By: Ilyasa Baa
The Child Rights Coalition which represents over one hundred Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and International Non -Governmental Organizations (INGOs) is calling on Parliament to ratify the Child Rights Bill of 2022 which has been before the House of Parliament since February 2023.
The Fifth Parliament of the Republic of Sierra Leone which is about to close before the end of the month is being commended for taking the bill through First and Second Readings since the bill was tabled by the Minister of Gender and Children’s Affairs, Dr. Many Tarawallie.
The Child Advisor at the Child Rights Coalition, Mahmud Barrie said since the whole process started in 2021, a lot of good things have been included into the bill including banning child marriage, setting the stage for criminal responsibility of the child.
He noted that even the name FGM had been replaced with Female Child Circumsition instead. He stated that the bill adds more responsibility on the Child Commission that there should be child friendly mechanism to address issues affecting children and proffer solutions rather than going to the police.
There have been series of consultations on the Child Right Bill 2022 which if passed into law will supersede the Child Rights Act of 2007 which places criminal responsibility of the child at 14 years and the Child Right Amendment Act of 2019 which says 8 years.
Its adoption will define what child labour is considering cases of reported child labour in alcohol production companies and overseas employment programmes.
Meanwhile, concerns have been raised that children should not be allowed to take part in active politics like being used by politicians to sing and dance for them during campaigns as the June 24th multi-tier elections draw nearer.