Child Rights and Sports Consultation in Kigali

At last week's Commonwealth Games Federation General Assembly in Kigali, the Centre for Sport and Human Rights took the opportunity to convene a consultation on child rights in the context of sport. Participants included representatives of the NHRIs of Australia, Eswatini, Kenya, Malaysia, Nigeria, Northern Ireland, Rwanda, Samoa, South Africa, Uganda and Zambia and was co-facilitated by Linda Nxumalo, CEO of the Eswatini Human Rights Commission, and Dorothy Rozga, Head of Child Rights for the Centre. Participants exchanged views and experiences related to child rights violations in the context of sport. Participants observed that there was little awareness of this issue and that for a range of reasons such cases are rarely brought to the attention of NHRIs. Potential roles for NHRIs relate to research, promotion of data collection and advocating for systemic changes.  Several NHRIs have developed tools and resource materials on child protection and safeguarding in sports and offered to share them.  The meeting concluded with a commitment by the Centre to provide resource materials and continue a dialogue with NHRIs on the issue.