Africa-Press – Seychelles. Seychelles has validated the third draft of the 7th progress report on the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the child, which is due by October 6 this year.
The 54-page document was presented to representatives of various government agencies and civil society organisations involved in the implementation and promotion of children’s rights at a half-day workshop yesterday at the STC conference room.
Seychelles is a signatory to the Convention on the Rights of the Child since 1990 and is therefore obligated to submit progress report periodically, that will allow the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child to monitor progress made in the implementation of the Convention.
In February 2018, the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child made a series of recommendation for Seychelles to address when submitting its 7th report, after considering the 5th and 6th combined progress report.
The 7th progress report that was validated yesterday covers the period 2018 to 2022.
When addressing the participants at the launch of the working session, the principal secretary for Social Affairs, Linda William-Melanie described it as an extremely important exercise that looks at the progress of the implementation of one of the core human rights treaties that focuses solely on children.
She reiterated the government’s will and commitment to ensure that the country continues to work tirelessly to ensure the best outcome for children, despite the challenges that may delay the process.
“Our country being a very small economy faces its own challenges to balance and prioritise the limited budget with other competing priorities to fully address the 2018 recommendations. As a collective, we expect you to critically scrutinise the report and make constructive recommendations that will address identified shortcomings to set the record straight to have a factual country report,” she said.
She added that the principles of the Convention on the Rights of the Child will remain relevant for many years to come and Seychelles therefore, through the various key ministries, has to double its efforts to ensure the best outcome for children.
“The UN Committee will give Seychelles credit where credit is due but the Committee will not stop short to criticise the government in not doing more in having all the appropriate mechanisms and services for children to achieve full compliance of the Convention,” said the principal secretary.
The seventh report contains information on important developments that have taken place in the protection and promotion of children’s rights. It also reflects the contributions of key stakeholders with regard to how the country has performed in undertaking its obligations under the Convention. It also outlines the challenges that exist in efforts to improve the situation of children throughout the country.
Consultant Marie-May Leon was the person tasked with putting the report together.
She said the Committee on the Rights of the Child, which meets in Geneva annually, has commended Seychelles in some areas, such as the leadership shown at the regional level by the State party in the field of early childhood care and education.
Seychelles was also commended for adopting and reviewing certain laws related to children, in line with the Convention requirement.
These included the Social Renaissance National Action Plan (2012–2016), the National Action Plans for Early Childhood Care and Education for the periods 2013–2014, 2015–2016 and 2017–2018.
However there were a number of challenges highlighted that still needed to be addressed. There were seventeen areas of concern.
“We need to look at legislation for example to harmonise the minimum age of marriage for boys and girls to ensure that all the principles and provisions of the Convention are fully incorporated into. Coordination is another area as we need to ensure that the human, technical and financial resources allocated for the implementation of legislation providing for children’s rights are sufficient and adequate,” explained Mrs Leon.
Seychelles also has to look at the national action plans to ensure that the new national plan of action on families 2018–2022 provides greater visibility for children’s rights in all areas covered by the Convention.
Other areas include sexual exploitation and abuse, respect for the views of the child, proper data collection, and developing measures to prevent family disintegration and to strengthen families.
Mrs Leon said that when validating the document yesterday, the participants were ensuring that the seventh report was credible and factual before it goes on to the next step, which will include further validation by the National Commission on Child Protection.
Between now and October 6, the report will also go through the process of public consultation, before the final report is submitted to Cabinet for final approval, and then transmitted to the UN Committee.
It should be noted that the last National Census conducted in 2010 put the total number of children at 28,499 (31%) out of a population of 90,945.
The Ministry of Employment and Social Affairs is the designated ministry responsible for coordinating Seychelles’ response to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child on implementation of the Convention.
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