Implement Child Rights Acts, Dame Amaechi Urges FG

Wife of the Rivers State Governor, Dame Judith Amaechi has charged Federal and State Governments to set up a special committee that will enforce and implement provisions of the child’s rights act in the country.

Dame Amaechi stated this while receiving a donation on behalf of the Empowerment Support Initiative at the ESI Model Nursery School Eneka, near Port Harcourt.

She said through the Federal Government and some states have domesticated the United Nations convention on the rights of the child adding that non implementation of the act was negating its good intention.

According to her, it was obvious that the rights of the child were domesticated here but there is a high rate of child abuse in the country, this, she attributed to the neglect on the part of authority saddled with the responsibility to enforce the provision of the law and adding that a special committee or agency be set up to monitor the situation. “I think that it is high time we decided on what to do or to set up an independent agency to look at the rising cases of abuse and implementation of the provision”.

She further added that some children of school age staying with their guardians are not in school and subjected to street trading while the fight against child labour and street trading appears not to have succeeded.

The governor’s wife frowned that the nation’s human capacity and work force will be jeopardize if the trend is not nip in the bud.

Mrs Amaechi reiterated that an independent committee with a special court will accelerate the enforcement of the act.

Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Social Welfare and rehabilitation Mr. Chinagorum Aya and his counterpart in the women affairs ministry Dr. Pat Ogbonnaya said the dwindling fortune of education will be checked by providing early child care development initiative. They called on stakeholders to join government at all level to assist in the education of the less privilege children.

Earlier, the director, Gender and development action, a non-governmental organization Mrs Susan Bassey Duke said the organization’s donation to ESI Nursery school was borne out of the desire to assist in developing the early child education in the state.

She added that the donation which includes gifts, toys, teddy bear and books, will add values to the training and learning ability of the children, and commended Mrs Amaechi for her effort in the Child’s development.