Girl-Child’s Rights Protection: WACSOF Advocacy Women Empowerment

Joel Ajayi

At the weekend, members of the West African Civil Society Forum WACSOF came together in Nigeria’s Capital Territory, Abuja to embark on advocacy on the application of child’s right protection policy that will equip every girl child within the member states which they said would drive the socio-economic development of the region.

15 countries with over 35 participants in the region gathered to create more awareness and regional capacity building on Girl’s rights protection advocacy.

The General Secretary of WACSOF, Komlan Messie while speaking on Saturday at 2-day event said that only way to protect the girl child rights is through proper education and empowerment.

He identified the right of survival, the right of development, right of protection and right of participation as the pillar of every girl child as a tool to safeguard against all forms of abuse neglect and exploitation.

“Recently, ECOWAS adopt child policy and it is important to understand that that policy has four pillars which right of survival, the right of development, right of protection and right of participation, those are the four pillar and we are going to talk about and see how we can better the situation in our region to have peaceful countries and well developed regions.

“In every single ECOWAS countries, at a different level, they have child policy at a different level of development but this ECOWAS child the right policy is to harmonize the view of what child rights protection should be in our region.

‘So, in our different countries, there are many forces, the traditional, stakeholders, religious leaders, civil society among others but what civil society is doing is to have a strategy and advocacy t0 all member states to ensure that that policy, those laws are applied.

“WACSOF as a whole has a role of education to ensure that all those laws are well implemented and disseminated in our region, diligently in our country,  in order to make citizens aware of their right and hold the government accountable for the application of those policies so, that citizen can be well equipped.

On his own, the Acting chairman of WACSOF Sierra Leone, Mr Willian Sao-Lamin commended the initiatives: “I think it’s very timely, most especially for my country, Sierra Leone where there is so much abuse rape is an increase gender-based violence is on the increase

“And the government of Sierra Leone is very determined to ensure that the miserable gender-based violence is kicked away from Sierra Leone, he just pronounced a state of emergency on gender-based violence and protection of girl child right in the country and parliament is also trying to pass that bill into law. So, the political will is there and civil is not relenting.

“You can imagine a 50 years old man just rape 6 months old girl, it so terrible and this is happening on a daily basis. We are going to fight it.

Speaking on the important of WACSOF to fight the battle in ECOWAS: he said that civil society remains the biggest organization in the sub-region and whatever that are doing will no doubt have a positive impact on every member states.” He said

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