Abuse of children must stop

AFRUCA joins the World to mark 19 November 2001 as World Day for the Prevention of Child Abuse.

AFRUCA - Africans Unite Against Child Abuse has joined a worldwide coalition of 130 organisations in 56 countries to launch 19 November as the World Day for the Prevention of Child Abuse Co-ordinated by the Women's World Summit Foundation, an international NGO based in Geneva, the World Day will focus on awareness raising of preventive measures to protect children from sexual abuse.

The aim is to provide children and families with the skills and resources they need to prevent sexual abuse, cope with effects and hopefully end such practicesThe need for this World Day has been brought about by the high increase in the incidences of child sexual abuse around us. This includes sexual exploitation of children such as prostitution, pornography and abduction.

The day is even more significant as it takes place on the eve of the Children's Rights Day on 20 November. This is the anniversary of the day the Convention on the Rights of the Child was adopted by the United Nations on 20 November 1989. To commemorate the World Day for Prevention of Child Abuse, a number of various activities are being planned all over the globe.

AFRUCA will join the world to mark the day with a series of publicity activities. These include the wide dissemination of the publication "Protecting Children from Abuse" by Dr Sherryll Kraizer - an internationally recognised expert on child abuse prevention. This publication will further educate on how children can act effectively when they are in a potentially abusive situation. We will also be conducting an e-mail campaign on the importance of the day to African children who on the whole suffer gross abuse of their rights, especially sexually.A large proportion of our children suffer the effects of HIV and AIDS caused by sex abuse and exploitation.

Over 3 million African children have so far died of the pandemic. We will use this World Day as an opportunity to gather people's views on the role of government and civil society organisations in promoting children's rights and also in helping to protecting children from sexual abuseThe above activities will be supported by an extensive media campaign with newspaper articles and media interviews. All our activities relating to the Day will be given wide coverage on our website. Click here to read the publication "Protecting Children from Abuse".

Note to Editors

AFRUCA - Africans Unite Against Child Abuse is a organisation concerned about cruelty against the African child. Our aim is to promote the welfare of African children worldwide.

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