As a first step in commencing effective work and to better understand the situation of children from different perspectives, a cross section of staff from the National Commission for Children led by Commissioner Mrs. Olayinka Laggah accompanied by the Advocacy and Communications Coordinator, Mrs. Addie Valcarcel and Monitoring and Evaluation Officer, Mr. A. B Foray-Musa undertook a one week familiarization tour of the regional headquarter towns of Makeni, Bo and Kenema from the 3^rd to the 9^th of May 2015.

The main aim of the tour was for the commission to identify and acquaint with key stakeholders working with and for children in the target areas; to popularize the establishment, functions, operational plan and goals of the Commission and to engage different stakeholders in order to have an insight into the situation of children, for the purpose of effective planning and prioritization of interventions. The tour was also geared towards other opportunities such as identifying office spaces for the possible expansion of the NCC to the regions.

The team was in Makeni from the 3^rd to 4^th May 2015 and there enjoyed the fullest support and cooperation of staff of the Ministry of Social Welfare Gender and Children’s Affairs (MSWGCA) headed by the Assistant Director, North Mrs. Josephine P. Saccoh and the Senior Social Services officer Mrs. Susan Conteh. During these two days the team paid a courtesy call to the mayor of Makeni City council and also visited various organizations and/ institutions dealing with children including the Bombali School for the Blind at Panlap, St. Joseph’s School for Hearing Impaired and the Polio Persons Development Association (POPDA) in Makeni. These visits were climaxed by a Child Protection Coordination meeting with all child focused partners in Makeni held at the MSWGCA office.

In a bid to ensure that information was sought from diverse sources, questionnaires were developed and circulated among child focused agencies in all the three headquarter towns visited. The questionnaires sought information on the prevalence of child rights issues and how these issues should be prioritized including their levels of coordination.

The team arrived in Bo district on Wednesday 6^th May stayed till the 7^th May and had a similar agenda for the visit.

Throughout the exercise in Bo, the Commission was fully supported by the Assistant Director MSWGCA south Mr. Bangura and staff. People and institutions visited included the Bo Magistrate Court, the Ministry of Education Science and Technology, the District Medical Officer, Mayor of the Bo City Council, District Council Chairman and the Sir Milton Margai Cheshire Home. Similarly, the visit was climaxed by a Child Protection Coordination Meeting

The team then departed Bo for Kenema district on the 7^th to the 9^th May 2015.

Throughout the exercise in Kenema, the Commission was fully supported by the Assistant Director MSWGCA Eastern Region Mrs. Alice Jeneba Koroma and team. Persons visited included the District Medical Officer, the District Council Chairman, the Deputy Director of Education and the Mayor of the Kenema City Council.

This was also climaxed by a Child Protection Coordination Meeting at the MSWGCA office on 8^th May, 2015.

 

The graph below, illustrates the magnitude of child rights concerns in each of the target provincial Headquarter Districts. It compares and contrasts the child rights issues between the districts.

The situation of child street trading is not peculiar to Bombali District. The graph shows that street trading is equally a concern in Kenema and Bo -12 & 8 respectively; though not given the highest priority.

In a nutshell, there were key issues raised in all three districts visited by the NCC as summarized below:

• Child labour is prevalent in all three districts and it is said to be fuelled by the trafficking of children from the interior villages. These children are mostly used by care givers or guardians to fend for the homes. This has led to an increase in the number of children selling, begging and living permanently on the streets and children in conflict with the law.
• There is the lack of mechanisms and systems in Communities to protect children.
• There appears to be a total breakdown in responsible parenting which is affecting the health, education and development of children.
• There is also the serious problem of teenage pregnancy which has led to an increase in child marriage.

• Child justice matters in court are either delayed, compromised or swept under the carpet.
• There are no remand homes in Kenema and Makeni.
• Majority of disabled children suffer neglect, marginalization and disaffection from their parents and families and are abandoned or dumped in care homes.

• All the disabled schools or homes visited need more help and support as government subvention is small and irregular.       Children cannot cope for too long in formal schools due to the lack of specialized provision in schools. They also have problems accessing basic amenities.
• There is the lack of teachers trained in special needs in all the disabled and formal schools and they are also faced with serious unemployment problems.
• People with disability have too many children that they find difficult to provide for as most of them are unemployed. As a result most of the parents use their children to accompany them beg on the streets or send the children to beg, thus depriving them from attending school
• Late referrals of children to hospitals is a serious cause for concern as it leads to many preventable deaths. This many people attribute to poverty.
• The issue of the registration of births and deaths of children (particularly with the registration of births) is also a problem. A lot of children in the country do not have birth certificates.
• Child participation is very minimal in all three districts visited.