Monrovia – The Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection in collaboration with the Child Protection Network and the Liberia Children Representative Forum, will Monday launch an intensive sensitization and awareness project on the removal of street selling children in urban cities, particularly Monrovia.
The two-week rigorous sensitization and awareness project under the banner “Get Them Off The Streets Campaign” is also intended to conduct a baseline survey and engage community dwellers as well as media practitioners in deriving at a concept that will serve as a child protection framework in supporting the removal of street selling children.
The campaign will built on community solutions by a robust context with specific analysis on needs based on community knowledge, experience and existing protection strategies as well as understanding of diverse threats and opportunities within the communities for children.
The Ministry Gender said it observed a dramatic increase in the number of children engaged in street selling, particularly in urban cities.
“The effect of children selling in the streets has actually claimed the attention of national government, considering that a child selling in the street is tantamount to hazardous child labor,” the Ministry said in a statement.
According to the Ministry, it is committing all efforts in using the campaign as a caveat to parents, guardians, caregivers and businesses who are constantly engaged in the vulnerability and abuses of children across the country.
“Already, there is adequate evidence of latent abuses of child rights during their appearance in the streets and so the project will build on the previous projects on actions against child labor and Cost Action Plan (CAP), so as to identify priorities of child labor and abuses amongst communities and groups.”
The project has been designed through logical and consultative approach and will be conducted in four communities in Monrovia.
“The Ministry therefore encourages the support of the general public and further calls on community dwellers to embrace the presence of its staffs in the various communities, as the campaign is intended to abolish the repeated appearance of children selling in the streets.” the statement read.
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