Aswan, February 17, 2005. A number of key issues related to children's rights were on the agenda when members of the Children and Adolescents' Forum met the governor of Aswan, His Excellency, General Samir Yussef recently. The children were in the Upper Egyptian city attending a workshop focused on the role of young people in local communities organized by the NGO Coalition on Children's Rights with the support of UNICEF.
The one-hour discussion covered topics such as violence against children, child labour, and initiatives to promote children's rights in Aswan. Demonstrating the self-confidence they have gained from their experience as members of the Forum, the 44 children who met the Governor plied him with questions about the means being used to combat beating and mistreatment in Aswan schools, and about different ways of empowering girls in Upper Egypt. The relevance of child rights in Egypt within existing socio-economic conditions was also covered in the discussion, as were the main programmes being implemented in Aswan to benefit disabled children and orphans.
For his part, Governor Yussef praised initiatives such as the Forum, which he said provided children with an outlet for their creativity, and demonstrated the importance of raising a new, socially-responsible generation of young Egyptians.
Essam Ali, general secretary of the NGO Coalition on Child Rights expressed satisfaction with the outcome of the workshop. "It shows that the Forum is developing a more active and organized role at both the national and local level", he said. Mr. Ali added that the Forum would be closely involved in the regional consultation on violence against children due to be held in Cairo in June.
The Children and Adolescents' Forum was created in 1999, as a practical step towards giving Egyptian children the right to self-expression called for in the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Since its foundation, the Forum has evolved into a panel of articulate and highly-motivated children from diverse backgrounds, with a strong grasp of the techniques of self-representation. Currently, the forum has about 1,300 children from thirteen governorates.
Among various activities conducted by the NGO Coalition, the most important is to integrate a National Plan of Action into national government policies. In 2004, the Children's Forum took part in workshops and a national forum in which recommendations from the children were presented as their contribution to the National Plan of Action.
For further information, please contact:
Simon Ingram, Communication Officer.
UNICEF Egypt Country Office
singram@unicef.org
Tel: (202) 5265083-89 Ext 210/208/206
Fax: (202) 5264218