Children Ask For Protection
Nnasaretha Kgamanyane | Monday June 19, 2017 17:00
The event was hosted by Gaborone City Council in collaboration with the Gaborone community under the theme ‘The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development for Children in Africa: accelerating Protection, Empowerment and Equal Opportunity’.
Giving her speech, Sesha Chauto from Livingstone Kolobeng College expressed concern over child abuse and violence. She criticised a practice whereby young girls are denied their childhood through marriage to older men.
“We are saying no to this barbaric practice. It is not right for young girls to be married off to an old man. A girl child has a bright future ahead of her just like a male child.
Allow them to grow, play with their peers and go to school so that like a male child they can have a bright future. Child marriages have negative effects such as early pregnancy which is not good for girl children as their bodies are not fully developed and such pregnancies can cause complications,” she said.
Chauto also pointed out that the girl child is disadvantaged in some developing countries where parents prefer to send their male children to school while a girl child would remain home. She said some families end up marrying off their daughters at a tender age with believe that they are protecting them from engaging in sex activities at early age.
She further pointed out that violence against children such as rape, child molestation and child trafficking was a great concern.
She called on the government, community and parents to unite and fight against such inhumane acts against children. Chauto added that children from poor families were prone to exploitation when compared to those from rich families.
She said it was high time child protection units become well published so that children, parents and the public could learn about child rights.
For her part, Miss June 16 (2017) Same Toteng said the day gave them an opportunity to reflect on issues affecting youth and children. She explained that recently, there had been multiple reports of issues affecting the youth such as child abuse, drug abuse, domestic violence, child labour and rape saying that those issues proved that their safety was at risk.
“This year’s theme can come to pass only if all relevant stakeholders implement the Children’s Act 08 of 2009 and the 17 sustainable development goals which addresses issues of protecting the children, empowering the youth and when children are entitled to equal opportunities.The Botswana Children’s Act emphasises that all children have the right to education,” she said.
According to Broadhurst Chief Magistrate Dumsile Faith Dlamini-Ng’andu, the Day of the African Child has been celebrated every year since 1991, when the Organisation of African Unity (now African Union) first initiated it. She said the day honours the Soweto Uprising of 1976 and also raises awareness of the continuing need for improvement of the education provided to African children.
“In Soweto, South Africa, on June 16, 1976, about 10,000 black school children marched in a column more than half a mile long, protesting the poor quality of their education and demanding their right to be taught in their own language. Hundreds of young students were shot, the most famous of which being Hector Peterson. More than 100 people were killed in the protests of the following two weeks, and more than 1,000 were injured,” she said.