Day of the African Child : 26-man child protection team installed
A team of 26 officials from various Ministries and the media has been installed in Yaounde, to champion the cause for child protection in Cameroon.
The team was installed on Tuesday June 1, in Yaounde during a ceremony to launch commemorative activities of the 31st International Day of the African Child.
Itoe Beryl Ikombe Panje, Secretary General of the Ministry of Social Affairs presided over the ceremony on behalf of the Minister of Social Affairs, Pauline Irene Nguene.
The child protection team is expected to work in collaboration with schools and other authorities to ensure that the rights of children in all nooks and crannies of the country are respected.
31st Day of the African Child focuses on child protection
Like in every other part of the world, Cameroon will commemorate the 31st International Day of the African Child on June 16.
The event will be observed in Africa on the theme “30 years after the adoption of the Charter: accelerate the implementation of agenda 2040 for an Africa fit for children”. Cameroon’s national theme for the 2021 observance is “Protect every child from violence, exploitation, neglect and abuse: a priority for the Cameroonian government”.
Commemorative activities include ;
-Holding of the Centre and Observation Board of Directors (CAO)
-The 2nd session of the National Platform for Social Protection of the Child in Cameroon will be organized
-The 22nd session of Children’s Parliament
-Advocacy Meeting with parliamentarians and other social actors.
In the course of these commemorative activities, current challenges affecting the wellbeing of children will be examined. The organizers say they will address the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on children, child marriage, Female Genital Mutilation, the phenomenon of street children, child abuse, early marriage and the growing violence in schools that has resulted to the loss of the lives of both students and teachers.
On this occasion, stakeholders will assess Africa’s 2040 Agenda, 25 years after the adoption of the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child. The agenda spells out 10 aspirations to be achieved by 2040.
Why institute a Day of the African Child?
The Day of the African Child was instituted by the Organization of African Unity (OAU) on June 16, 1991. It was inspired by the 1976 SOWETO incident in which hundreds of black school children were killed while protesting against the quality of education provided to African children.
For the last 31 years, governments, NGOs and other stakeholders honor those who lost their lives in that protest, and seek to protect and improve the rights of African children.
Kathy Neba Sina