{"id":5363,"date":"2021-10-28T13:55:35","date_gmt":"2021-10-28T13:55:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/uncategorized\/unicef-asks-politicians-to-stop-mobilising-children-for-rallies"},"modified":"2021-10-28T13:58:17","modified_gmt":"2021-10-28T13:58:17","slug":"unicef-asks-politicians-to-stop-mobilising-children-for-rallies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/unicef-asks-politicians-to-stop-mobilising-children-for-rallies","title":{"rendered":"Unicef asks politicians to stop mobilising children for rallies"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Gambia. <\/strong><\/span>Unicef asks politicians to stop mobilising children for rallies By Omar Bah<\/p>\n

The United Nations Childrens Fund has called on Gambia\u2019s political party leaders to avoid mobilising children for rallies in the upcoming presidential election.<\/p>\n

The Unicef country representative, Gordon Jonathan Lewis made these comments while delivering a statement on \u2018protecting the integrity of children during political rallies and gatherings\u2019 at the Inter-Party Committee\u2019s quarterly breakfast at the Sir Dawda Conference Center on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

The high-level meeting funded by UNOWAS, RCO, UNDP, OHCHR, NDI and GPU was attended by representatives from political parties, civil society, regional and international organisations.<\/p>\n

The Unicef Gambia boss continued: \u201cUnicef Gambia strongly urges the Inter-Party Committee to consider to the extent possible, children, due to their vulnerability and special condition, should not form part of political rallies and manifestations in order to safeguard their integrity, safety, security and wellbeing, especially if there is a risk that they may not be peaceful.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said political parties should refrain from encouraging children in highly vulnerable situations especially \u201cchildren living in street situations, out of school children, and children with disabilities, among others to join political rallies and gatherings\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Convention on the Rights of the Child expressly prohibits children being manipulated or coerced against their own will,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The Unicef boss further lamented that political rallies and gatherings in The Gambia have increased in recent weeks as part of the democratic space related to the upcoming presidential election in December 2021.<\/p>\n

\u201cNumerous eyewitness reports, media coverage and independent photographs have illustrated that children are being mobilized as part of the cadre of party loyalists and supporters during political rallies.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said whilst to date these rallies and gatherings have been generally safe and peaceful, the presence of children may be problematic due to their special condition and particular status which could make them more vulnerable and place their integrity at risk in the event that these rallies and manifestations may turn unsafe or violent.<\/p>\n

\u201cTherefore, all measures need to be taken to avoid the presence of children in these events and ensure that whenever children are present their best interests are safeguarded and their safety, security and wellbeing are completely guaranteed and held paramount,\u201d Gordon said.<\/p>\n

The presence of children in political rallies and gatherings, he added, \u201ccould expose them to language and behaviors by adults that could be offensive to children\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the event that violence should erupt, children are particularly prone to accidents, which could also be the case with speeding motorcades as well as inadequate implementation of safety measures in vehicles such as non-use of seatbelts and overcrowding,\u201d he said. He said children are also more vulnerable to co-option and manipulation by adults under different pretenses.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor example, children in street situations or children from poor backgrounds may be promised incentives (monetary and non-monetary) in order to boost numbers in rallies and gatherings. Because of their age and limited maturity, children may end up being vulnerable to exploitation and unaware of the implications of joining such events,\u201d he noted.<\/p>\n

Taking part in political rallies and gatherings, he stressed, presents other risks for children, including considerable ones such as being victims of reprisals from the State, opposition parties or from the community or their own families, and\/or being unlawfully arrested, detained, ill-treated, tortured or killed (as has occurred in other countries).<\/p>\n

\u201cWhenever children are present in political rallies and gatherings, it is incumbent on the political party, in collaboration with the relevant national authorities, to ensure that all measures are in place, tested and deemed efficient to guarantee the safety and security of children,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Gambia<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Gambia. Unicef asks politicians to stop mobilising children for rallies By Omar Bah The United Nations Childrens Fund has called on Gambia\u2019s political party leaders to avoid mobilising children for rallies in the upcoming presidential election. The Unicef country representative, Gordon Jonathan Lewis made these comments while delivering a statement on \u2018protecting the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":5362,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,7,8,12],"tags":[2355,2361,260,2439,2440],"class_list":["post-5363","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-head-lines","category-homepage-english","category-policy","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-gambia","tag-gambia","tag-mobilising-children-for-rallies","tag-unicef"],"yoast_head":"\nUnicef asks politicians to stop mobilising children for rallies - Gambia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Unicef asks politicians to stop mobilising children for rallies By Omar Bah The United Nations Childrens Fund has calle ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/unicef-asks-politicians-to-stop-mobilising-children-for-rallies\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Unicef asks politicians to stop mobilising children for rallies\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Unicef asks politicians to stop mobilising children for rallies By Omar Bah The United Nations Childrens Fund has calle ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/unicef-asks-politicians-to-stop-mobilising-children-for-rallies\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Gambia\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-10-28T13:55:35+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-10-28T13:58:17+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/gambia\/sites\/19\/2021\/10\/img-617aac462802c.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"405\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/unicef-asks-politicians-to-stop-mobilising-children-for-rallies#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/unicef-asks-politicians-to-stop-mobilising-children-for-rallies\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Unicef asks politicians to stop mobilising children for rallies\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-10-28T13:55:35+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-10-28T13:58:17+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/unicef-asks-politicians-to-stop-mobilising-children-for-rallies\"},\"wordCount\":625,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/unicef-asks-politicians-to-stop-mobilising-children-for-rallies#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/gambia\/sites\/19\/2021\/10\/img-617aac462802c.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Gambia\",\"Gambia\",\"mobilising children for rallies\",\"Unicef\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"head lines\",\"homepage-english\",\"policy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/unicef-asks-politicians-to-stop-mobilising-children-for-rallies#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/unicef-asks-politicians-to-stop-mobilising-children-for-rallies\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/unicef-asks-politicians-to-stop-mobilising-children-for-rallies\",\"name\":\"Unicef asks politicians to stop mobilising children for rallies - 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