Politics
AN International Donor Agency, `The Rule of Law And Anti-Corruption, ROLAC, has set up the institutional framework for the implementation of the child’s rights law in Anambra State.
Anambra State is one of the 24 states in the country that has domesticated the law aimed at protecting children from all forms of physical and emotional violence meted out by adults.
Rising from a retreat in Awka with the stakeholders from four pilot Local Government Areas (LGAs) in the state, the agency urged them to function as change agents to save lives.
The Anambra State Coordinator, ROLAC, Josephine Onah, said the inauguration of Local Government Child’s Rights Implementation Committees, LGCRIC, was a fulfillment of the provision of the law.
She added that it had chosen six pilot LGAs with committee members drawn from various governmental and non-government bodies to drive the process of child protection at the grassroots.
According to her, the four pilot LGAs are Onitsha South, Ogbaru, Awka South, Idemili North, Ihiala and Nnewi North are the most `child abuse’ endemic flash points in the state.
Onah said the agency would work for four years in five states like Edo, Anambra, Lagos, Adamawa and Kano in specific intervention programmes to enhance good governance.
“We are working on criminal justice reform, access to justice for women, children and people with disabilities, strengthening the fight against corruption and citizen’s engagement in criminal justice reforms,’’ she said.
Inaugurating the committees, the Chairman, Anambra State Child Rights Implementation Committee, ASCRIC, Azuka Ofomata, urged members of the committees to discharge their assignment with every sense of commitment.
Ofomata, who is also the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Social Welfare and Women Affairs, reminded them that passion for child welfare and protection was critical to the success of their assignment.
One of the Resource Persons, Emeka Ejide, Child Development expert, enjoined members of the committees to ensure strict compliance and popularisation of the law in their localities.
“The committee members are to coordinate activities that will enhance the rights and welfare of the child. Let the people know that anybody who violates the rights of the child must be prosecuted.
“The essence of this programme is for us to know what to do when a child is in conflict with the law and when a child is a victim of the law,’’ Ejide said
While describing the features of a Family Court, he said that such courts had since been established in the state to handle civil and criminal proceedings at both Magistrate and High Courts under child-friendly environment.
“Where the child is the offender, the intention is not to punish the child, but to prevent a reoccurrence.
“If you detain a child in adult prison, he comes out worse. Where absolutely necessary, the child is given institutional custody,’’ he said.
Ejide, who is also the Director, My Child My Care Initiative, explained that the legislative document spelt out the rights, duties and obligations, responsibilities of duty bearers to the child.
Speaking on child abuse situational analysis in the state, Ms. Hope Okoye, expressed concerns over increasing cases of abuse against the child.
Okoye, Co-Chairman of ASCRIC, specifically cited sexual molestation and exploitation as one of the most common recorded cases of child abuse in the state.
While describing Ihiala LGA as notorious for all forms of sexual assault on minors, she condemned the alarming rate at which babies were trafficked and sold like commodities.
“Anybody caught involved in child labour, child trafficking, use of children for street begging, selling of babies and domestic violence against the child will henceforth be punished under this law,’’ she said.
One of the participants, Chimezie Osigwe, Deputy Chairman, Ogbaru LGA, thanked the donor agency for sponsoring the programme and pledged to utilise the knowledge gained to impact on lives of children.
The head, LG Administration, Idemili North, Oge-Chudi Ezelum, described the programme as laudable even as she called on members of the committee to work toward achieving the desired result.
BE
– July 30, 2019 @ 12:10 GMT /
Tags: Donor Agency underscores Child Rights Law Implementation in Anambra inaugurates LG Committees
