General Comment on Article 30 of the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child

The African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child was established with a mandate to promote and protect the rights enshrined in the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (African Children’s Charter). In particular, the Committee is expected to formulate and lay down principles and rules aimed at protecting the rights and welfare of children in Africa.

The overall purpose of the General Comment is to support States Parties, and other stakeholders, in the effective implementation of Article 30. Article 30 lays out a number of provisions ensuring ‘special treatment’ for pregnant women and mothers who are accused or convicted of criminal offences. Under this Article, State’s Parties must ensure that non-custodial sentences are always considered first for pregnant women and mothers of young children and they must establish alternatives to detention for them. Article 30(1)(f) also states: ‘the essential aim of the penitentiary system will be the reformation, the integration of the mother to the family and social rehabilitation.’