The 14th and 15th sessions of the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child were held in November 2009 and March 2010 respectively. The Committee has considered more reports and issued its first concluding observations. The continued engagement of the Civil Society Organisations Forum with the African Children's Committee offers an example of positive progress towards supporting the implementation of the African Children's Charter. The development of a relatively well thought-out strategic plan for the African Children's Committee's work for the period 2010 to 2014 (with a better level of participation from stakeholders) also offers an advance in the work of the Committee. Despite these, there remains some room for improvement in order to allow the African Committee to achieve its mandate of the promotion and protection of children's rights in Africa.

A crescente popularidade das adoções internacionais não é algo recente. Recente, entretanto, é a atração que, cada vez mais, crianças africanas têm despertado em potenciais pais adotivos que vivem em outras partes do mundo, como exemplificado pelas adoções de Angelina Jolie e Madonna. As opiniões sobre a adoção internacional estão divididas entre a necessidade e conveniência desta prática, mas a visão que a considera uma panacéia para crianças sem pais e pais sem filhos prevalece. Por outro lado, alguns países têm se mostrado resistentes à retirada de crianças do Terceiro Mundo de seus ambientes familiares para serem alocadas em casas fora de seu país natal - prática entendida como "imperialista". Atualmente, a idéia a qual a adoção internacional está ligada é a de que esta seria uma medida de último recurso, mas pesquisas sobre qual o seu verdadeiro significado (ou qual deveria sê-lo), e quais as suas implicações para a política de bem-estar da criança e para a legislação africana são difíceis de encontrar. Este artigo pretende contribuir para o preenchimento desta lacuna.

The increased popularity of intercountry adoption is not anything recent. What is recent, however, is the increased attention African children are attracting from prospective adoptive parents living in other parts of the world, as exemplified by the adoptions by Angelina Jolie and Madonna. Opinions are divided over the necessity and propriety of intercountry adoption, but considering the practice as a panacea for children without parents and parents without children is a prevalent view. On the other hand, some sending states have resisted placing Third World children deprived of their family environment in homes outside of their native countries - a purportedly "imperialistic" practice. The operative language that has emerged in recent times has been that intercountry adoption should be used as a measure of last resort, but one can hardly find any research on what it actually means (or should mean), and what its implications are for child welfare policy and law in Africa. This paper intends to contribute to filling this gap.

La mayor popularidad de la adopción internacional no es nada nuevo. Pero sí lo es el mayor interés que están despertando los niños africanos en los potenciales padres adoptivos de otras partes del mundo, como es el caso de las adopciones realizadas por Angelina Jolie y Madonna. Las opiniones acerca de si la adopción internacional es necesaria y correcta están divididas, pero predomina la idea de que este tipo de adopción es la panacea para los niños sin padres y para los padres sin hijos. Por otra parte, algunos estados de origen se han resistido a colocar niños del Tercer Mundo privados de su medio familiar en hogares fuera de su país natal, por considerar que ésta es una práctica supuestamente "imperialista". En los últimos tiempos, se ha dispuesto que la adopción internacional debería utilizarse como medida de último recurso; sin embargo, prácticamente no existen investigaciones sobre qué significa (o qué debería significar) esto en realidad, y cuáles son sus consecuencias para el derecho y la política de bienestar infantil en África. La finalidad de este artículo es contribuir a llenar este vacío.

The 12th and 13th meetings of the African Children's Committee were held in November 2008 and April 2009 respectively. With the African Children's Charter entering its 10th year since entry into force, the real work of the African Committee is now beginning. With the consideration of the first country reports to the African Committee, the benefits of a regionally-specific child rights treaty has begun to become apparent. The recent establishment of a formal grouping of civil society organisations and individuals dedicated to furthering the regional influence of the African Children's Charter (first mooted in 2004!) comes at an opportune time. Despite some of the recurring shortcomings in the work of the Committee, it is hoped that the development of a strategic plan for the Committee's work for the period 2010 to 2014 will lay some of these concerns to rest.

The increased popularity of intercountry adoption is not anything recent. What is recent, however, is the increased attention African children are attracting from prospective adoptive parents living in other parts of the world, as exemplified by the adoptions by Angelina Jolie and Madonna. Opinions are divided over the necessity and propriety of intercountry adoption, but considering the practice as a panacea for children without parents and parents without children is a prevalent view. On the other hand, some sending states have resisted placing Third World children deprived of their family environment in homes outside of their native countries - a purportedly "imperialistic" practice. The operative language that has emerged in recent times has been that intercountry adoption should be used as a measure of last resort, but one can hardly find any research on what it actually means (or should mean), and what its implications are for child welfare policy and law in Africa. This paper intends to contribute to filling this gap.

During its 11th session, the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child held its first Pre-Session for the consideration of state party reports. This update highlights the work of the Committee during this session. While little attention is paid to the proceedings of the 11th session, partly as a result of the fact that the session was short-lived (only three days, composed of open and closed sessions), the procedures for the Pre-Session, as well as the substance of the four reports that were discussed during the Pre-Session, occupy centre stage. In conclusion, it is argued that the whole exercise of the Pre-Session was an ice-breaker, and represents progress in its own right. In looking forward, the importance for the African Children's Committee to draw the necessary lessons from the four state party reports and to chart ways of strengthening the reporting regime is underscored. A number of tentative recommendations are made in this regard.

The African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, the monitoring body of the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, held its 10th ordinary session in October 2007. This discussion highlights the inertia of the Committee, exemplified by its failure to examine any of the state reports submitted to it. Some cause for optimism may be derived from the appointment of a permanent Secretary to the Committee.