13 Nov 2023

Government should prioritise the establishment of a children’s parliament in an effort to promote children’s rights and teach them the concept of democracy, civilization and the parliamentary process.

The call was made by the Chairperson of Botswana’s National Children Consultative Forum, Ms Unaludo Isaacs in an interview on the sidelines of the UNICEF World Children Day commemoration in Gaborone on Saturday.

 “The time is now for government to upgrade from the current children consultative forum and consider the children’s parliament to provide the right platform for advocacy of among other things children’s rights, health and education as well as children’s inclusivity in governance,” she said.

The children’s parliament, she said, would provide children a platform to actualise their potential, realise their rights and actively contribute to the country’s democratic process.

She said children rarely got the opportunity to share their views, thoughts, desires, likes and dislikes on things they believed to be pivotal to their development.

As such, she said lack of communication between adults and children and lack of acceptance of children in the decision making process had an impact on their health, their education and their ability to make their own choices.

The children’s parliament, through its many activities will equip the children with multiple skills and the platform through which they can make their voices heard, she said.

As a result, she said children would be free in their opinions, and their thoughts since they would as a group share concerns, debate over them and arrive at plausible solutions, which could be shared with the legislators to make a difference on issues relating to Child’s Act.

Responding to children's concerns, Deputy Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development, Ms Mamiki Kamanakao emphasised government's commitment to  protecting children's rights and guarding against their abuse.

In that context, she stated that government had developed a Child Protection Protocol and Regulations and continually sought to raise awareness on the Children Act through various fora such as stakeholder workshops.

She said government had  been conducting campaigns to address issues of child abuse, citing the Eseng Mo Ngwaneng campaign, which was a testament to government’s commitment to protecting children against any kind of abuse.Ms Kamanako highlighted the establishment of child-friendly centres in the eight police stations as yet another way to create a platform for children to freely raise their concerns.

 She said government in partnership with UNICEF was working on a parenting model to sensitise  parents on modern day parenting. ENDS