First Lady Fazna Ahmed has urged the society to encourage children to be vocal in all matters that relate to them, so that their perspectives are given greater weight.
The first lady made the remarks while speaking at the closing ceremony of a consultation programme regarding ‘Children’s Perspectives on Preventing and Responding to Violence Against Children”. The aforementioned ceremony was held via Zoom, and included presentations and stories by school children relevant to the event’s theme.
During the event, First Lady Fazna Ahmed commended the children for their excellent contributions, and emphasised the importance of continually reiterating the need to proactively protect and promote children’s rights. She further emphasised the importance of conducting activities and implementing skill-enhancing programmes for the benefit of parents and guardians. In her remarks, the first lady also alluded to key aspects of key child rights legislations ratified by President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih’s administration last year, which include the Child Right Protection Act and Juvenile Justice Act.
The first lady further directly encouraged school children to express their views and to make full use of platforms that provide them the opportunity to do so. While saying this, she also reminded children of the fact that all rights come with responsibilities.
The online consultation program was a collaboration by Advocating the Rights of Children (ARC), UNICEF, and the Ministry of Education held for students studying in 11th and 12th grade. The main purpose of the program was to gather perspectives regarding the abuse of children, and generating solutions to address this serious issue.