A child protection conference that concluded in Aweil town in Northern Bahr el Ghazal State at the weekend endorsed a massive awareness drive on child protection mechanisms among the state’s local communities.  

The conference was organized to address the rise in sexual exploitation and discrimination cases across the state. This year, the state already recorded four cases of young boys being sodomized in Aweil North and Aweil West counties and several cases of female-related sexual abuse.

The conference recommended the establishment of bylaws to protect minors, the provision of free healthcare services, and the involvement of women and youth in the drive to eliminate crimes against children.

The acting chairperson of the Aweil Women General Association, Monica Akon, said parents and communities have a big responsibility to ensure that all problems affecting the children are tackled decisively.

“The solution is with us and it is us to change, protect our children, and tell our children what is right and wrong,” she said. “If we are busy and do not give time to our children, we end up saying children have failed but it is us the parents who have failed.”

A community member, Apath Deng Apath, said they learned a lot of approaches and techniques to address issues affecting children.

“We have benefited so many things from the conference and we understood that families must protect their children before others take care of them and this means that it is a collective responsibility,” he said. “We learned that there are many children who desert their homes in different counties and payams and come to Aweil town but their families are the ones to be held accountable for neglecting them.”

On his part, the Director of the Child Protection Directorate at the state Ministry of Gender, Child and Social Welfare, Ker Wel, said the conference was meant to boost understanding of all issues affecting the children in the state. 

“The child protection conference aimed to increase awareness in all institutions and the civil society, chiefs, women and youth and others have pledged to protect children,” he said. “The army, police Prisons Service, and Wildlife Conservation have all pledged to stop children recruitment in their ranks.”

Wel urged for the stoppage of employing children in menial labor.

The conference was attended by over 50 government officials, traditional leaders, members of civil society organizations, and women and youth representatives at the Railway Hotel in Aweil town and was funded by the United Nations Mission (UNMISS) through its Child Protection Unit (CPU).