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| Saturday, 2 October 2004 |
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Upholding the rights of the girl-child
As we celebrate the U.N. International Day of the Child, the role played by the Colombo YWCA Girl Child Centre, in this regard, must be stressed. The Colombo YWCA has been in existence for over 120 yrs., while the Girl Child Centre was founded in 1994, specifically to serve and bring to the notice of those in government office and the general public the plight and needs of children with special emphasis on the girl child. The centre been busy during its brief history with varied work in the field of child protection and child rights of which I will list a few. * Training workshops for police officers and personnel of government and private sector institutions. * The promotion of awareness on laws relating to women and children, legal amendments to the Penal Code. * Basic and advanced counselling courses for the Sri Lanka Woman's Police Force and YWCA members. * Several one day camps for street children have been held. * Family Life Education programmes in collaboration with the national YWCA of Sri Lanka. These are but a few of the many activities in which the center is engaged and as we advance into the twenty first century, there continues to be much work to be done regarding the rights of the child. One of the greater violation suffered by children, is the loss of childhood itself. Wars and conflict contribute to this unfortunate situation in no small measure, they violate every right of a child, the right to live, nutured and protected with their family. The right to good health and an undisturbed education. With these basic rights withdrawn there can well be a disruption in the child's developing personality. Worst of all is when sometimes life itself is taken away. Approximately 900,000 children in the North & East of Sri Lanka have been directly affected by conflict. The girl child because of her gender often becomes a victim of the socio-economic factor, even in a time of peace in the country. Often in lower income families a boy's education will be thought of as more important than a girl's education. It is the girl child who will be expected to help the family by looking after her younger siblings, while a parent or parents are away from the home, the child then takes on adult responsibilities, therefore losing her childhood and her right to a decent education. She faces a future as a disadvantaged adult, poorly educated to continue a vicious circle. Much has been written and discussed about sexual abuse of children-though this is not a new violation, it is only in recent times that it has been openly discussed and brought to the notice of the media and general public and in doing so saving many innocent children from the perpetrators of this particular violation against the child. Now because of the media coverage and open forum discussion about this subject, it has assisted the average citizens to recognize their responsibility in the promotion of child rights. Children are rarely mentioned in reconstruction plans and peace agreements, or in relief and protection measures, yet children, the next generation, must be remembered and be at the centre of all humanitarian, peacemaker and peace building efforts. Women's organizations and networks must make maximum contribution to protecting the rights of the child. The Colombo YWCA Girl Child Centre is making every effort to do just that. Nadine Mediwake, Chairman Public Affairs, Col. YWCA. |
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