12th September, 2017
The Kebbi House of Assembly has been urged to ensure speedy passage of the Child Rights Bill to help curb the menace of street begging.
The Permanent Secretary of Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development, Hajiya Halima Dikko, made the call in an interview with News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Birnin Kebbi.
Dikko said the Ministry was waiting for the House to pass the bill for the governor to eventually assent to it.
She explained that the state government was confident that implementation of the law would help keep children off the streets.
“With the passage of the bill, we can then enforce rights of children and stop them from streets begging,’’ she said.
According to her, children have the right to health, education, family life, play and recreation, as well as the right to be protected from abuse and harm.
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The permanent secretary said children were often exposed to all kinds of danger on the streets when they were made to source for income for their families through hawking and begging.
NAN recalls that the United Nations General Assembly had on Nov. 20, 1989, adopted the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC).
The Organisation of African Union (OAU) Assembly of Heads of States and Governments, followed suit by adopting the African Union (AU) Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (CRCW) in July 1990.
Nigeria signed both International Instruments and ratified them in 1991 and 2000 respectively.
Both international instruments contain universal set of standards and principles for survival, development, protection and participation of children as human beings and as subjects of their own rights.
The Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) outlines the human rights to be respected and protected for every child under the age of 18 years and requires that these rights are implemented.