EAC Child Rights Conference to Be Held in Bujumbura

From 1 to 3 September Burundi will host the first-ever EAC Child Rights Conference 2012 at the Royal Palace Hotel Hotel in the capital Bujumbura.

The coference will be held under the theme ‘Addressing the Issues that Negatively Impact on the Realisation of Child Rights in the EAC’.

The conference is expected to attract over 150 participants drawn from all the five EAC Partner States.

It is organized by the EAC Secretariat in collaboration with the Inter-Agency Working Group (Save the Children, Plan International, World Vision, African Child Policy Forum, Elisabeth Glaser), UNICEF and African Committee on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (RIATT).

According to the EAC Deputy Secretary General in charge of Productive and Social Sectors Hon. Jesca Eriyo, the EAC Child Rights Conference has four key objectives namely participants to share experiences on the progress made in the realisation of child rights in the EAC.

The conference will also address the challenges; to identify and raise awareness on issues that negatively impact on the realisation of child rights in the EAC; to provide a platform for facilitating children participation in the EAC integration process; and lastly to lay the foundation for the development of an EAC Children Policy.

Hon. Eriyo says, “the conference will enable representatives from children, governments, the EAC, CSOs, NGOs, and Development Partners to develop innovative and creative solutions to problems impacting the realisation of the child rights in the Community”.

She said as “the EAC consolidates implementation of the Customs Union and the Common Market protocols, moves towards realisation of the Monetary Union and the Political Federation, it is imperative that we assess the impact of these processes on the realisation of child rights and put appropriate policies to ensure that all children benefit from the regional integration process”.

She added, “The timing is right because we will have the opportunity to comply with the EAC Development Strategy (2012-2016) which addresses the issue of child rights”.