• International Policy Conference on the African Child (IPC)

In the last two decades, African governments have made tremendous strides towards the realisation of children’s rights, from sanctioning domestic child rights instruments, such as the African charter on the rights and Welfare of children (ACRWC), to securing policy and legislative mechanisms for the protection and promotion of child rights in Africa. However, in order to ensure Africa’s continued progress, emphasis needs to be placed on the allocation of the limited resources available to do this; the importance of budgetary, legislative and macroeconomic policies in providing effective service delivery across all sectors; the mitigation of violence against children; the alleviation of poverty; and redressing gender inequality issues at all levels.

There is an urgent need for African governments to review budgets in order to ensure that precedence is given, through budgetary allocation, to the rights and wellbeing of children in Africa. Specific focus must be on the key areas of survival, protection, development and participation of children. in this regard, governments need to make their intentions explicit, in order to secure their commitments to promoting child rights by harnessing their capacity to generate, prioritise and allocate public resources to this end. collaborative efforts between civil society and government must be established in order to promote capacity building of civil society organisations (CSOs) in budget analysis and advocacy. in addition, heads of States must be reminded of their responsibilities.

The Fourth International Policy Conference (IPC) on the African child was held on 7 and 8 December 2010 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and brought together key stakeholders to discuss issues surrounding the allocation of maximum available resources to sectors dealing with children’s issues. The African child Policy Forum (ACPF) organised the conference in

collaboration with UNECA, with support from International Child Support, Plan International, Save the Children, and UNICEF. Among those attending the conference were representatives of un agencies, the African union commission and other international and non-governmental organisations, members of civil society, and members of ACPF’s international Board of Trustees.

The previous three IPCs focused on the following issues:

• The African child and the family (2004)

• Violence against girls in Africa (2006)

• Child poverty in Africa (2008).

All IPCs to date have aimed to raise awareness of circumstances affecting children, with the goal of promoting the protection and rights of the African child. The Fourth IPC focused on budgeting for children in Africa, and was aimed at increasing political commitment to generating, prioritizing and allocating public resources in order to advance the survival, protection and development of children, through concrete budget allocations.