ActionAid
International-The Gambia yesterday hosted a sensitisation forum with Law
Enforcement agents on child rights and protection to add positive influence on
the rights of the children.
The
event held at ActionAid building, was part of the EU-sponsored project.
The
Executive Director of ActionAid The Gambia, Omar Badjie, in his welcome
remarks, said they should strive to nurture children who would grow into
adulthood with love, protection, security and peace.
As
signatories to major international legal instruments like the Convention on the
Rights of the Child (CRC), the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the
Child (ACRWC) and the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of
Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), they have taken commitments to provide an
enabling environment where all children grow to their full potentials.
“The
state is the primary duty bearer and protector of children; it is a collective
responsibility,” he said.
The
stakeholders should effectively participate in ensuring that the right
environment is provided for the children, he added.
Mr Badjie mentioned that the law enforcement
officers are the first contact when violations take place.
Both
the perpetrators and children whose rights are violated interact with them, and
it is their duty to analyze situations and handle cases in the right way as
they have huge responsibility in children’s welfare.
Therefore,
he went on, it was important for law enforcement agents to undergo training to
take the right decision to provide the needed protection to things affecting
children, and better understand what constitutes a rights violation and what
actions to take.
He
further said ActionAid takes a human rights -based approach to development,
with emphasis on building partnerships with key development players in
programme formulation and implementation.
The
Child Protection Alliance and FAWEGAM are implementing the project whilst
ActionAid plays a supervisory role.
The
aim of the project is to empower child-focussed organizations to promote
children’s rights in three regions of The Gambia namely, LRR, CRR and URR, and
it is funded by the European Union.
The
focus is on empowering people and their organizations to advocate for their
rights to be met by various duty bearers.
Their
role is to ensure relevant and quality education for every child; no child
sleeps hungry; to stop child trafficking in the West Africa sub-region and
violence against children.
There
are many constraints and challenges in child protection, which include abuse
and exploitation of children, especially on sex tourism, trafficking in
persons, early and forced marriage, corporal punishment and FGM.
Therefore,
it is the duty of everyone to take responsibility and not to accept or condone
any form of abuse of innocent children.
