Madam Matilda Chireh, the Acting Upper West Regional Director of the Department of Children has said that the occasion of the International Day of the African Child is period for sober reflection on the infringement of child rights and how their rights can be protected.
She said this on Wednesday, June 16, 2021 on Info Radio’s late afternoon show, Te Zine Yiri Yela on the occasion of the celebration of the International Day of the African Child.
The day celebrated every June 16 is in commemoration of the 16th June 1976 student uprising in Soweto, South Africa, where students who marched in protest against apartheid-inspired education, were brutally murdered.
Madam Matilda said the killing of those children who undertook the peaceful protest triggered the need for people of African race to rise up and protect the rights of children and give them friendly justice.
She added that celebrating the day was also to make critical evaluation of the practices aimed at giving children friendly justice and protection of their inalienable rights.
She said the evaluation will give authorities and policy-makers useful insights in decision-making, policy planning and implementation processes towards securing a sustainable future for the African child.
To achieve this, she said the African Children’s Charter formed the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACERWC) to oversee the affairs of children in the continent.
This year’s International Day of the African Child (DAC) 2021 was celebrated on the theme, “30 years after the adoption of the Charter: accelerate the implementation of Agenda 2040 for an Africa fit for children”.