Reach out to children says Nasha

THATO CHWAANE
Staff Writer | Wednesday July 9, 2008 00:00

 

Speaking at the beginning of a three-day National Child Care Forum, the minister said that disadvantaged children and caregivers require psychosocial support. Nasha noted that civil society organisations often focus on children at pre-school age and leave out infants and school going children.

She suggested that village child support groups could be set up to provide for school care, and random home visits will reduce incidences of the 'missing child' at school. She said the majority of those missing from schools are orphans and vulnerable children, who are sometimes abused or taken to the cattle-posts by their grandparents for safety reasons. Currently, there are 180 registered organisations throughout the country that look after a total of 5,000 children. 'We need to think of what to do with the 40,000 who are without our support,' Nasha said.

She asked civil society organisations to continue to persevere as they have made a lot of progress.

She suggested that a retreat be held for vulnerable children and urged the organisations to build alliances with people with money to assist them. She called on donors to 'operate out of the box' and assist the organisations with running costs.

Meanwhile, Nasha said they had consulted the people who matter most before taking the Children's Bill to cabinet. She said that many strange things had emerged in the process though the Bill is meant to incorporate what Botswana had already signed - the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child - into domestic law.

She said that every child has a right to nationality and identity. 'A child is born of a woman and man,' she said. She added that this is why it is important to have both names of the parents on the birth certificate. She said some people do not want to acknowledge that they have 'manufactured children'.

'I sympathise that it makes some uncomfortable, but let us talk about it. There is no need to fight, tell me your problems and I will tell you whether they are unfounded.

Kgang e e a nkama (this issue has touched me),' she said. Nasha said that every child should be protected and not be exposed to war. They should not be exposed to hard labour and exploitation. She said that children should not be trafficked nor be abused.

She said the Bill makes it mandatory for people to report abuse. She added that the child has to be looked after by two parents. Both parents should have access to the child.

'This is in the best interest of the children,' she said. The forum is the third one and its objective among others is to strengthen partnerships between government, civil society organisations, development partners and the private sector in order to enhance and expand service delivery at national, district and local levels.