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Mauritius: Handing over to children themselves
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L'Express (Port Louis)
25 July 2007
Posted to the web 26 July 2007
Pauline Etienne
Port Louis
The whole of society should contribute to stop violence against children, including the latter. A two-day workshop will soon lead to an action plan to gradually eliminate violence until zero tolerance.
Just as her 22 fellows, Anaelle Balgobin voiced out children's recommendations to contribute to stopping violence.
"We want to put forward our ideas on issues that are of our concern," claims Anooshka Basenoo. "We want to voice out our needs on all subjects related to the child's rights convention," adds Anaele Balgobin. These two young girls will be among the core group of the coming National Children's Forum. This is one of the major initiatives taken after the two-day workshop organised by the Ombudsperson for children, Shirin Aumeeruddy-Cziffra, in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme. "Through this forum, we hope children will exercise their rights of participation," says the Ombudsperson for Children who insists, however, that she will act only as a facilitator but will "leave them to discuss about what they want their forum to be".
This national forum was actually one of the recommendations made by the 23 children taking part in this workshop. Claudio Caldarone, in charge of the UNDP in Mauritius, stressed on the importance of the children's participation in that workshop when it was launched on Monday. "Mauritian children themselves will be present throughout the two-day workshop, not only to act as live reminders of whom the outcome of this exercise will eventually benefit, but also as full participants in their own right, whose voices should be listened to, reckoned with and taken into due consideration during all subsequent policy-setting and programming processes."
The 23 young people took the challenge and were not afraid to express themselves in front of the 100 adults attending the workshop. Among their main recommendations, they insisted on the importance of the introduction of sex and human values education at school. "Sex education should not be tackled as a taboo issue but should be an opportunity for all young people to obtain all relevant information to lead a healthy lifestyle." They also said that the "promotion of mixed education where boys and girls will learn to live together and understand each other to better respect one another" was a top priority. The need for more community centres for young people was also raised to provide a forum for discussions and interactions between young people as well as a leisure area.
As the children's recommendations show it, many stakeholders should be involved in the fight against violence to reach the objectives. Of course, the role of parents and the family in general was mentioned. But they should not be the only ones concerned. Rita Venkatasawmy from the Cedem also said that recommendations should be made to the ministry of Housing to make sure "social housing does not lead to promiscuity with small rooms and provides green areas for children to go and play or just enjoy the environment".
"We did not look just at violence as perceived by the public but at all its possible root causes such as poverty and so on," said Shirin Aumeeruddy-Cziffra. "Of course we looked at the different settings of violence - at school, at home for instance - but we need to look at the problem as a whole because violence is often imported from home to school for example."
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Among the recommendations made during the workshop, participants insisted on the need for more awareness from the general public and more training for every stakeholder. A code of ethics for all those working with children was another issue raised. The creation of half-way homes was considered as a rehabilitation method for children from institutions for a smooth transition to their own homes so that they can learn to live in community. "Everyone maintained that the principle of placement should be the last resort," Shirin Aumeeruddy-Cziffra pointed out.
In fact, a whole series of recommendations so much so that no final resolution could be given to the authorities yesterday afternoon as planned. A committee will be set up with some participants in the coming days to work on the final resolution. However, they have all committed to "do everything they can to put an end to violence through better prevention and, if needed, rehabilitation; make the child's convention known in each of the participants' field; work with other partners to have more convincing and sustainable results as well as reflect and share ideas to maintain the dynamics created during the workshop". These are only general resolutions for the moment but they should soon be followed by concrete ones.
A multi-sectoral approach to reach all these recommendations is extremely important. "It is not with mere legislation or with only one stakeholder that such a complex issue will be solved," recalled Claudio Caldarone. This is why the contribution of each and everyone is most welcome in this fight against violence.
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