WINDHOEK – President Hage Geingob yesterday said the Namibian constitution provides for the protection of the rights of children and the government has social protection mechanisms for orphans and vulnerable children.
He encouraged the Southern African Development Community (Sadc) member countries to ensure their children are protected in order to secure the future of the region.
“With the entry into force in February 2019 of the Child Care and Protection Act 3 of 2015, government is shifting gear by creating a new architecture to consolidate the gains of the past 29 years,” said Geingob in a statement issued by press secretary in the presidency Alfredo Hengari yesterday.
Geingob, who is the chairperson of Sadc, said this in his Day of the African Child message wherein he also encouraged Namibia and the region to scale up interventions in favour of the African child and youth.
“This is a day to pause, reflect and act for the future of the African child. Namibia has done considerable work on protecting the rights of the child, ranking in the top ten child-friendly countries in Africa,” he said.
Geingob said in doing so, Namibia is scaling up interventions – and commits to do more to realise a brighter future for the youth and the African child.
“I urge the entire Sadc region to act in concert as we work together for the protection of the rights of the African child within the framework of the Sadc minimum package of services for orphans, vulnerable children and youth, and other regional instruments,” he said.
Geingob said Namibia has ratified all the major conventions and protocols in the area of children’s rights, and was recently ranked 7th in Africa in the Child-Friendliness Index compiled by the African Child Policy Forum.
The Day of the African Child is commemorated every year on June 16, since 1991.
On the June 16, 1976 thousands of black children took to the streets in Soweto, South Africa to protest against the country’s inferior Bantu education system. The theme for this year’s commemoration is “Humanitarian Action in Africa: Children’s Rights First”.