By: Nyima Sillah
ChildFund the Gambia, Ministry of Women, Children and Social Welfare in collaboration with partners on Wednesday held a consultative forum on the review of the Children’s Act 2005 geared towards developing data collection tools for the Act.
ChildFund country director, Musu Kuta Komma, said: “Child Fund and many other child development and protection stakeholders felt the need to include the voices of children and in reviewing children’s instruments or policies can never be complete without hearing their voices.
“This is also another sub milestone that they think is very important for them to be able to accomplish the task of reviewing the children’s Act as a nation.
Adding that Child Fund feels that they need to collaborate with partners to really look at the tools and revise all the instruments that they are going to use to consult and engage the children with.
“We are of the view that once we are able to consult children, their views and opinions are heard and included in the national instrument, it will be easier for us to be able to roll out and socialize the instrument and the children themselves would play a key stake in rolling and implementing of the revised Act that are about to produce after this process,” she added.
Omar Mbakeh, deputy director of the Children Affairs Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Welfare also said child protection issues and their welfare in this country is a priority for government and everybody.
“We need to ensure as a government, as stakeholders, as partners, as individuals and as communities their welfare and protection is looked at. We have seen a lot of things happening to children and as a result, a lot of things are emerging so the stakeholders through consultation felt that it’s important we review the Act,” he added.
He also mentioned that reviewing the Act means it has to be consultative because government cannot do it all alone so they have to bring on board all the stakeholders that is the government, development partners, CSO’s as well as the communities.
According to Mbakeh, the process has been in phases, the first phase was through a desk review, the second phase, was stakeholders’ consultation which has to do with going round the country to meet with child protection actors across the regions and other government agencies to dialogue with them regarding the welfare of children in this country and that the third phase, they want to do is to dialogue with children.