“A CRY FOR CHANGE”
((R
Reeccoom
mm
meennddaattiioonnss ffrroom
m cchhiillddrreenn aanndd yyoouunngg ppeeooppllee ooff LLeessootthhoo ttoo tthhee
G
Goovveerrnnm
meenntt))
Register all orphaned and vulnerable children – NOW!
&
Orphaned and Vulnerable Children’s Policy – FOLLOW IT
UP!
(Presented by Shivani 16 year old girl from the Girls and Boys Education Movement GBEM in
Lesotho)
“We came to the realization that one of our major challenges in the country, that is
affecting children’s vulnerability and progress in finding ways of trying to solve issues as
getting aid to the right people at the right time, is the fact that we are not getting the
orphan and vulnerable children registered. It needs to be implemented and needs to be
done quickly. An estimated 180,000 children are orphans in Lesotho, out of which
100,000 have been orphaned by AIDS. They say a portion of them are in school, but we
want to know what has happened to the rest? We want all those whom are invisible to be
taken to the surface and given a chance to join their fellow youth in school.”
“Not registering OVCs makes them invisible and excluded from programmes and
assistance. We need OVC registration to be vital, this can be done by integrating it into
already existing systems like the birth and death registration. The Key word is SPEED!
ACTIONS SPEAK LOUDER THAN WORDS! Stop asking who’s responsibility it is. In
the end, believe it or not, it is all of our responsibility. We need to dig out each and every
invisible child, they all make a difference. When we ask why isn’t registration taking place,
we get no answer…. But when we ask who’s children they are we can’t point fingers,
because these children belong to all of us, THEY BELONG TO LESOTHO!”
“You were all children once, am I not right? Then put yourselves into our shoes and
think, would you like to be ignored? Wouldn’t you want people to know you exist and
wouldn’t you like assistance when you needed it? The answer is most certainly YES…. So
why can’t we do it for these children?”
“We know about the good initiatives already set up, like the creation of an OVC
Registration form and the development of the OVC policy, but all we want is for them to
be sped up. Time is valuable and these children can’t keep on waiting in silence”
Ensure a platform for Children – ALWAYS!
(Presented by Lisebo, 17 year old girl from the Girls and Boys Education Movement GBEM in
Lesotho)
“I will be elaborating more on ensuring a platform for children as one of the
recommendations requested by us, the children. We ask for our voices to be heard and to
be taken seriously. We ask adults not to undermine our potential and our views. We ask
for the youth to be involved in decision making about issues affecting our country,
especially issues affecting us. Therefore this brings us to an important request for young
people to be able to represent other young people in the parliament and perhaps in the
long run have parliament for children. Everything can happen if children and young
people are given a chance to participate and make their voices heard.”
“NOTHING ABOUT US WITHOUT US!”
Decentralisation – MAKE IT HAPPEN!
&
HIV/AIDS – OUT!
(Presented by Seboka, 18 year old girl from the Girls and Boys Education Movement GBEM in
Lesotho)
“As young people we feel that we deserve full access to education, protection and health
care services. We acknowledge and appreciate the efforts that the government has taken
to ensure that every child has access to education through the Free Primary Education
programme; access to post primary education through the Ministry of Education’s
bursary scheme to meet the needs of orphans and vulnerable children who also benefit
from the recently introduced programme on loaning text books to students. The
Government must now ensure that education becomes compulsory, that every child
MUST stay in school especially considering the vulnerability of children nowadays and
how easy it is for an orphan to drop out”
“Statistics indicate that about 10,087 males and 11,221 female children have been
counted as disabled in the 1996 census data. The number is probably higher now, hence a
need for replication of centres that cater for the disables such as St. Angel at Ha-Abia
Maseru, all over the country. We would like to see already existing schools cater for the
disabled, such as St. Bernarderd primary and St. Catherines High schools.”
“Most young people don’t have access to sexual health advice, condoms and other forms
of contraception, or voluntary counseling and testing. Too often young people are
deliberately deprived of these life saving services and information because adults deny
that sexuality is a normal and healthy aspect of growing up. Reproductive health services
are seldom geared towards the needs of young people, who therefore tend to avoid them,
putting themselves and their partners at huge risk of HIV infection.”
“We request that youth friendly services should inform young people about their sexual
and reproductive health rights and provide wider access to voluntary counseling and
testing. Health services should be affordable, cater for minor or unmarried youth, offer
low-cost or free condoms and provide treatment for sexually transmitted infections. We
also recommend that health services must offer privacy and should guarantee
confidentiality. More flexible opening hours (to cater for young people who work and
study), would make a difference. Cost effective and affordable care should be made
accessible to all young people with HIV/AIDS and HIV related illnesses at all levels.
Good nutrition habits should continue to be promoted, including information on
vitamins and minerals by health care givers.”
“WE WANT FREE VOLUNTARY COUNSELLING AND TESTING AND
ANTIRETROVIRALS FOR ALL – HIV/AIDS OUT!”
Violence against us, Abuse and Exploitation – STOP IT!
(Presented by Daniel, 16 year old boy and Nthethe 17 year old girl, from the Girls and Boys
Education Movement GBEM in Lesotho)
Daniel:
“As we all know, several children and youth are subjected to violence, in their home,
school or work place. Under this topic we have come up with two sub-topics.”
“The first one is violence towards child domestic workers and herd-boys. To support
their selves or their families, some children have to find jobs [or are rented out by their
relatives to other households in order to contribute], mostly as domestic workers or herd
boys. They are often abused in their work environments, sexually and/or physically. This
is still taking place even though it has been stated that the child has the right to be
protected from work that threatens his/her health, education or development and the
minimum age of employment set by the Government being 18 years of age.”
“The second topic I will talk about is corporal punishment. ‘Spare the rod and spoil the
child’, an age old saying that I have heard several times. I feel that it is like another age
old saying: ‘children should be seen but not heard’. Both sayings should be given the
same treatment – THROWN OUT! In several schools, corporal punishment is till very
strong and is the focal point of discipline. Orphans and vulnerable children are affected
in an extremely negative way by corporal punishment as they have no support from
parents and may consider their schools and teachers to be the main source of support,
while contrarily they get violence and abuse. Please stop violence towards children and
youth.”
Nthethe:
“I will be talking about Child Domestic Workers. These are children who are engaged to
perform domestic tasks in a home of the third party or employer. The ages in which
children become domestic workers in Lesotho range from 13-18. These children due to
pressure get so desperate to become commercial sex workers due to demands by the
family or employers. Some young boys and girls are vulnerable and employers take
advantage of these vulnerable kids and as a result sexual abuse occurs.”
“A recent example of sexual abuse was a 15 year old orphaned boy who lives in Mazenod
was raped by his school teachers this year. The Sexual Offences Act came into effect in
April 2003. The purpose of the law is to combat such sexual violence, protect these
orphaned and vulnerable children and proscribe appropriate sentences for sexual
offences.”
“We request that the Government should have an obligation to ensure that child victims
of torture, neglect, abuse, maltreatment or exploitation receive appropriate treatment for
their recovery and reintegration.”
“We request the Government to protect all children from all forms of maltreatment by
parents, guardians or others responsible for the care of the child and establish
appropriate social programmes for the prevention of abuse and the treatment of victims.”
“For herd boys due to family pressures they herd animals and at the end of the year they
get 1 or 2 of the animals they were herding. This is exploiting the child. Why can’t the
father do it, or relative and the child stay at school?”
Child Protection and Welfare Bill – SPEED UP
ENACTMENT!
(Presented by Lehlohonolo, 18 year old boy from the Junior Law Reform Committee in Lesotho)
“We can talk all kinds of talk, sing all kinds of songs and cry all sorts of cries, but as long
as the activation of the Childern’s Protection and Welfare Bill 2003 (CPW Bill) is delayed
we would be squandering our precious time.”
“The CPW Bill was produced by Lesotho Law Reform Commission, Junior [I was part of
it] and senior members in order to fill in the gaps which the previous Child Protection
Act 1980 had, such as care for disabled children, education for all children, minimum age
of parental consent for testing for HIV/AIDS, minimum age of marriage, protection for
orphans and fighting HIV/AIDS for the safety of children’s lives.”
“It was very important for the law to be reformed with children as it makes it easier to
understand the needs of children. The theme of the UNGASS also stated “Change the
world with children” and this inspired to work with us”
“Presently Basotho children face exploitation, abuse, disease and poverty which makes
them to die daily like fish in a radioactive water, just because there is no law to protect
them. It is taking too long for the legislation to come into force and consequently
children cry to no avail because they have no succour.”
“CPW Bill should be enacted as soon as possible, for procrastination is the thief of time,
and after all time and tide wait for no man. WE NEED PROTECTION AND
WELFARE RIOGHT NOW!”.
A POEM
WHERE IS THE LAW?
(Presented by Lehlohonolo, 18 year old boy from the Junior Law Reform Committee in Lesotho)
Days pass by
Months ship by
And Years roll by
But oh!..... Child abuse and exploitation never
Where is the law to protect us…. The children?
HIV/AIDs the solitary reaper
Reaps our parents like sugar cane
Leaving us orphaned and vulnerable
Tears trickling down our cheeks in thick streams
Who’s going to come to our rescue?
The law, oh! The law! Where is the law, please?
We’re still too young
To perform exploitative labour
We’re still too young
To become victims of sexual harassment
But oh! Where is the law to protect us from all this?
Without quality education
We have no destinations
Without good health centres
Our health is in danger
Come Child protection and Welfare ACT! Where are you?
You’re delaying!
Make a future investment
And make our rights a reality!