Fourth International Policy Conference on the African Child (IPC) and launch of The African Report on Child Wellbeing 2011: Budgeting for Children

7-8 December 2010

WHAT: The Fourth International Policy Conference on the African Child (IPC) and The African Report on Child Wellbeing 2011 with the theme of “Budgeting for Children”.

This bi-annual conference brings together leading thinkers, policy makers, media, practitioners and activists to examine the challenges facing children in Africa and the policy choices for governments. This year, the focus is on the central role effective budgeting has to play in the realisation of child rights.  Participants will examine the key dimensions of successful budgeting for children in the context of both international experience and African realities.

The 2011 African Report on Child Wellbeing will be launched at the IPC. A sequel to the 2008 report by The African Child Policy Forum (ACPF), it will examine Africa’s budgeting as a barometer of government commitment to the rights of the child and will look at issues of investing in four key areas; health, early childhood development, education and social protection.

The Report will include a Performance Index for Budgeting for Children – a scorecard that will categorise countries performance in terms of their commitment to maximize the amount of available financial resources in sectors that benefit children. It will also highlight the challenges, from limited capacity of budget implementing agencies, to resource leakages and corruption, and identify priorities for action.

WHO: Speakers will include representatives from the African Union, African Governments, UN Economic Commission for Africa, African Committee on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, International Development Partners to Africa, and The African Child Policy Forum (ACPF).

WHEN: 7-8 December 2010

An opening press briefing will take place on 7 December 2010 at 10:30am

(All materials will be embargoed until 7 December 2010 11am Addis Ababa time/ 8am GMT)

WHERE: The UN Conference Centre, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

MEDIA CONTACT: To register for media materials or attend the conference contact

Cathy Bartley at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it Tel: +44 208 694 9138 or +44 7958 561 671

Claire Hoffman at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it Tel: +44 208 892 5215

Conference website www.africanchildforum.org/fourthipc

IPC is being organised in partnership by The African Child Policy Forum (ACPF) and the UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA).  ACPF are also the authors of the new African Report on Child Wellbeing. ACPF is a leading, independent, not-for-profit pan African centre for policy research and dialogue on the African child.