By: Henry Kargbo
The Minister of Social Welfare has told journalists that the Government of Sierra Leone would use the twenty-four arrested children during the August 10 demonstration as entering point for peace building in their communities.
The arrested children are currently under intensive care by the Ministry of Social Welfare in partnership with Don Bosco Fambul, Social Welfare Minister Madam Bendu Dassama said yesterday 30 August 2022 at the Ministry of Information and Communications Conference Room at Youyi Building in Brookfields, Freetown.
“The children are the future leaders and if they are trained they will be good for the nation,” she said, calling on parents to look after their children well.
She added that President Bio’s government had “contributed and invested a lot on children” in the country.
The violent protest, she noted, occurred in Western Rural, Western Urban, Makeni and Port Loko where eight children were arrested in Makeni, five in Port Loko, and eleven in Freetown.
According to Minister Dassama, the children – seventeen boys and seven girls – were released to the Ministry of Social Welfare for protection.
The children are with a reputable organization that is taking care of them, she said, adding that her Ministry and partner had been visiting the parents of those children.
The minister also said that the government had taken decision to attach social workers to each child and would use the children as entering point for peace building to those communities.
It is indubitable that humans have various needs, which range from fundamental to physiological, aesthetic and esteem needs. The needs also vary depending on the age bracket, gender and socio-economic placement of the individuals.
The needs of a child are different from that of the adolescent, and the latter is dissimilar to that of adult or older adults. And the idea of social welfare and administration is a practice that is common to all societies of the world, whether homogenous or heterogeneous, traditional or modern.
