What is important for Tanzania to do in the interest of our children?
What you need to know:
responded with force, killing at least two hundred children.
In 1991, the then Organization of African Unity, the forerunner of the African Union (AU)) established June 16 as The Day of the African Child (DAC) to honour the courage of the children who participated in the protests, to celebrate Africa’s children as well as to inspire a reflection and action towards addressing the challenges that children on the continent face on a daily basis.
On June 16, 1976, thousands of black South African students joined in a protest against the education policies of the apartheid regime. Police responded with force, killing at least two hundred children.
In 1991, the then Organization of African Unity, the forerunner of the African Union (AU)) established June 16 as The Day of the African Child (DAC) to honour the courage of the children who participated in the protests, to celebrate Africa’s children as well as to inspire a reflection and action towards addressing the challenges that children on the continent face on a daily basis. Towards this end, every year a theme is chosen and 2017’s theme for the DAC is “Accelerating protection, empowerment and equal opportunities for children in Africa by 2030.”
In selecting this theme, the AU is reconfirming the importance of linking the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 2030 Agenda with child rights, emphasizing the need to invest in all children. The aim is also to stress that child rights commitments of States need to be made central to the implementation of SDGs. Furthermore, bringing the focus on the global 2030 Agenda provides a platform to reflect on how it applies to Africa’s children today.
The DAC theme brings to the fore issues that need to be taken care of to ensure that Africa’s future leaders grow up in conducive environments that will enable them to make Africa rise to the heights it is meant to be. Tanzania, with a huge young population, needs to maximize its potential by ensuring all its citizens are educated, can access and afford medical care and must work to eradicate poverty among all its citizens.
To achieve that, the process must start at the beginning - with our children. Promoting empowerment and equal opportunity for all children requires targeting all social and economic groups in order to ensure that no child is left behind, with a particular focus on prioritizing the rights and needs of the poorest and most marginalized. This will serve to address implementation gaps on children’s rights in Tanzania, particularly the realization of socioeconomic rights, through good governance, targeted policies and provision of the required services. This is the foundation for empowering all children to reach their fullest potential, leaving none behind.
To ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all children, Tanzania has an obligation to take all appropriate measures to provide quality education that is equitable and inclusive by, among others, developing/making increasingly accessible primary, secondary and tertiary education. Particularly, targeted measures must be taken to encourage regular attendance while reducing drop-out rates, and to ensure equal and equitable access to female, disadvantaged children including children with disabilities, children from indigenous groups and rural areas.
For children with disabilities, measures must be taken to provide inclusive and equitable access to quality and equal education through the provision of assistive education devices and targeted training to promote self-reliance and participation, especially in relation to preparation for gainful employment. Again, this is needed more in rural areas and in poor communities.
In a society that is steeped in patriarchy, traditions and cultures the issue of gender equality cannot be disregarded when talking about children’s status, both current and future. Discrimination on the basis of gender provides a pathway for the violation of other rights of the one discriminated against, such as education, expression, participation and violence. Gender inequality has been the bane of poor education outcomes for girls in Tanzania. Despite progress made over the years to achieve equality, particularly in relation to access to education, many girls in Tanzania still face barriers to remaining in both primary and secondary schools.
Gender equality is a necessary foundation for the full and free enjoyment of human rights and for securing sustainable peace, prosperity and development in any nation. Equal access for girls to education, health care, participation in decision making processes in the social, economic and political spheres will not only be beneficial to the girls but to entire families and society at large. Thus, the particular needs of the girl-child must be addressed in light of these rights in order to achieve gender equality for sustainable development. Gender equality is crucial for achieving all national goals including the eradication of hunger and poverty.
Apart from education inequality, girls continue to face discrimination and violence both in public and private spaces. Thus, for Tanzania, this year’s theme is timely as it calls to attention the protection needed to children from all forms of violence ranging from gender inequality, economic exploitation, deaths from violence and torture, outdated and harmful traditional practices to the lack of structures to ensure their safety and equal access to justice for all. Access to justice is important for the advancement of children’s rights and to defending their interests, particularly children who need protection against acts that threaten or violate their rights.
The law remains one of the most effective tools for societal development by providing the context within which the political, social, economic and cultural advancement of any nation is achieved. As such Tanzania needs to reform outdated laws such as the Law of Marriage of 1977, ensure re-entry for girls who get pregnant in schools, as well as where necessary, initiate new laws and policies that will be beneficial to children. Structures must be put in place to protect children and ensure that they are given a fair opportunity in the justice system. This is important for their psychological and psychosocial development so they are enabled to grow and develop into adulthood, free of fear and unintended irreversible consequences.
It is time for Tanzania to invest in ensuring her children grow up free from violence and exploitation’ with a particular focus on those in most vulnerable situations and in marginalized areas. When and where there is violence against children and a violation of their rights, society suffers. In the same vein, the protection of children’s rights contributes to the wellbeing, security and progress of the whole society.
Accountability, transparency and monitoring are critical tools for galvanizing efforts towards the achievement of National, Continental and Global goals and ensuring that real and measurable progress is made within stated timeframes. As part of actions towards “Accelerating protection, empowerment and equal opportunities for children in Africa by 2030” Tanzania should start a process of assessing its national development plan with a view to prioritizing children’s rights in line with the AU and the SDGs.
With a view to strengthening the institutional frameworks relevant for pursuing the SDGs, Tanzania should undertake an assessment of the strengths and gaps of the various institutions in order to clearly identify and plan the means and methods of intervention. This includes engaging in data collection and research in order to better understand the nature, magnitude, and impact of the problems and better plan the solutions, and facilitate more effective collaborations between various stakeholders.
And last, but not least, as agents of change, children should actively participate in the planning and implementation of the national agenda whose achievement requires putting children directly at the center of the agenda now, as they grow into adulthood. This will ensure that whatever is done will be with their full participation and is not in any way detrimental to their rights.
In Tanzania we say, “Kupanga ni Kuchagua”, that is to say planning involves making choices. As we celebrate the Day of the African Child, let the case be that Tanzania chooses to plan for her children TODAY so that Tomorrow they will have reached their potential and serve her well, hopefully.
With excerpts from the Concept Note for DAC 2017 of the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child