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| Chissano sues for protection of African children's rights
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Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (PANA) -
Africa needs effective leadership in
all segments of society to ensure the rights and a better future of
its children, former Mozambican president Joaquim Chissano said here
Thursday.
"A child should have a unique position in the African society,"
Chissano told the opening session of a two-day international policy
conference on the African child, devoted to the issue of combating
violence against the girl child.
Pointing out that violence against children in Africa had taken
multiple faces, ranging from domestic violence, corporal punishment,
female genital mutilation, forced labour, sexual abuse to
trafficking, he called on African governments to work together and
take more measures to protect the rights of the child.
Chissano said the situation of violence inflicted on African children
was often worsened by armed conflict, famine and other natural
disasters as a result of ignorance on the part of parents and the
society in general.
He urged governments to mainstream all international legal
instruments on the protection of the rights of the child into
domestic legislation.
The Addis Ababa-based African Child Policy Forum (ACPF) organised the
conference in cooperation with the African Union, UN Population Fund
(UNFPA), UNICEF, Save the Children Group, Plan International and the
UN Economic Commission for Africa.
Meanwhile, former OAU Secretary-General Salim Ahmed Salim has called
on the meeting participants drawn from around the world to declare
violence against children as a crime against humanity.
"We need to take steps and make a difference. We must put an end to
the humiliation as well as psychological and physical abuse that
affect millions of girls in Africa.
"Discrimination against women becomes accentuated in time of crisis
and conflict situations as they become weapons of war," he said.
According to findings by the ACPF, many perpetrators of violence
against girls and women felt that their actions were justified by
strong societal messages suggesting that rape, battering, sexual
harassment, child abuse and other forms of violence were acceptable.
"Every day images of men and boys perpetrating violence against women
are shown in the news, on television, at the cinema, in
advertisements, and in our homes and workplaces.
"Violence is often depicted as an inevitable fact of life for women
of all ages, races and classes.
"Such attitudes make women and girls more vulnerable to violence, and
mean that they are less protected by society's structures and support
systems," says the ACPF report.
At the end of the conference, participants who include government
representatives, policy makers, researchers and religious leaders are
expected to pledge to specific actions to end violence against
children in Africa.
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| Addis Ababa - 11/05/2006 |
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