Various representatives from line ministries, Nampol and welfare organisations recently joined hands in addressing the plight of the increasing number of children living in deplorable conditions on the streets of Mariental.

According to governor Salomon April, it has been resolved after a consultative stakeholders meeting to, as a matter of urgency, establish a regional inter-ministerial committee to spearhead preparations to round up these children and reintegrate them into schools outside town. 

“So far, 44 children were taken away from the streets in Mariental alone, and we are planning to extend the programme to other towns in the region at a later stage,” he explained.  The governor continued government social workers will now interview these children through assessment, profiling, counselling, rehabilitation and coordination before reintegrating them into boarding schools on the outskirts of the regional economic hubs, starting with Mariental. 

Explaining the role of the governor’s office in this initiative, April emphasised that since children living and working on the streets are one of the most vulnerable groups exposed to exploitation at the hands of abusive and/or criminal elements of society as well as marginalisation from services, his office, with the support of other stakeholders, are striving to protect these children from it and return them to a dignified life that would guarantee them a better future. 

“Through this programme, we hope to, as a region and the country at large, subscribe to as a co-signatory to the Convention on the Right of the Child and the Namibian Constitution, which impose that ‘State parties recognise the right of the child to education and, with a view to achieving this right, encourage the development of different forms of secondary education, including general and vocational education’,” said the regional leader.

April said if resources are available, this operation will be continued to other towns and villages in the Hardap region until such a time that most, if not all of these children, are returned to school in 2023. 

-sklukowski@nepc.com.na