Seychelles celebrates 30 years of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child |20 November 2019

Yesterday Seychelles joined the rest of the world in celebrating thirty years of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC).

Seychelles was among the first countries to ratify this convention in 1990 so that children could be protected as well as benefit from free education, healthcare and more.

To commemorate this milestone, the National Council for Children in collaboration with other partners have organised a grand exhibition at the National Museum of History. The exhibition will remain open until Friday this week.

The launch of the exhibition took place yesterday in the presence of President Danny Faure; the chairperson of the National Council for Children, Ambassador Dr Erna Athanasius; the Minister for Family Affairs, Mitcy Larue; the Minister for Education and Human Resource Development, Jeanne Simeon; other guests and students.

In her opening address Dr Athanasius thanked the Ministry of Family Affairs, the Ministry of Health, the Institute of Early Childhood Development and the NCC for coming together to commemorate the universal children day this year.

“The exhibition will give us a chance to strengthen public awareness on the rights of the child and hopefully, to foster professional exchange which can be translated into dialogue and action, that can help build a better Seychelles for our children,” said the ambassador.

The ambassador noted that the convention has inspired changes in all corners of the world and enjoyed a significant role including here in Seychelles. Millions of children’s lives have improved through the progressive realisation of their rights while the government fulfilled obligations enshrined within the convention and its optional protocol.

She added that the Seychelles government has worked tirelessly to champion children’s rights to education, heath, a home and safe environment for growth, to non-distraction and identity, protection from violence and exploitation, from harmful work sexual abuse and from trafficking among many other rights.

After officially opening the exhibition, a memorandum of understanding between the NCC, the National Council for the Disabled and the Ministry of Education and Human Resource Development was signed so that in three years’ time, trainings and awareness on the two conventions – that being the UNCRC and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) – be made available for all personnel in educational institutions in Seychelles. The MoU was signed by Minister Larue, Dr Athanasius and the chairperson of the National Council for the Disabled, Celine Fanchette.

Christophe Zialor