23 Jun 2019

 The Assistant Minister of Health and Wellness, Mr Sethomo Lelatisitswe, has encouraged all Batswana to play their role in protecting the rights of children.

Delivering a speech during the commemoration of the African Child Day in Francistown on June 21, Mr Lelatisitswe said children’s rights were often ignored during times of natural disasters highlighting that humanitarian action was more on materials andor logistical assistance.

He said the main objective was to save lives, alleviate suffering and maintain human dignity adding that children were one of the vulnerable groups and highly affected during such times. 

“In times of crisis, it is the children’s rights that are mostly violated. Africa is experiencing wars, floods and other disasters. The question is, are we doing enough to protect the interests of our children?” he asked.

Mr Lelatisitswe, therefore, called on parents to ensure that children’s rights were protected for them to live in dignity. 

He said government shunned human trafficking at all costs, as shown by increased efforts in investigating and prosecuting traffickers. 

Mr Lelatisitswe said few cases were registered where Botswana served as a transit route for human trafficking.

“There is a lot of child trafficking during the time of turmoil and that according to the 2018 trafficking in person report, Botswana is a transit and destination area for child trafficking rings,” he added.

He explained that the day commemorates the 1976 student uprising in Soweto where tens of thousands of black children marched in protest of poor quality education and the introduction of Afrikaans as their new medium of instruction in the education system.

Mr Lelatisitswe further explained that hundreds of these young students were killed and many injured adding that there was no doubt that these children were fighting for their rights.

Mr Lelatisitswe also took the opportunity to give sanitary pads to Lekgaba Primary School.

For her part, Councillor Florence Lekang of Ntshe ward commended John Makenzie Primary School in conjunction with Jubilee Clinic for having found it important to donate sanitary pads to young girls.

However, she underscored the need to protect children from human trafficking saying Botswana was not only a transit route but also a destination area for the crime. 

Lekgaba school head, Mr Shadrack Jani, also commended John Makenzie Primary School for the donation. ENDS