Senegal on thrives in child, women and disabled rights

Senegal's Coumba Gaye

Senegal’s Deputy Minister in charge of Human Rights Madam Coumba Gaye has said her country has made major developments in the promotion and protection of the rights of children, women and the disabled.

Gaye, Senegal’s State Delegate to the recently concluded 49^th Ordinary Session of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights in Banjul, The Gambia was speaking on May 12, 2011.

She pointed out that the strengthening of the institutional mechanism on childhood protection followed the creation of a national unit to combat child trafficking through an October 8, 2010 order from the Prime Minister of Senegal.

“The dynamism which has already been set in motion with regard to women’s full and total participation in the construction of a developing Senegal is being pursued at several levels in the areas of micro finance, sensitization and capacity building,” she said on Thursday.

According to her, the Periodic Report of the State of Senegal on the implementation of the Africa Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights is currently being finalized.

The process includes the application of the Charter at the national level, and the major developments that have taken place regarding some thematic issue, like child protection, the promotion of the rights of Senegalese women and the condition of disabled persons.

She said: “The celebration of the 30^th Anniversary of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Right provides an opportunity to carry out an objective assessment of the implementation and the effectiveness of our regional system of human right protection within which the African Commission plays an important role.”

Madam Gaye believes that this means pursuing and brainstorming on the ways and means of making Africa a space of democracy, of freedom and of respect for the rights sanctioned by the African Charter.

She noted this is highly relevant in the current context marked by a high social demand and the peaceful protest of the population aspiring for the effective enjoyment of their right to development, a right which originated from Africa.

However, she argued that undoubtedly, the challenges are legion and the road to be covered to attain an optimal level of realization of all the right set out in the Charter is quite long.

For this reason, she stressed that there is a need to combine the efforts of all stakeholders for the realization of the noble cause of peoples’ rights to which all Governments, human rights defenders and other non-state actors are beholden.

Madam Gaye concluded by commending human right activists, whom she said contributed indefatigably to strengthening the promotion and protection of human rights in Africa. Source – The Voice