taking ‘other measures’, the Committee at
the outset notes that it is an overarching obligation, which also requires a
legislative basis for its implementation. ‘Other measures’ should therefore
not be seen as entirely separate from legislative measures. In this regard,
the Committee focuses on administrative and judicial measures that State
Parties are obliged to undertake with a view to protect and promote
children’s rights.
50.The Committee notes that administrative measures are broad as they
cover a wide range of actions such as allocating sufficient resource,
coordination, and collaboration with other stakeholders. For instance,
considering the multi-sectoral nature of children’s rights, State Parties
should take in to account the fact that it is almost impossible to implement
the obligations under the African Children’s Charter fully under a single
agency. In this regard, the overarching responsibility of governments is
therefore to put in place a child rights governance system that ensures the
visibility, advancement and realisation of all children’s rights across the full
implementation processes of all role players. Further, State Parties should
also
design
and
implement
child
sensitive
national
budgeting
by
developing and using tools for making children visible in budgetary
processes at the national and sub-national levels, including in the context
of international cooperation, and in the context of regional economic
imperatives.
51. Regarding ‘judicial measures’ the Committee notes that State Parties
should provide for judicially enforceable children’s rights with a view to
ensuring that children have access to the judicial system, if needs be
without parental assistance, to enable them to enforce their rights. The
Committee also endorses the need for the establishment of child-friendly
procedures as well as appropriate compensation in cases of breach of the
rights of children."®
52.Following
the
above
discussion,
the
Committee
also
approaches
the
implementation of the obligations of State Parties as it is included in article
1 of the Charter in the context of the requirement of ‘due diligence’. The
Committee notes that while discharging their human rights obligations,
States are obliged to show due diligence to ensure the full realization of
human rights."’ States’ due diligence is translated in the form of prevention
of
human
rights
violations,
investigation
of
violations,
prosecution
of
'® UNCRC General Comment no 5 para 24.
” Zimbabwe Huma Rights NGO Forum v Zimbabwe (2006) AHRLR 128 (ACHPR) 2006 para 146.
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