Child Rights Governance

The Child Rights Governance (CRG) sector work aims to fulfil children’s rights by supporting Malawian Government systems and civil society to effectively monitor and implement children’s rights as enshrined in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) and the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACRWC), while ensuring children’s participation across the spectrum. It endeavours to hold the State accountable for what it has or has not been done for the realisation of children’s rights. Key to the realisation of these rights is more and better spending on children’s rights.

CRGs work in Malawi stems from the major gaps between ratification by the State of UNCRC, ACRWC and several other international instruments and its respective domestication and implementation of these international instruments. In Malawi, most children continue to face numerous challenges which undermine their ability to enjoy their basic rights. For instance in 2012, Malawi spent about 5.4% of its GDP on education compared to the Dakar target of 9%. In addition, although significant progress has been made on budget transparency from 28% in 2008 to 52% in 2012, in the Open Budget Survey Index a lot still needs to be done to ensure fiscal accountability and transparency and for budget classification to enhance analysis and tracking by Civil Society Organisations (CSOs).