Writing for Rights: Johnson, 17, Uganda
Dear Sir/Madame,
The Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) Article 19 grants all children a right to be protected from being hurt and mistreated, in body or mind. Governments have a responsibility to make sure our rights are protected, help our families to protect our rights and create an environment where we can grow and reach our potential as stipulated in Article 4 of the CRC. However, children have been the most abused and vulnerable in our country of Uganda. Girls have been victims of child abuse.
So many girls have dropped out of school due to a number of reasons ranging from early marriages, early pregnancies, defilement and little value attached to girl-child education. In a school where I study, an average of eight girls do not complete their education because they get pregnant after being defiled.
Child abuse cases reported to police in our community for the year July 2012–June 2013 were 108 with defilement rating the highest at 50 per cent followed by child neglect at 31 per cent. This means almost 10 per cent of children in our country are every year, and besides this, there are so many child abuse cases which go unreported because community leaders connive with the criminals to settle the matter after being bribed.
If child protection is considered as one of the major goals to be included in the post-2015 agenda, I believe that children will enjoy good life like never before.
We are also facing a big challenge of corruption in our country. So many children are deprived of their right to education just because of poor facilities in schools, absence of enough teachers, and presence of fewer schools in communities. All these are attributed to embezzlement of funds by relevant authorities. Increased child mortality in Uganda is a result of embezzling funds meant to provide vaccines in health centres. Parents are unable to provide well for their children because of poverty caused by increased corruption in our country.
Article 4 of the CRC gives the government a responsibility to make sure children are protected and help our families create an environment where children can grow and reach their potential. How can we be protected from illnesses when we do not access basic health services? How can we access quality education when we do not even have enough schools in communities? How can we be protected from all forms of child abuse when criminals connive with government leaders through corruption and they go unpunished?
I believe that all these can change; we can have a world free from corruption. We can live in an environment where we are fully protected from all forms of child abuse. I believe political leaders can still reform and have a heart of love for their country. If measures are put in place to reduce corruption in developing countries like Uganda and also if child protection is considered as one of the major goals to be included in the post-2015 agenda, I believe that children will enjoy good life like never before.
By Johnson, 17-years-old, Uganda