Justice for Africa's Children

866 United Nations Plaza,New York NY 10017

20 September, 2022

Description

SPEAKERS INCLUDE: HE Stefan Löfven, Prime Minister, Sweden 2014-2021Leymah Gbowee, Nobel Peace LaureateKailash Satyarthi, Nobel Peace LaureateShaquanna Sebastian, Indigenous Youth Leader, United StatesHE María Fernanda Espinosa, President, 73rd Session, UN General AssemblyDaphine Anyakot, Survivor-Advocate, UgandaMartin Chungong, Secretary General, Inter-Parliamentary UnionKajal Kumari, Survivor-Advocate, IndiaDr. Salim AlMalik, Director-General, ICESCOPeter Kwasi Kodjie, Secretary General, All-Africa Students UnionKerry Kennedy, President, RFK Human RightsLorena Castillo Garcia, Global Spokesperson for Zero Discrimination (UNAIDS), and Ambassador for Peace of UN Women for PeaceWinnie Nyandiga, 100 Million Africa Coordinator and Vice-Chair, Commonwealth Students' Association Africa’s children are in crisis. Over 88 million children in sub-Saharan Africa are in child labour - a rise of 16 million from 2016. Africa now has more child labourers than the rest of the world combined. 98 million children are out of school in sub-Saharan Africa. This is the latest data from before the global pandemic locked over a billion children out of education, and the world’s unfair response to COVID forced millions more families into extreme poverty. How did we get here? Enormous increases in global wealth have been made at the expense of Africa - where average wealth decreased in the same period. Deep-rooted and systemic exploitation and discrimination - internationally and nationally - are perpetuating extreme poverty across sub-Saharan Africa, and children are being hit the hardest. We are at a crossroads in achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals - and the deadline to end child labour is 2025. We can no longer ignore this ongoing discrimination, nor can we afford to neglect the future of millions of Africa’s children. Join Laureates and Leaders for Children at this critical event to accelerate action to end discrimination against Africa’s children. ‘Justice for Africa’s Children’ will explore the compelling need for justice, including justice in realising the rights to education and social protection, and make a new call for justice for Africa and her children.