DECISION ON ACCELERATING ACTION FOR CHILD SURVIVAL AND
DEVELOPMENT IN AFRICA TO MEET THE MDGs
(DOC. ASSEMBLY AU/2(V))
The Assembly:
1. TAKES NOTE of the Report and ENDORSES the recommendations contained therein;
2. RECALLS the various blue-prints adopted in favour of improving the well-being of children in Africa, in particular, the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (1990) and the African Common Position on the Future of Children - Africa Fit for Children (2001);
3. DEEPLY REGRETS that to-date only 35 Member States have ratified the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child and APPEALS to Member States which have not yet done so to expedite the ratification process;
4. AWARE of the fact that all the MDGs are, directly or indirectly relevant to children CALLS UPON Member States to scale up the process of attaining the goals, in particular the fourth goal on Reducing by two- thirds the mortality of under-fives, which can be achieved by low cost, and high impact interventions;
5. COMMENDS UNICEF for its Accelerated Child Survival and Development (ACSD) Programme and REQUESTS UNICEF and other partners to extend the programme to the whole continent and Member States to mainstream the programme into their national health policies, the Poverty Reduction Strategies and Health Sector Reforms;
6. URGES Member States to:
a) Reaffirm their commitment to implement pledges made to African children with renewed determination and set up mechanism at national level to ensure integrated child-centered, community- driven implementation of the package consisting: Integrated management of childhood illnesses(IMCI), ante-natal care for mothers and immunization-plus;
(b) collaborate with AU, UNICEF and other partners, to elaborate a road-map on MDG 4 for reduction of child mortality and morbidity to be considered at the Mid-term review of the African Common Position at the 2006 Pan-African Forum on Children;
(c) within the framework of the Child Survival Partnership and other partnerships, commit national resources and mobilize additional resources to significantly reduce child deaths and suffering.
7. REQUESTS the Regional Economic Communities (RECs) to lead the child survival agenda in their regions in collaboration with development partners and collaborate with AU Commission to coordinate and harmonize the programmes and strategies.
8. ALSO URGES the UN Agencies, International Organisations and Development partners to technically support Member States in the process of strategic planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of child policies; mobilize financial resources to be used at national level; and collaborate with the African Union and RECs in playing their roles
9. REQUESTS the Commission to:
(a) Convene the Mid-term review of the African Common Position on Children in 2006;
(b) Advocate for necessary investments and mobilize international support with partners in order to monitor and review progress on meeting MDG 4;
(c) Bring to the attention of the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, AU Peace and Security Council, Pan-African Parliament, and ECOSOCC those countries that are violating children's rights and endangering their well-being, through conflict, poor governance, abuse, neglect, marginalisation and other forms of exclusion;
(d) Strengthen and support the African Committee on the Rights and Welfare of the Child in ensuring that the Committee fulfils its responsibility to monitor the implementation of the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child;
(e) place commitments made by governments regarding children at the heart of the Africa Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) and report regularly to African Leaders on progress achieved in efforts to advance child survival and well-being including new lessons learnt.