Strengthening children’s rights in Africa: Some lessons from the new Children’s Act of Angola
In light of the above developments, we are left to think that, in the future, child law reform in Africa must follow the Angolan pathway (…) to advance children’s rights, says Dr Aquinaldo Mandlate.

Strengthening children’s rights in Africa: Some lessons from the new Children’s Act of Angola

In an opinion article published on AfricLaw, titled, ‘Strengthening children’s rights in Africa: Some lessons from the new Children’s Act of Angola’, Dr Aquinaldo Mandlate at the Community Law Centre highlights some of the major advancements for children’s rights in Angola.

On 22 August 2012, Angola enacted a new Children’s Act, adding to the number of African countries (including South Africa, Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Lesotho, and many others) which reviewed their legislation focusing on children’s rights. Angolan law, like many other recent African legislation on children, is comprehensive and detailed in multiple aspects of children’s rights. Some of its features are common in other similar instruments in the region. For instance, it protects children’s civil and political rights and their socio-economic rights. The right to life, the right to health and the right to basic education, amongst others are protected. In addition, the law entrenches the four principles forming the core of international and regional treaties dealing with children’s rights (the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACRWC) included), including the principles of non-discrimination (Article 2 of the CRC and Article 3 of the ACRWC), best interest of the child (Article 3 of the CRC and Article 4 of the ACRWC), the right to life survival and development (Article of the 6 CRC and Article 5 of the ACRWC), and the right of the child to participate (Article 12 CRC and Article 7 of the ACRWC).

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