Gbarnga, Bong County – Some Liberian children Saturday joined other African countries around the continent to celebrate the Day of the African Child at the Gbarnga Administration building in Bong County.
Report by Selma Lomax, [email protected]
The observance of the annual event falls on June 16, every year. The theme for this year’s celebration is “Despite Disability: Every child has the right to Liberia’s Development.”
In an address to commemorate the day, the Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection, Williametta Piso Saydee-Tarr, noted that some underlying factors to child labor, child trafficking and child abuse were poverty, negative social-cultural practices and disparities in national government.
“These policies will make the family key to the growth and development of children and offer appropriate protection to children in conflict with the law,” she explained.
Minister Saydee-Tarr reiterated government’s commitment to investing in the future of children.
The children advocated for an inclusion in the campaign to end violence against children, emphasized the need for their voices to be heard and taken into consideration in planning for them, and called for support from government and opinion leaders to help put an end to child marriage and child trafficking.
They also called on parents to provide the basic necessities needed for the general upbringing of the child.
Minister Saydee-Tarr observed that it was unfortunate that much attention is being focused on getting the children to the classroom but the process of teaching to attaining quality, relevant and continued education is given little attention.
This year’s celebration of the Day of the African Child seeks to highlight the need to educate children with special needs and make education accessible to them.
Education of children with special needs is designed to facilitate the learning of individuals who, for a wide variety of reasons, require additional support and adaptive pedagogical methods in order to participate and meet learning objectives in an educational programme.
The rights of children with disabilities are still being neglected and excluded from accessing and benefiting from education.
The Ministry says it is committed to executing its mandate with respect to children and therefore calls on all stakeholders to collaborate with it as they identify and implement programs that aid the improvement of quality education.
Also, a call was made to the media to create a platform for dialogue and education of the public on the need to ensure that every child in Liberia enjoys his or her right to education.
Lastly, the ministry acknowledged the support and collaboration of civil society organizations, media and development partners especially UNICEF and Plan Liberia and hopes to deepen such collaboration to ensure children are better protected in Liberia.