A two-day child protection conference kicked off in Northern Bahr el Ghazal State’s Aweil town on Thursday to address violations and abuses against children such as forced and early marriages and sexual exploitation.
The state has lately witnessed several sexual exploitation cases against small children including boys in Aweil West County, Aweil North County, and Aweil South County among others.
The State Minister of Gender, Child and Social Welfare, Monica Nyibol Aleu, told Radio Tamazuj that the state government and partners are working hard to protect the children.
“We are attending a critical conference about child protection in Northern Bahr el Ghazal State and we are concerned about how to protect our children because they are the future,” she said.
On his part, the state’s Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports, Bol Akuar Gamar, said children have the right to play and participate in sports and embrace good cultural practices apart from their own.
“Children have the right to participate in games and we must provide possible assistance and capacities so that a child can invent his or her hobbies in the field of sports,” he stated. “We also encourage the children to acquaint themselves with the culture and legacy of their land and borrow good values from other cultures.”
Meanwhile, a lawyer based in Aweil, Barnaba Aguer Deng, criticized customary and traditional laws for affecting girl child’s rights and protection. He condemned the continuous early and forced marriages practiced by the local communities.
“Customary law allows small girls to be married off at the age of 12 and yet the constitution says a child is not supposed to get married when they are underage and they have to complete school and became independent in everything they are doing,” he charged.
The conference is being attended by over 50 people drawn from government officials, traditional leaders, armed forces, members of civil society organizations, and women and youth leaders at the Railway Hotel in Aweil town and is funded by the United Nations Mission in the Republic of South Sudan (UNMISS).