Sierra Leone on Thursday 16 June 2022 joined the rest of the continent for commemoration of the Day of the African Child (DAC), also known as the International Day of the African Child, with the Theme; “Eliminating Harmful Practices Affecting Children”. This tells us as a nation that Sierra Leone strategically forms part of the global community, must henceforward comply with international laws, treaties and conventions governing the protection and safety of children from all forms of abuses as urges by this year’s theme of the Day of the African Child; “Eliminating Harmful Practices Affecting Children”.
The Day of the African Child came about following stiff resistance by over twenty thousand South African students who took to the streets of Soweto on the morning of 16, June 1976 in protest to be taught in their own language, to which armed police personnel responded with high handed and murdered them in cold blood. Since then June 16 was declared as “Youth Day” in South Africa, with the full recognition as the “International Day of African Child”. A day that now focuses on barriers militating against the growth, development and the protection of the rights of children.
The Organization of African Unity (OAU) then, now African Union, who has been observing June 16 since 1991 when it first initiated the idea of respectfully honouring those who staged the 1976 Soweto Uprising, continues to raise awareness about the struggle of an enduring need for the improvement of education provided to African children.
Today, the AU and member states observe the Day of the African Child in commemoration of those revolutionary student protesters from various schools who rose against the then apartheid policy of white minority rule in South Africa. Their call on then government was to introduce Afrikaanas as medium of instruction in black schools.
In Sierra Leone, the Day of the African Child is remembered annually mostly with pupils neatly dressed in their African clothes, along with their local food stuffs to their various schools as if that is all what June 16 was set aside for. Of course not, but to address serious issues affecting children in Sierra Leone.
Issues ranging from the need for children’s special care and protection from all forms of abuses, and rights violations, spiritual and moral development, socioeconomic injustices, mental illnesses, sexual exploitation, gender discrimination in accessing education and healthcare facilities, forceful conscription into armed conflicts, migration and trafficking. Also formed part of needs to be handled by authorities in alleviating the ugly plight of Sierra Leonean children, are; early marriage, negative social, cultural and traditional practices, strange urban and rural settlements, street children and poverty, child labour mostly in mining communities within the country and so many other abuses children need to be highly protected from. These challenges are real time problems affecting children in their daily lives especially in accessing learning opportunities almost everywhere in the country. Thus remembering the 16 June 1976 Soweto Uprising, government through the appropriate line Ministry Department and Agencies, should consider prioritizing the aforementioned issues in its policy programmes of activities for the moral development of Sierra Leonean children to enable them feel and grow like children in other parts of Africa.
June 16 comes once a year, meet and leave Sierra Leonean children in the same deplorable conditions, as the country’s socioeconomic trend dictates. Children in the state of fending for themselves and their parents in the streets of Freetown and other major towns and cities are not what the Day of the African Child was popularised by the AU. Rather, the continental body has a legal framework in place making sure that children access education, healthcare facilities, protected from abuses and cultural and traditional practices as it is trending here with children, which are still prevalence in Sierra Leone. Authorities should do all in their powers to get rid of children from the streets, and stop them from begging as it prevents children from going to school. Child begging and destitution are having negative impacts on children and the country. There is also the urgent need for line agencies to put in place strong measures that restrict children from street trading, which also expose them to multiple vulnerabilities in society that affect their moral and social development.
For instance children trading in pure water, candies and other assorted handheld goods at Sani Abacha Street and other places in the business district either hardly go to school or have already skipped early learning opportunities. All they cared about and are focused on is petty trading for their parents, which also affect the future of children and the country as a whole. Government must therefore come up with formidable reform policies in moulding the minds of parents and their children making sure that they refrain from the uses of their children as sources of income to mend their poverty and hardship.
As matter of responsibility, there were high expectations that government will place and enforce penalties on parents who use their children and wards to sell them goods, especially when Government policy of compulsory education has placed learning opportunities at the disposal of every child. Such national responsibility by all and sundry to get rid of children off the streets seems to be still far from taking effect, as there are streets children roaming everywhere in Sierra Leone. There those who pretend to be selling for their parents, whilst others who prefer to just stay away from home and take to the streets because of they don’t want to be controlled. Some others are highly influence by drugs, illegal gambling and prostitution and the like, with proclivity of damaging their youth in the future. All under the watch of the line MDAs who receive annual subventions for only God knows what are doing with funds being allocated to them.
Much as Government joined its partners in observing June 16 in commemoration of this year’s Day of the African Child, problems affecting the livelihood of Sierra Leonean children in the aforesaid areas must be adequately addressed. Children must be children, not workers and should be highly protected from abuses as in sync with this year’s theme of the International Day of the African Child; “Eliminating Harmful Practices Affecting Children”, so much as we honour this day as a nation, we must prevent our children from all forms of abuses.
