African Rights Groups Adopt Joint General Comment on Ending Child Marriage (January 30, 2018) [1]
On January 30, 2018, the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child and the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights adopted their first Joint General Comment [3], which concerns ending child marriage. The Joint General Comment notes that the “prevalence of child marriage and its impacts are a major concern on the African continent,” despite being prohibited under regional African law. It also explains state party obligations stemming from Article 6(b) of the Maputo Protocol and Article 21(2) the African Children’s Charter, and “describes legislative, institutional and other measures that should be taken by States Parties to give effect to the prohibition and to protect the rights of those at risk or affected by child marriage.” According to the press release [4], “even though both instruments prohibit child marriage, the practice remains to be rampant in Africa. This has necessitated the adoption of the Joint General Comment in order to accelerate the fight against child marriage in the Continent.”