Junior Councillors from Beitbridge town trained on Child Rights

 Save the Children recently facilitated a refresher-training workshop on child rights for 16 Beitbridge Junior Council members, who included 13 girls and 3 boys at the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Beitbridge last week.

The workshop aimed to educate young people on their rights and responsibilities so that they can advocate for child rights issues in their communities and schools and be effective voices of the voiceless.

 Ashley Nezhou, Vice Chairperson of the Beitbridge Junior Council said that with the knowledge she gained from the workshop she will be able to play a role in addressing challenges faced by children in her community.

“I am going to raise awareness on the importance of education and to tell everyone that they have a right to education. We all have to go to school and work hard as education is the only powerful weapon we can use to change the world.” 

Another participant Bruce who is also the Child MP for Beitbridge East said with the newly acquired knowledge, he will help other children to be responsible and educate them on their rights.

“I have learnt to be confident enough when addressing the public and I have also learnt that I can be the voice of the voiceless.

“As you know in the society there are other children who may fail to address their problems to the elders so since I have gained this knowledge ,I can assist by  taking  them to places of influence where I know they can get help.’’

 The Junior Councillors were also trained on Child Participation and Governance and how they can be good leaders and communicators as they will play a pivotal role in setting a good example, representing and educating their fellow age mates on child rights.

The workshop also gave the participants a clear appreciation on the role of children in investing in children’s work and how children can use social media effectively in advocating for child related issues.

The participants also carried out group tasks where they discussed how children could engage meaningfully with duty bearers and they discussed child rights concerns they came across and how they dealt with these issues.

The Junior Council Refresher training ended on Friday last week and Save the Children worked together with the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education, Ministry of Youth and Beitbridge Rural District Council to train the young people.