August 27, 2024, Mogadishu) Stakeholders from relevant Ministries, Departments and Agencies from the Federal Government of Somalia and non-governmental actors from UN agencies and Civil Society Organisations have concluded consultations to review and provide inputs in the draft IGAD Child Policy Framework.
The two-day national consultations which run from 26th to 27th August, 2024 in Mogadishu was organised to ensure that national stakeholders in Somalia are consulted in the policy-making process to guarantee the Child Policy accurately reflects the regional and national context.
Participants with technical expertise and interest in issues concerning children from the relevant line of ministries and government agencies including women and social affairs, health, education, migration, justice, and law enforcement among others from the federal government attended the meeting. The consultations were hosted by the Ministry of Family & Human Rights Development, where the children rights and development docket are domiciled.
Challenges to Protection of Children in Somalia
Challenges to child development and protection issues to children in Somalia were identified. Participants established that there are existing gaps in policy and legal frameworks related to children, limited institutional capacity in child rights and gaps in access to social services. Poverty was identified as the major challenge at the family level coupled with issues of family breakups, limited understanding of children’s rights and poor parental responsibility as key challenges.
At the community level, challenges identified include gender inequality, lack of child-friendly spaces and harmful practices such as female genital mutilation. While Somalia is signatory to various international human and child rights instruments, it was established that there is limited community awareness on child rights.
Displacement due to conflict and adverse effects of climate change are currently among the major issues affecting the rights and well being of children in Somalia.
Consultations on the IGAD Child Policy
The Somalia national consultations follow the similar engagements in South Sudan and Ethiopia where Member States have provided inputs in the draft copy of the policy framework. The IGAD Secretariat working with Save the Children has also run children consultations with Ethiopia, Uganda, Kenya and South Sudan to include children voices into the policy.
Representing the Director Health and Social Development IGAD, Mme Fathia Alwan, the IGAD Child Programming Focal Person, Dr. Shadrack Oiye, established that national consultations are organised to ensure that the Child Policy is well formulated and speaks to country-specific challenges. He said that the policy was indeed a testament to IGAD’s commitment to promoting the rights and welfare of children in line with the African Charter of the Rights and Welfare of the Child, to which six IGAD member states are ratifying parties.
“We strongly believe that the upcoming Child Policy could indubitably cement IGAD’s regional leadership to push for child-sensitive agendas and propel us forward in the realization of child rights in the region.”
He emphasised that “the adoption of a robust regional Child Policy would create a solid ground on which child-sensitive initiatives could be built to support IGAD member states in furthering their international and regional commitments”.
Mr. Mohamed Abshir Omar, the Director General of the Ministry of Family & Human Rights Development thanked IGAD and partners for engaging the technocrats from Somalia in the consultations underscoring the need for society specific interventions in the regional policy framework.
“This framework is a testament to our shared vision and commitment to a roadmap to addressing the challenges of poverty, violence and displacement affecting our children and the successful implementation of this policy requires working with all partners in the child protection space” he said.
Key Recommendations
Participants to the national consultations provided submissions on key policy thematic areas on in the Child Policy Framework on Child Protection, Child Participation, Health, Nutrition and WASH, Education and Social Protection, Peace, Security and Justice, and Environment and Climate Change.
Recommendations included the enforcement of legal safeguards, strengthen community-based reporting mechanisms for child victims and witnesses of crime, improving access to social services and strengthening the capacity of institutions to support child rights and wellbeing.
Out of Somalia’s population of over 10 million, it is estimated that almost 45.6 percent are children below the age of 15. The mission of the IGAD Child Policy Framework is to promote the realization of child rights and well-being through the effective implementation of the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child.
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