Commonwealth children call for greater recognition

In a powerful address to the Commonwealth Youth Forum, 15-year-old Ugandan school pupil Beatrice Nassanga has called upon the Secretariat to create a permanent and official children’s desk to work on the needs and rights of children in the Commonwealth.

“We are the future of the Commonwealth. Hear our voices too,” she said.

Miss Nassanga read out ‘The Children’s Statement’ at the opening ceremony of the Commonwealth Youth Forum in Entebbe, Uganda, 14 November 2007, attended by President Yoweri Museveni and Commonwealth Deputy Secretary-General Florence Mugasha.

Outlining some of the critical problems facing children, she told assembled guests that each year, 4.6 million children in Africa die before their fifth birthday and that worldwide, there are over 130 million orphans. In Uganda alone, 15 million children have lost one or more parents to HIV/AIDS.

She described widespread violence against children, citing an estimated 300 million children across the world, who are subject to violence, exploitation and abuse -- including through child labour, armed conflict, and female genital mutilation. The Commonwealth makes up a third of that total, Miss Nassanga said. Some 150 million girls under 18 have experienced forced sexual intercourse or other sexual violence.

She also explained that many children have no identity: “Around 50 million births are unregistered every year. In Sub-Saharan Africa, 55 per cent of children under five have never been registered.”

“Recognising that we the children and youth of tomorrow, are the future of the Commonwealth, it is important that our voices are heard,” Miss Nassanga stressed.

On behalf of children in the Commonwealth, she called for a Plan of Action (PoA) to provide a framework in which the Commonwealth will advance its commitment to children by ensuring “safe places and an enabling environment” at all levels of society.

Importantly, the PoA should be able to hold international and regional institutions and governments accountable to mobilise and commit resources for child survival; urge governments to effectively investigate and hold accountable all that violate children’s rights; and promote and monitor the protection of children from acts of abuse, discrimination and violence.

A permanent, official children’s desk should be created at the Commonwealth Secretariat to facilitate and ensure that this action plan is followed through, Miss Nassanga said. And she called for an official Commonwealth Children’s Forum to be put in place alongside the Youth, Women’s and Business Forums.

Joseph Okwawau, Chairperson of the International Planning Team of the CYF 6 said:

“We were happy to offer children access and a space to voice their thoughts and ideas at the Commonwealth Youth Forum. Childhood is a transitional stage and children’s issues should not be sidelined.

“We believe that it is very important for children to be given the opportunity to participate, to understand issues of the Commonwealth and in this way help them develop their participation skills so they will also be better prepared to voice youth issues in the future.”

Dr Fatiha Serour, Director of the Commonwealth Youth Programme welcomed the Statement and was quick to offer her Division’s support to take it forward if leaders backed this call at next week’s Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Kampala, Uganda. “Youth and children are linked groups because of age, but also share exclusion and marginalisation,” she added.

The Statement called apon President Museveni to communicate its recommendations to the Queen and leaders at CHOGM.

It was formulated as a result of a pre-CHOGM Children’s Conference held in Kampala, Uganda from 12 to 14 September 2007, supported by World Vision, the Government of Uganda, the National Council for Children and UNICEF.

Key Links:

• Commonwealth Youth Programme

Related News:

• CHOGM 2007
• Youth Forum