Strategic Capacity -building Workshop for State Child Council Secretaries Convenes
Port Sudan/The Citizen
Minister of State at the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Welfare, Sulima Ishaq, revealed the great challenge and reality created by the war: the loss of protection mechanisms for children and their acquisition of problems related to violence. She pointed out that children in conflict zones are forced into this reality, especially in El Fasher in North Darfur, where the situation is also horrific in Bara.
She stated that even newborn babies have not survived the abuses and genocide, emphasizing that the militia did not join or participate in political decision-making.
In the opening session of the Strategic Capacity -building Workshop for State Child Council Secretaries held in Port Sudan, Sulima said that the number of children who have been exposed to disabilities and all kinds of violence is large and staggering.
Ishaq noted that the issue of childhood is a trust on your shoulders with partners, demanding a solution to the problems of sexual exploitation and those who lack support, appealing to the Council that there should be no children without a role, affiliation or outside the framework of the families until they fall into the circle of gangs and militias.
She stressed the strengthening of social sponsorship for foster families, and pointed to education in safe spaces and placing them in a safe and healthy environment, noting that families need support because they have gone through the conditions of war, demanding the imposition of family control and parental care.
Secretary-General of the National Council for Child Welfare (NCCW), Dr. Abdul Qadir Abdullah, said that the first concern of the Council is to strengthen coordination and integration with partners to work for the protection, care, and sustainability of development services for children, especially those who are under arms in conflict zones. He pointed out that there are four million children suffering from complex humanitarian situations.
He emphasized that the Ministry of Social Welfare is working to strengthen the file to serve the child wherever he is, stressing that there are no children in the streets, but rather everyone is in school. Those who go to the hospital find full health care and treatment. He also mentioned that the Child Development Fund is a developmental goal that focuses on social care to strengthen children.
The representative of the Social Development Sector, Mohamed Farag, confirmed that the workshop represents a bright picture for Sudan, where a large number of secretaries of the children’s councils in the states participated, stressing that this represents the recovery of the country and the great interest in the issue of childhood, stressing the importance of training, thanking organizations and United Nations agencies in protecting and caring for the displaced people from Darfur states, wishing Sudan security, safety and stability.
Save the Children pointed out that the workshop comes within the framework of strengthening the partnership with the National Council for Child Welfare, which is an old extended partnership between them and a memorandum of understanding between them, pointing out that the workshop is followed by several activities, and said that the Council’s renaissance is a renaissance for the protection of children in Sudan, stressing the continuation of partnership and cooperation with humanitarian partners.
Najda Mohamed Nour, Secretary of the Child Welfare Council in the Red Sea State, expressed her happiness with the establishment of a workshop to develop the capacities of the Trustees of the Children’s Councils in the Red Sea State. She praised the government’s commitment to developing laws, paying attention to policies, and putting them on the right path.
She pointed to the solidarity of organizations and civil society and their continuous support for the protection of children and the provision of a safe environment. She stressed that the approval of the Child Law in the Red Sea State is a great achievement, noting that the purpose of the workshop is to discuss childhood issues and build strategies.