Child protection is vital for a country’s development as it intersects with numerous political, socioeconomic, and cultural dimensions. Focusing on children’s rights in Southern Africa becomes increasingly essential when acknowledging the region's youthful demography, with a median age of 27.7 years.[1] Understanding how one can see the demography of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) as an advantage and invest in it is a key factor to attain its long-term goals.[2] Nelson Mandela once said, ‘Our children are the rock on which our future will be built, our greatest asset as a nation. They will be the leaders of our country, the creators of our national wealth, those who care for and protect our people.’[3] In light of this, focusing on children's rights is not solely advancing a country's present but constructing its future as a better and more equitable reality for all.

Regarding the legislative framework on children’s rights, all countries in the SADC region have ratified the major international and regional documents, namely, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC),[4] and the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACRWC).[5] Some countries have taken it a step further by incorporating these commitments into their national laws. Through Children’s Acts or Codes, countries such as Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, South Africa, and Zambia, among many others, have recognised the enhanced vulnerable status children may be subjected to and acted upon it.[6]

Despite the ratification of these international and regional instruments, civil society advocating for children's rights calls for a SADC Protocol that provides more comprehensive child protection.[7] Currently, SADC has 26 Protocols, including those that have not yet entered into force. [8] However, none explicitly addresses children’s rights extensively. Despite the acknowledgement of the SADC Minimum Package of Services for Orphans and Vulnerable Children and Youth programmatic documents, as noted by Chibwana (2020), these frameworks have no binding effect.[9] Therefore, this article argues that the SADC Protocol on Gender and Development is the most viable framework for advancing child protection and upholding children’s rights in the region, even though further efforts are needed to strengthen its reach.

The SADC Gender Protocol is a robust regional framework to promote gender equality. The Protocol builds upon previous international, regional, and national commitments promoting women’s empowerment in the region. When scrutinising the Protocol, camouflaged in its gender dimension underlies a significant potential for upholding children’s rights. Women's and children’s rights are often correlated in many countries’ national affairs as they can reinforce each other. As noted in the SADC Gender and Development Monitor 2022, ‘male dominance is often entrenched by cultural values and inculcated into children from a very early age.’[10]

As a matter of illustration, the Thuthuzela Care Centers (TCC) - one-stop facilities that provide multisectoral support to survivors of gender-based violence (GBV)[11]  have been incorporated into South Africa’s national strategy to fulfil its international and regional commitments to gender equality. The TCCs aim to improve the care and treatment of rape survivors, reduce secondary victimisation, improve the conviction rate of perpetrators, and reduce the time taken to finalise cases. They function as a victim-centred mechanism that, through its holistic approach, also benefits children - as they are also GBV victims. From psychosocial support, access to referral services, prevention and educational programmes and data-gathering to improving child protection laws and services [12][13], the TCCs are a powerful mechanism that illustrate the correlation between the SADC Gender Protocol and Child Protection. Thus, the SADC Gender Protocol’s provisions to address gender inequalities can break cycles of violence in the region and, subsequently, contribute to protecting and advancing children's rights.

The SADC Protocol on Gender and Development

The SADC Protocol on Gender and Development is a legally binding instrument adopted in 2008 by fourteen SADC member states [14]. Through concrete actions and strategic policy interventions, the Protocol aims to promote gender equality and eliminate discrimination against women in the Southern Africa region. It was revised in 2016 to align with further international and regional commitments, but only twelve member states have signed its revision.[15]

Despite not being directly targeted to promote children’s rights, the SADC Gender Protocol encompasses crucial pillars for their advancement. The wide range of topics from education and health to peace-building and conflict resolution, addressing gender-based violence, and even the media’s impact directly affects the livelihoods of millions of children in this region. Moreover, aligned with the leading international commitments promoting children’s rights, namely the UNCRC, the Protocol recognises the vulnerable status to which children, and in particular cases, girls, can be subjected [16].

The 2016 revised Protocol defines a child as ‘every human being below the age of eighteen.’[17] Despite several references across the Protocol, Article 11 comprises the most explicit focus on child protection efforts. It previews the adoption of ‘laws, policies and programmes to ensure the development and protection of the girl and the boy child’ that eliminate all forms of discrimination and ensure equal access to education, health care, information, education, services and facilities on sexual and reproductive health and rights.[18] Moreover, it expresses the State’s duty to ensure equal rights and protection from harmful cultural attitudes and practices, specifically mentioning ‘economic exploitation, trafficking and all forms of violence including sexual abuse.’[19] Furthermore, the article elaborates on the need for concrete measures ‘to prevent and eliminate violence, harmful practices, child marriages, forced marriages, teenage pregnancies, genital mutilation and child labour, as well as mitigate their impacts on girls’ and boys’ health, wellbeing, education, future opportunities and earnings.’

Leveraging the SADC Gender Protocol for Children's Protection

The SADC Gender Protocol provides a strong foundation for integrating children’s rights that can be capitalised by civil society organisations, governments, and policymakers to sustain considerable change as it offers essential mechanisms, as previewed in Article 2 (2) that ‘State Parties shall adopt the necessary policies, strategies, programmes and special measures to facilitate the implementation of this Protocol.’[20]

Firstly, the document previews the harmonisation of policy legislation, meaning the creation of a cohesive framework that comprehensively addresses gender equality and child protection. By encouraging states to align their national laws with regional commitments, the Protocol helps standardise child protection measures, reducing legal loopholes that perpetrators might exploit in cross-border crimes. Building on regional integration, the commonly created framework provides a more accessible scheme for cooperation and meaningful partnerships. Given that issues such as child trafficking and migration-related vulnerabilities require well-coordinated collaborative efforts, the Protocol can diminish repeated efforts while facilitating the share of best practices and resources - ensuring that children can benefit from consistent protection in the region.

Furthermore, the SADC Gender Protocol stipulates various capacity-building initiatives across states. Considering the misalignment of international and regional commitments in national de facto legislation, these initiatives can be of significance for strategic services such as law enforcement forces, educators, healthcare professionals, and social workers. These sectors' activities can largely contribute to advancing meaningful change for child protection, ensuring that these professionals have the tools to identify, prevent, and respond to child protection concerns effectively.

Lastly, leveraging the SADC Gender Protocol requires specifically assigned and robust monitoring and evaluation mechanisms to track progress. In terms of children's protection, international organisations have identified several gaps, namely the lack of updated data and indicators to monitor SDGs' progress. The commitment to this Protocol should ensure the supervision of the policies implemented to identify present and future policy gaps and draw specific strategies to address them, both at the national and regional levels.

Conclusion

In conclusion, child protection is a cornerstone in the path to sustainable development in the Southern Africa region. The youthful demography of the region presents a unique opportunity to invest in the future of the countries while ensuring a safer reality for all children today. In the absence of a specific dedicated regional framework on children’s rights, the SADC Gender Protocol offers a solid starting point to build upon through the strengthening of legal frameworks, promotion of regional cooperation, capacity-building activities, and implementation and improvement of accountability mechanisms. Thus, leveraging the SADC Gender Protocol to ensure child protection should constitute not only a regional effort but also a country’s solid commitment to its population and the imperative of leaving no child behind.

Bibliography

[1] Worldometer. (2024). Population of Southern Africa. Retrieved 26 February 2025, from https://www.worldometers.info/world-population/southern-africa-population/

[2] Chibwana M., (2020). Evoking the principle of subsidiarity: Merit for a SADC protocol for children. 9(1), p.107.

[3] Myeka Z., (2021, December 8). Madiba, Christmas and children – Nelson Mandela Foundation. Nelson Mandela Foundation. https://www.nelsonmandela.org/news/entry/madiba-christmas-and-children.

[4] Status for CRC - Committee on the Rights of the Child. (n.d.). OHCHR. Retrieved 25 June 2024, from https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/15/TreatyBodyExternal/Treaty.aspx?CommitteeID=5

[5] Ratifications Table | ACERWC - African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child. (n.d.). Retrieved 25 June 2024, from https://www.acerwc.africa/en/member-states/ratifications

[6] Chibwana M., Supra p.108.

[7] Ibidem, p.107.

[8] SADC Protocols. (n.d.). SADC. Retrieved 25 June 2024, from https://www.sadc.int/pages/sadc-protocols

[9] Chibwana, M. Supra p.110.

[10] SADC & SARDC. (2022). SADC Gender and Development Monitor 2022. SADC.

[11] Ankumah  E.A. (Host). (2024, February 7). A Dignified Path to Justice for Victims of Gender-based Violence: The Thuthuzela Care Centre (TCC) Model, Hague Girls - The Podcast. https://open.spotify.com/episode/3fjSA7lZE6Y9nUL5fpZHFz?si=9145ca49a4cb4968

[12] Ibidem.

[13] Thuthuzela Care Centres. (n.d.). Rape Crisis: Cape Town Trust. Retrieved 26 June 2024, from https://rapecrisis.org.za/programmes/road-to-justice/thuthuzela-care-centres/

[14] The fourteen SADC member states that adopted the protocol are: The Republic of Angola, the Republic of Botswana, the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Kingdom of Lesotho, the Republic of Madagascar, the Republic of Malawi, the Republic of Mauritius, the Republic of Mozambique, the Republic of Namibia, the Republic of South Africa, the Kingdom of Swaziland, the United Republic of Tanzania, the Republic of Zambia, and the Republic of Zimbabwe.

[15] Southern African Development Community. (2016). Consolidated text of the protocol on gender and development. Retrieved 24 June 2024 from https://www.sadc.int/sites/default/files/2023-02/EN-REVISED_SADC_PROTOCOL_ON_GENDER_AND_DEVELOPMENT_2016-final.pdf.

[16] SADC. (n.d.). Gender Equality & Women Empowerment. Southern African Development Community. Retrieved 24 June 2024, from https://www.sadc.int/pillars/gender-equality-women-empowerment

[17] Southern African Development Community. Supra.

[18] Ibidem.

[19] Ibidem.

[20] Ibidem.