African Regional Conference on the HCCH Children’s Conventions
Posted: 2 Apr 2019
From 2 to 3 April 2019, 150 high officials, judges, legal practitioners, academics, researchers and other experts from Botswana, Burundi, Cabo Verde, Ethiopia, France, Ghana, Guinea, Israel, Japan, Lesotho, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, United Kingdom (England and Scotland), United States of America, Zambia and Zimbabwe, as well as UNICEF, the African Child Policy Forum (ACPF) and the Permanent Bureau of the Hague Conference met in Cape Town, South Africa, in the context of an African Regional Conference on the HCCH Children’s Conventions. The Conference was co-organised by the Faculty of Law of the University of the Western Cape, the International Academy of Family Lawyers, Miller du Toit Cleote inc., and the HCCH.
The aim of the African Regional Conference was to promote the implementation of the HCCH Children’s Conventions in Africa, discuss their operation, and invite States in Africa to consider becoming Contracting Parties to the HCCH Children’s Conventions. A significant portion of the Conference was devoted to the analysis of case studies, with a view to identifying the advantages of becoming a Contracting Party to the HCCH Children’s Conventions, as well as to learn how States in Africa implement the 1980 Child Abduction, 1993 Intercountry Adoption and 1996 Child Protection Conventions, especially in respect of developing good practices and overcoming any challenges that may arise.
