Plan International urges robust child protection system in West Africa

Plan International, a child right organisation has called on West African countries to put in place robust child protection systems to save children from abuses.

The sub-region over the years had experienced many cases of child abuses, which had been handled in an ad hoc, sporadic and uncoordinated manner, due to lack of national child protection systems.

According to statistics, about 150 million girls and 73 million boys, under 18 worldwide, had experienced forced sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual violence involving physical contact.

This was contained in a statement copied to the Ghana News Agency on Wednesday in Accra.

Mrs Stefanie Conrad, Regional Deputy Director of Plan West Africa said in many occasion, the process of handling cases of abuse was itself abusive and re-traumatizes children and their families.

She said in some cases the current legislative systems were so defective that it only favoured perpetrators rather than the victims.

She said there was the need to work together, to build and strengthen child protection systems at different levels, in different contexts, adding that, the education system needed to be part and parcel of an effective protection system.

“Schools have a responsibility to ensure that children are protected from physical and sexual abuse while pursuing their education; but they also have a responsibility to ensure that students learn how to act in a non-violent and cooperative manner,” she continued.

According to her, many children in the region continue to be victims of physical, sexual and emotional abuse leading to deep psychological scars, irreversible damage to the health of women and girls in particular, which include their reproductive and sexual health and even death.

In a recent survey conducted by Plan International in Ghana and Sierra Leone, about 14% of students surveyed had experienced sexual abuse, and two thirds of the girls interviewed in a national survey in Sierra Leone reported that they had experienced at least one or more forms of sexual violence with 30% of rape incidents school-related.

In Niger, a UNICEF study revealed that 47.7% of students have observed teachers expressing feelings of love for a fellow student.

Mr Paul Fagnon, Plan West Africa’s Child Protection Specialist said, Plan International had helped to put in place new laws and policies to protect 485 million children globally from corporal punishment, sexual violence and bullying through its Learn Without Fear campaign.

“More than 1.1 million children have been directly involved in the campaign so far and the progress is very encouraging; but school violence in particular is still a huge issue especially in sub-Saharan Africa, preventing many children from attending and completing their schooling,” he said.**