UNIVERSAL CHILDREN’S DAY, 2017
PRESS STATEMENT
Today 20 November, 2017 the Federal Government of Somalia joins the rest of the world in commemorating the Universal Children’s Day. We recall that on 20th November, 1989 the UN General Assembly adopted the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) to indicate that the world had accepted that children rights are human rights worth defending and promoting by all governments in the world. Somalia was among the first countries to sign the CRC on 9th May, 2002. On January, 2015, the country ratified the CRC, paving way for development of the Initial State Party Report which is due two years after ratification by a State Party.
As the ministry in charge of children, the MoWHRD has been at the forefront in co-coordinating key line ministries and civil society organizations at the Federal and State levels to provide information for inclusion in the report. Children, young people, parents and other caregivers have also been part of the process and have provided valuable information for the report. The report writing process has commenced and the drafting team comprises of representatives from government, civil society and the development sector. The team is working tirelessly to meet the deadline for submission of the report to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child.
The CRC report writing process provides each and every Somali child, young person, adult and the entire government to re-dedicate ourselves towards ensuring that every child in Somalia is able to enjoy their rights as enshrined in the CRC. It is a difficult task but progressively we can achieve this.
As a ministry, we have also taken steps to domesticate the CRC by beginning the process of development of a Child Rights Act, a process that was launched last week. The Act will be based on the provisions of the Provisional Constitution of Somalia, 2012 and will provide for enjoyment of rights by the rights holders who are children and young people, and the responsibilities of the duty holders who include the government, parents and guardians. In future, when Somalia submits periodic reports implementation of the Child Rights Act will form a key aspect of the reporting process.
In a special way, this year we celebrate all the children in Somalia who in spite of the challenges of living in a post conflict situation, prove to us that we can put aside our differences and work for the welfare of children,
The MoWHRD is committed to the protection of the rights of every Somali child, and to ensure that they reach their full potential at home, institutions of learning and in the communities they live in.
We encourage the media and other stakeholders to regularly visit the social media pages of the MoWHRD for updates on the developments taking place in regard to implementation of the rights of the child. The media is a key stakeholder and has partnered with us in this journey.
