CHILDHOOD

As evidenced by the comments of management rights, the protection of children and vulnerable groups (Ddpegv) under the Ministry of Women, Children and Women's Entrepreneurship, many improvements to be made to the situation of children in Senegal. Notably through a practical implementation of the legislation on children's rights in Senegal.

With this in mind, it is for the nominees to public and development partners to work to address the social phenomena that are begging, the worst forms of child labor, wandering and sexual violence against children. But also to offer a viable and able to allow families to ensure proper care of their needs economic fabric. "Despite the recent revitalization of the fight against child abuse by some NGOs, the national strategy for child protection against abuse is still suffering from several ailments, including lack of a communication strategy for integrating the different cultural dimensions, with systemic and designed a sustained behavior change approach.

Until now, efforts to change attitudes and behaviors vis-à-vis this phenomenon are often limited to sporadic interventions of greater or lesser importance but most often conducted under event form with limited impacts. The results were not sufficient and not always in line with expectations desired to reduce the magnitude of the problem and ensure a significant reduction with sustainable prevention, "said the head of the Protection of the Rights of the Child. Not without listing a number of levers to ensure education for all, stop begging and violence (sexual or otherwise) against children and ensure their inclusion in a civil state files. Especially since the abuse comes in the form of physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional abuse and neglect

Access to education

Senegal, who affirmed his commitment to ensuring education for all in accordance with Article 8 of the Constitution, punishment so far in expanding access to education throughout the national territory. This translates in practice by a literacy rate of 49.7% observed in 2011 by the United Nations Program for Development (UNDP) which ranks 170th in Senegal up on a list of 182 countries. Beyond infrastructural issue, ensure access to school education to all strata of society, primarily through building the capacity of vulnerable families, so as to enable them to place and keep their children in the circuit school. For, as is required in reality, many children put their labor for the benefit of their families, attend to the needs of it, often to the detriment of their studies. In another development, socio-cultural, a good part of the Senegalese population is attached to the traditional Koranic education model. This raises the thorny issue of regulation and modernization daara which in many cases do not always provide an adequate framework for the schooling and education of children.

Regulation and modernization daara

In Senegal, Law No. 2004-37 of 15 December 2004 amending and supplementing Law No. 91-22 of 16 February 1991 made religious education compulsory education and sets a ten year period (06-16 years) in basic education. However, since the enactment of this Act, the accompanying measures in the direction of improving the quality of educational opportunities provided by Koranic schools are lacking. While in parallel, the letter of the Ministry of National Education Sector Policy - covering the period 2012 - 2025, yet calls for "further modernization program daara through infrastructure, equipment, for programs education, training of teachers and the nutritional and health protection of children talibé. "

Recently, the framework for the regulation of written daaras in Dakar in December 2010 agreement compels those who manage to be filed with the competent administrative authority a request for authorization to open accompanied by an introductory note, specifying the educational purpose and usefulness in the context of the interests of the country. Besides the letters of the opening statement to local authorities, a note setting out the conditions of recruitment of students specifying the expected number and the system of studies (boarding - day school - half board) for e staff expected, note listing the programs and scheduled times; in addition to the internal regulations of the institution. Many requirements that are not met and leave open the question of the regulation of which is a corollary daaras the imperative to curb the abusive practice of begging in Senegal.

begging

Regarding the situation of children in Senegal, the most nagging question on which the administration has the information that is on begging. It relates especially to talibes from daara the street children who beg to survive, children who accompany their parents or beggars children accompanying blind and disabled and families of beggars. According to the management of rights, the protection of children and vulnerable groups, government departments in charge of this issue were also identified in 2007 a ​​total of 7,800 child beggars in the Dakar region. This is due, among other things, the resignation of parents who prefer to entrust their children to Koranic teachers rather than taking care of themselves.

Some Koranic teachers also do not have the means to take care of these children there send them to beg. Furthermore, this is explained by the mode of organization and operation Daaras. Because right now, anyone can afford to open a daara without being checked. "As long as this aspect is not regulated, there will always daara that do not provide an adequate framework for the schooling and education of children. These combined problems are that the issue of child begging will still continue, "says a technician from the direction of protecting the rights of the child.

Child labor

In Senegal, a child is generally considered a person under the age of 18 by law. This same legislation sets the minimum legal working age at 15 years old with, however, a waiver may be granted by the competent authority, for children 12 years of age, provided that "work performed in the home "be mild type and" do not affect the health, morals and normal development of the education of the child. "Also performing hazardous work is regulated, the law does not accept that children under 18 are involved in hazardous work unless an exemption granted by the competent authority (the Minister of Labour in the case). Despite these regulations, children of all ages, operating in Senegal, much of which can be considered harmful, in that it can affect one way or another their physical or intellectual . "Child labor, a phenomenon that takes many different forms, is still poorly controlled. The factors that are responsible for this are many and multiple; Poverty appears to be a major cause. Despite efforts by the State of Senegal and its partners in development for poverty reduction, more than half the population lives below the poverty line. Thus, there is a preponderance of child labor, they are encouraged to engage in various activities to support themselves or help their parents.

This has a significant impact on the fundamental rights of children to know, education, training, health, and their psycho, moral and physical. However, it should be noted that child labor is a form of socialization. The authorities did not remain indifferent to this situation, they have ratified the main international conventions and set up a legal arsenal to protect children "as evidenced by the National Survey of Child Labour (Entes) being conducted in 2005, following a partnership between the National Agency of Statistics and Demography (ANSD), the Ministry of Labour, Public Service and patron organizations, the International Labour Office (ILO / Geneva) and the International Programme on the abolition of child labor. Today the current trend is that many children are involved in the process of care for the family's needs. From a technical point of view we can blame that. But socially, culturally or morally it is very hard to blame him because the state did not create the conditions to enable all families to be able to do without the labor of their children.

Exploitation and violence and sexual abuse, early marriages, female circumcision

The issue of rape and sexual abuse that children face are legion, and are regularly reported in the Senegalese media. Despite the lack of official statistics on this issue, strong evidence suggests that children who are victims abound. Especially that besides ca relayed in the press, there are cases that are paradoxically ignored and go unreported. So that you are far from knowing the exact number of child victims of rape and sexual abuse in Senegal. Annexed to this issue, cases of early marriage are also noted here and there, but technicians familiar with this issue point to the absence of repressive measures to address them. "We realize that there are girls that are given in marriage at the age of 14 years 13. It is children, and there are also state does nothing to punish as long as there is no denunciations from such organizations that advocate for the rights of women and organizations working in the field schooling ... Often these cases are not known but the families have all the time in child marriages celebrated without considering that it is at odds with what people say and the laws and the Convention on the Rights of the child ", as evidenced Massamba Diouf, a sociologist affiliated with the management of rights, the protection of children and vulnerable groups.

In addition, the practice of female circumcision, if fewer recurrent remains in some areas of the country that are attached to it for sociocultural reasons. Approaches to advocacy efforts to address them are not necessarily a favorable response from community groups committed to this "tradition." The report prepared in 2008 for the contribution of Senegal to the Rio meeting indicated that the phenomenon of violence and sexual exploitation of children in Senegal are manifest at any age and include cases of rape (Minor raped by their father foster (jitle baayu), minor (s) violated (s) by other minors (street children, in families, marginal, classmates etc.) and cases of minors abused by adults in marginal zones (Islamic schools), families (maids) or in their living places (schools, markets). commercial forms are in the form of child prostitution as soliciting adults in tourist areas (beaches , hotels, night club) sometimes with the involvement of pimps and touts and sometimes with the complicity of families.

psychological abuse

At the department in charge of protecting the rights of the child, many terms are used to characterize the psychological abuse. It can include verbal abuse, emotional abuse, emotional abuse, psychological abuse, violence invisible. Such abuse more difficult to identify than physical beatings and violence, however, can have a serious impact on the psychological and emotional development of the child. Moreover, "negligence may relate to the lack of products or services that meet the basic needs of the child and that seriously affect their physical and psychological development or security. This deficiency may be adequate food, medical care and unmet health. In Senegal little is known about the actual extent but neglect against children entrusted to marabouts (talibes), small maids and children deprived of parental care regularly reports "adds the department in charge of protecting the rights of child.

legislative framework

Signatory to a number of international treaties and conventions relating to the rights of children, Senegal only implement a full implementation of the texts in child protection matters. On Monday, June 2, on the sidelines of an information day on the harmful social and cultural practices affecting children held at the UNESCO headquarters in Dakar, Ms. Diakhaté, Judge of the Economic and Monetary Union of West Africa (UEMOA ) and former prosecutor lambasted the fact that Senegal, in the present state of things, does not fully apply international conventions on the protection of children's rights. Especially as regards the repression of many cases of violations of children's rights relating to, among other things, to corporal punishment, child begging, early marriage or child labor.