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NAIROBI, Nov 21 (Reuters) Mauritius and Namibia are the most child-friendly governments in Africa, a report said while Eritrea and Guinea-Bissau ranked as the worst.
''The African Report on Child Wellbeing: How child-friendly are African governments'' looked at indicators such as health care, access to education and laws protecting children.
Also among the least child-friendly governments were Central African Republic, Gambia, Sao Tome and Principe, Liberia, Chad, Swaziland, Comoros and Guinea.
''Many of these countries have not ratified the relevant child rights treaties, do not have adequate legal provisions to protect children against abuse and harmful traditional practices like early marriage,'' the report said.
Those countries have no juvenile justice systems, do not prohibit corporal punishment and do not exert the maximum effort to provide for children's basic needs, said the report by the African Child Policy Forum, an independent policy and advocacy organisation based in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa.
The top 10 were Mauritius, Namibia, Tunisia, Libya, Morocco, Kenya, South Africa, Malawi, Algeria and Cape Verde.
''These governments have laws to protect children from abuse and exploitation, they have targeted resources at basic needs of children, above all access to health and education,'' Richard Jolly, former deputy Executive Director of UNICEF, said in the report.
Countries where child soldiers have traditionally been used in war, such as Sierra Leone and Sudan, were rated ''less child friendly.'' Uganda, where the northern rebel Lord's Resistance Army terrorised children and kidnapped them for use as sex slaves, was rated ''fairly child-friendly,'' mainly due to an increase in budget allocation for health and education.
The report will be published twice a year to gauge what African governments are doing to better children's lives. It rated 52 countries on the continent apart from Somalia, which has not had central rule in 17 years, and Western Sahara, which is locked in a territorial dispute.
''Life for millions of Africa's children remains short, poor, insecure and violent. We hope this report will ensure that children are put at the forefront of governments' attention,'' the survey said.
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