Rwanda on Wednesday, June 16, marked the Day of the African Child with officials calling on the citizenry to play their rightful role in child development.
At the national level, the theme was "Isibo, a pivot to child development”.
Officials used the occasion to highlight the role of the community in promoting Early Childhood Development (ECD).
The First Lady, Jeannette Kagame, took to social media platforms to urge continued support for children with a view to ensuring their wellbeing, now and in the future.
"This year, as Rwanda focuses on the role of the community in promoting ECD, we are calling on parents, partners, employers and everyone to continue supporting these efforts geared towards ensuring every child’s access to quality education, care, health and protection,” she said in a tweet.
Events were held in different parts of the country Wednesday during which top officials, including the Minister for Gender and Family Promotion, Jeannette Bayisenge, and representatives of the National Child Development Agency, participated in community events designed to raise awareness around child development.
The officials also gave Vitamin A and nutrient-rich food and milk to children under five years.
Gender and Family Promotion minister Jeannette Bayisenge feeds a child at a home-based Early Childhood Development Centre in Burera District, Northern Province, on Wednesday. Photo: Courtesy.
Anita Asiimwe, Director-General, National Child Development Agency, said, in Rwanda, the focus was on the role of the smallest administrative unit at the grassroots, known as Isibo, in child development.
She said they will soon deploy community health workers that will go to all villages to teach parents about ECD and help raise community awareness about integrated ECD services.
"Next month, all community health workers will go to the grassroots and carry out a growth monitoring exercise by measuring the height and weight of all children under five,” she told The New Times.
‘A sense of responsibility’
She said that, in partnership with Rwanda Biomedical Centre (RBC), they will give vitamin A and deworming tablets to all children under the age of five.
"We urge all community members to have a sense of responsibility when it comes to children,” she said. "If they can report things that are not going well in the community, like infrastructure, we also expect them to report issues of children that are being neglected.
"For example, when they are being left out in the cold, when there is a child in the neighborhood who’s always crying, it shouldn’t take a professional to intervene in such matters when the community can help the parent of the child to address the issue.”
Maximilien Ruzigana, executive secretary, Child Right Coalition Umwana Ku Isonga, blamed most challenges that children face "on the fact that parents often do not have enough means or knowledge on what to do with their children.”
"Some parents are just concentrating on their work and do not pay attention to their children,” he said. "Some children have been victims of family conflicts. That’s why focusing on community-based interventions will help in finding sustainable solutions.”
According to the National Child Development Agency, the number of children with issues associated with underdevelopment dropped from 38 per cent from 2015 to 33 per cent last year.
Gender and Family Promotion minister Jeannette Bayisenge gives a child milk on the occasion of the Day of the African Child in Burera District on Wednesday. Photo: Courtesy.