Agency establishes child desk, council
SAVE the Children Tanzania has established Children’s Councils in Arusha region, a platform that seeks to promote children’s participation in local governance in the country.
The agency also launched a Child Protection desk that will handle child protection-related queries and issues.
Speaking during CSOs week community event held at Levolosi Primary School here on Tuesday, Child Rights expert at Save the Children Tanzania said the agency remained committed in upholding child rights in the society as well as giving them a voice to air their grievances and concerns in the society.
The move, according to Mr Muchunguzi promotes self-esteem and self-worth, in the society.
“By giving children a voice through choice, opinion, feelings and emotions children can develop and learn that they are important and valued,” said Mr Muchunguzi at the event which involved dialogue involving school children, parents, communities around the school, school committee members, local government leaders, community development officers and education officers.
The Save the Children official said the child protection desks will enable victims to report any incident of violence and get all the services in one place.
“This will bring motivation and help reduce the cases in the region,” he added.
In 2002, the Junior Council of the United Republic of Tanzania was created at the national level and the government committed to extend the Council throughout the country.
However, following a slow implementation by the government, Save the Children created children’s organisations (children’s councils) in several districts in Mainland Tanzania and Zanzibar.
A Social Welfare Officer from the Local Government Authority, Linus Kahendaguza challenged media practitioners to use their tools of trade in exposing the ills bedeviling children in the society.
He asked the members of the Fourth Estate to be objective when covering children related topics.
“You should strive not to further stigmatize any child; avoid categorizations or descriptions that expose a child to negative reprisals,” he urged.
Victor Pascal Ntatau, a young child who recently represented Tanzania at a global conference in Denmark appealed to fellow children not to give in to temptations from strangers that will land them in trouble.
The CSO Week is the largest gathering of civil society organizations in Tanzania.
It offers an opportunity to engage with multi-sectoral actors for purposes of enhancing partnerships in the interest of steering the national development agenda forward.
