Child Labour in Conflict Situations: Deciphering the Approach of the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child

Abstract

Child labour is a complex and pressing issue across the globe. Africa has not been immune to this challenge, and it continues to deal with it in various spaces. This article argues that the approach of the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (Committee or African Children’s Committee) is crucial in protecting the rights of children in conflict situations. Using a doctrinal research methodology, the authors analyse written documents through a process of identifying, selecting, retrieving, and interpreting various documents, both physical and electronic, to gain new insights. As such, following the introduction, they adopt working definitions of ‘child labour’ and ‘armed conflict’. This is followed by an evaluation of the normative guidance on Article 15 of the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child in the context of other relevant articles and a focus on the Committee’s use of Article 46 as a tool for developing persuasive jurisprudence. With insights on child labour statistics, the article provides an overview of the magnitude of the problem on a global scale. This is followed by an evaluation of the institutional positioning of the Committee and finally, an analysis of selected jurisprudential developments. The key finding is that the Committee may use Article 46 to bridge protection gaps, drawing on International Human Rights Law and Humanitarian Law to clarify child labour issues. The article provides recommendations for strengthening the implementation and effectiveness of Article 15.