Armed conflicts have denied children in Africa the right to education, food, healthcare, and more opportunities, with many of them running away from volatile areas, the Network of African national human rights institutions (NANHRI) officials said on Wednesday.
Addressing the 63rd Ordinary Session of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights in Banjul, Bogani Majola, Chairperson of the South African Human Rights Commission, said African National Human Rights Institutes continue to support States and other actors in the promotion and protection of human rights on the continent.
However, he said there are a myriad of challenges, both at the national and regional levels, which hinder the realisation of human rights targets.
He pointed out that among these include the prolonged armed conflicts and the proliferation terrorism threat, adding that the worst hit countries by terrorism and armed conflicts include the Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Libya, Nigeria, Somalia and South Sudan, among others.
“It is sad that at a time that the world is striving to ensure “no one is left behind” in sustainable development, resource are consumed in conflicts as states increasingly spend in combating insurgency as well as fighting rebels,” Majola told the commissioners.
He also said prolonged conflicts in South Sudan and Central African Republic cost more than 28 per cent of the country’s gross domestic growth while little is spent on peace building.
Majola further said corruption is another challenge that hinders the realisation of economic, social and cultural rights in the continent.
He disclosed that Africa has lost more than US$50 billion through illicit financial flows, making member states unable to meet their obligation to citizens.
He said beside corruption, the challenge of migration and human trafficking elicits major human rights concerns in African countries, saying thousands of human lives are lost in the Sahara desert and the Mediterranean Sea as young people, especially from west and southern Africa, attempt to seek better life in Europe and other countries beyond the continent.
According to him, the mass movement of the youth is also a threat to the realisation of the aspirations of Africa Agenda 2063 and also the Agenda of the sustainable development goals.
He said African youth have the right to seek better livelihoods in countries outside Africa, calling for the movement to be made orderly and safe.
Author: MSS