By Omar Bah
The chairman of the National Human Rights Commission has called on the government to ensure consequences for anyone who violates the rights of children.
The World Health Organisation estimated last year that globally, up to a billion children aged 2-17 had experienced physical, sexual or emotional violence or neglect. Every day, millions of children experience violence in one form or another.
Emmanuel Joof made these remarks at the official launch of the second phase of the PAPEV project aimed at protecting children’s victims of human rights violations. Implemented by the Ministry of Gender in partnership with the Office of the High Commission for Human Rights (OHCHR) West Africa Regional Office, the project is funded by the Italian Development Corporation Agency in Dakar, Senegal, and focuses on supporting the child protection systems in The Gambia.
“There must be consequences for those who violate the rights of children and those tasked and entrusted with the responsibilities of protecting the rights of children should also be held accountable where they fail to do so,” Joof said.
He added that it is the responsibility of the state to respect, protect and fulfil the rights of Children and it is “our hope that collectively we can create a Gambia where every child enjoys their fundamental rights and freedoms.”
“We also encourage the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Welfare to engage in research into the plight of children in the Gambia. I was made to understand that the last research done on child street begging was conducted in 1992. More studies need to be done on ‘children in conflict with the law’ and the use of drugs and substances amongst children and related issues and also ensuring that the Minimum Standard of Care for Residential Child Facilities is effectively implemented and monitored,” he said.
He said the NHRC has designated a specific child rights focal point to enhance mainstreaming of child rights programming and ensure swift action to resolve child rights violations and support active advocacy for mainstreaming a human right based and child centered approach in implementation of Children Act, 2005 and stakeholders’ interventions.
Chairman Joof said despite the progress made in the promotion and protection of the rights of the child, children in The Gambia still face many challenges and rights violations.
“Children, especially the girl child, are still at risk of FGM, child marriage, violence and exploitation, and other types of abuse. In addition, children with disabilities continue to be left behind due to the non-operationalisation of the Persons With Disability Act 2021,” he said.
He said sexual abuse and sexual exploitation of children remain a challenge in the country where it is still a taboo to talk about these issues and “our law enforcement officers are not adequately trained, sensitised and oriented to handle sexual and gender base and violence against children.”
He said many children in The Gambia are still subjected to child labour including domestic services and commercial sexual exploitation.
“Children are also engaged in child labour in agriculture. Many children are also seen roaming the streets, especially in major towns like Kerewan, Farafenni, Soma and Basse begging in the streets during school days and school hours,” he added.
Education
Joof said although the Ministry for Education has the primary responsibility for the delivery of education services in Gambia, there is evident lack of adequate infrastructure and resources which impedes implementation of the right to education.
“Moreover, many children do not attend the formal schools and it is estimated that about 20% of school-age children attend Quranic schools and Majalis which are not regulated, and many children do not attend any form of schooling and are seen loitering about and begging in the streets,” he said.
He said many Quranic memorisation boarding schools have sprung up over the last 10 years across the country without much supervision and some of them have inadequate sanitary facilities and some have become health hazards.
“Fire outbreaks have been a common occurrence leading to the loss of life of some children,” he said.
He said much needs to be done to introduce minimum standards that would guide the operation of Islamic schools.
“While we commend the Government for its efforts to protect children and combat child trafficking and other forms of exploitation, effective implementation of our laws protecting children must be attained and this requires putting together enough resources and building the capacity of law enforcers, administrators and supervisors responsible for the attainment of the fundamental rights of children,” he said.
