United Nations Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (Kinshasa)
Nina Yacoubian
19 November 2007
At the closure of the joint child protection sensitization campaign with the Congolese National Police (PNC), MONUC organised a press conference on 19 November 2007, to examine the recorded progress during the past five months.
In attendance was the UN Deputy Special Representative for the Secretary General in the DRC Ross Mountain, the DRC Minister for Women and the Family Philomène Omatuku, as well as UNICEF country representative Anthony Bloomberg, and PNC officials.
The campaign, initiated by MONUC's Child Protection division, had as an objective to know and to promote the PNC's role in child protection and to demonstrate that the Congolese child can also benefit from protective international standards.
"I can already confirm that the general objective has been reached. The activities initiated at the time of this campaign permitted a better understanding of the protective role of policemen towards children, and to set in motion the mechanisms necessary for a change in behavior," declared Ross Mountain.
This campaign allowed 3,000 policemen to benefit from direct training while participating in workshops organized in 24 townships of Kinshasa to learn the police's role towards minors.
For her part, Minister Omatuku announced that the government adopted code of protection for children is like a national law containing arrangements for the promotion and protective of the children's rights in conformity with the international norms, to replace the existing legislation.
"With regard to the protection code, after its adoption by the government in the past week, it will soon go to parliament for adoption. This fundamental instrument which is going to contribute to improving juvenile justice in the DRC requires the implication of all for its application, in order to assure the protection of the child in all circumstances," she said.
Every November 20, the world celebrates the International Day of the Child, the anniversary date of the adoption of the relative convention of the rights of the child since 1989.
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