Gov’t approves new commission

Cabinet on Wednesday approved a bill that will put in place the law creating and regulating the National Children’s Commission (NCC). The commission will be charged with following the day-to-day activities of promoting the rights of children in the country. Speaking to The New Times on phone yesterday, The Minister of Gender and Family Promotio (MIGEPROF) ,Jeanne d’ Arc Mujawamariya, said that the commission will be instrumental in stepping up the promotion of the rights of children in the country. “When we put in place policies as a ministry, we need to have a body that will be charged with implementing these policies. So the commission will be instrumental in implementing the policies to do with children’s rights,” explained Mujawamariya. She added that the MIGEPROF will be charged with monitoring the activities of the commission to ensure that children’s rights are respected. The commission will also follow up on the implementation of the children’s rights in all sectors like in health, education and economy, to make sure that children are not left behind in national development. The bill is expected to be forwarded to the Lower Chamber of Parliament before being approved and published in the official Gazette. In a related development, the ministry will hold the 5th annual Children’s Summit next month, and according to MIGEPROF, this year’s summit will be attended by children representatives from the other four East African countries. The summit will run under the theme ‘Role of children in fighting child abuse.’ The annual summits are held to provide forum to the children as a way of creating an enabling environment for them to express their opinions, which are taken into consideration by relevant authorities. According to Minister Mujawamariya, the involvement of children from regional countries will bring in a wider experience from all over East Africa. “We hope that the involvement of these children from East Africa will help our children share experiences with their counterparts and also learn from one another,” she said. She added that children from other East African countries will draw many lessons on how Rwanda is dealing with issues of children’s rights which can be helpful to them. Each country will be represented by five children who will include two girl representatives, two boy representatives and one representing children with disabilities. Ends