Rwanda : Children to elect their own representatives
Children around the country are set to elect their own representatives as a way of giving them an active participation role in the development programmes of the country.
The development was announced by the Nation Commission for Children (NCC) which has also been meeting vice-mayors in charge of social affairs from all the districts as well as those in charge of governance at province level.
The commission is currently discussing issues regarding the election of the children’s representatives at the local level, scheduled to take place from August 18-21.
According to the NCC Executive Secretary Zaina Nyiramatama, the elected committees will be mandated to advocate for the most vulnerable children.
“We know that our children have many constructive ideas only that they were not given enough space and time to speak out,” she said.
She intimated that advocacy will be empahsised to fighting against child labor.
Nyiramatama called upon local leaders to make sure that children are represented by their committees in public events and meetings at all local levels once the committees are in place.
The advisor to the Minister of Gender Promotion and Family Planning Emmanuel Nzamwita says that “the children committees will help strengthen the idea of ‘building the leaders of tomorrow”.
He stated that from the committee, having a child who would represent his fellows in national and international summits won’t be an issue any more.
“In the past we have had children attending the summit without knowing their fellows’ problems because they were fake representatives. But this time we’ll have real representatives bringing the real problems from kids in the village.”
In each committee to be elected, gender equality has to be respected and disabled represented. It will be made up by children aged between 6 and 18 year old, serving a 3-year mandate.
