By Comfort Sena Fetrie-Akagbor
Tamale, March 28, GNA – Members of the Child Friendly Accountability Mechanism (CFAM) have called on stakeholders and duty-bearers to demand justice for child victims of abuse in the communities.
They also urged stakeholders to use their position to ensure that all abuse cases involving children were handled by the right authorities, and devoid of interference from families, community leaders and politicians.
Miss Idonyan Mary Ibugbi, a Member of CFAM, who read a statement on behalf of members of CFAM during the Northern Regional level children’s forum on child protection in Tamale, said this was necessary to guarantee the safety of children in the communities.
The forum was organised by Children Believe, an international child-centred NGO, on the theme: “Sustaining the gains in child protection efforts in the Northern Region.”
The forum was to enable children and other stakeholders have deeper understanding of their inherent and universal rights – right to life free from violence, abuse, exploitation, and neglect by people around them.
Ms Ibugbi said it was the duty of the stakeholders to ensure that children were protected and safe from violence in their communities.
She said, “We want a school environment that is protective and supportive so we can learn to exhibit our talents.”
She also appealed to policy-makers and authorities to implement the Children’s Act, the 1992 Constitution and other policies on child protection to enhance children’s welfare in the country.
Mrs Esenam Kavi De Souza, Country Director of Children Believe said the CFAM initiative was to provide platform for children to share with stakeholders key issues affecting their development and to also support children to learn about their rights and responsibilities.
Mrs De Souza said it was also to improve the child protection systems at the local, regional, and national levels by building children’s knowledge and skills, helping them to identify protection gaps and carry out direct action or advocacy with their communities to address the gaps.
She said Children Believe trained and facilitated the activities of 46 CFAM clubs with membership of 1,283 children comprising 643 males and 640 females.
Mr Asuro Napari, a lawyer at the Northern Regional Office of the Legal Aid Commission emphasised that children needed to be empowered by stakeholders to fight for their rights calling for strong collaboration amongst stakeholders such as parents, guardians, and traditional leaders to enhance child protection in their communities.
GNA