STORY: Somalia commemorates the Day of the African

Child
DURATION: 5:07
SOURCE: AMISOM PUBLIC INFORMATION
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LANGUAGE: ENGLISH/ SOMALI/ NATURAL SOUND
DATELINE: 16 JUNE/2019, MOGADISHU, SOMALIA

SHOT LIST

1. Wide shot, music group entertaining guests during the Day of the African
Child celebrations held in Mogadishu
2. Mid shot, music group entertaining guests during the Day of the African Child
celebrations
3. Mid shot, music group entertaining guests during the day of the African child
celebrations
4. Mid shot, Minister of Justice and Judicial Affairs of the Federal Government
of Somalia, Hassan Hussein Hajji, arriving at the venue for the celebrations
5. Mid shot, Minister of Justice and Judicial Affairs of the Federal Government
of Somalia, Hassan Hussein Hajji, listening during the function
6. Mid shot, Minister of Justice and Judicial Affairs of the Federal Government
of Somalia, Hassan Hussein Hajji, flanked by the United Nations Assistance
Mission in Somalia (UNSOM) Senior Child Protection Advisor, Michael
Ngabirano, listening during the function
7. Mid shot, Minister of Justice and Judicial Affairs of the Federal Government
of Somalia, Hassan Hussein Hajji, and the Deputy Special Representative of
the Chairperson of the African Union Commission (DSRCC) for Somalia, Simon
Mulongo, listening during the function
8. Close up shot, DSRCC, Simon Mulongo listening during the function
9. Close up shot, Minister of Justice and Judicial Affairs of the Federal
Government of Somalia, Hassan Hussein Hajji, listening during the function
10. SOUNDBITE: (ENGLISH) SIMON MULONGO, DEPUTY SPECIAL
REPRESENTATIVE OF THE CHAIRPERSON OF THE AFRICAN UNION
COMMISSION (DSRCC) FOR SOMALIA
“On our part as AMISOM we have been doing a few things which I would like
to highlight for the sake of your audience. The first one being we have had
basic training of about 3000 AMISOM and Somali Security forces on
prevention of the recruitment and use of child soldiers.”
11. Wide shot, a group of youths reciting a poem
12. Mid shot, a group of youths looking on during the function
13. Mid shot, participants looking on during the function
14. Wide shot, a group of youths reciting a poem
15. Wide shot, participants listening during the function
16. Mid shot, a group of youths reciting a poem
17. SOUNDBITE: (ENGLISH) SIMON MULONGO, DEPUTY SPECIAL
REPRESENTATIVE OF THE CHAIRPERSON OF THE AFRICAN UNION
COMMISSION (DSRCC) FOR SOMALIA
“We do not accept recruitment and use of children as soldiers in armed
conflict because that denies them the opportunity to grow in a peaceful
environment and grow up as responsible citizens to contribute not only to
Somalia but the whole world. So by recruiting them and using them in armed
conflict like the Al-Shabaab do, denies them the opportunity to be those
fruitful and useful citizens. We have also trained 70 trainers on the training of
trainers courses that have enabled those people to be available within Somali
security forces to impart similar skills so that we can have greater growth of
numbers to ensure that they preach the message of discouraging recruitment
and use of child soldiers.”

18. Wide shot, participants taking part in the function

19. Mid shot, participants taking part in the function
20. Mid shot, a group of youths following proceedings at the event
21. Mid shot, participants following proceedings at the event
22. SOUNDBITE: (SOMALI) HASSAN HUSSEIN HAJJI, MINISTER OF JUSTICE AND
JUDICIAL AFFAIRS OF THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT OF SOMALIA
“As you are aware our government uses the transitional constitution and
chapter two talks about the rights of Somali citizens especially the rights of
children and articles in that chapter including article 29 says a child must be
given a name and parents are responsible for their care and that they must
be brought up in a good environment and given quality education so they can
have a better future in life.”

23. Wide shot, a group singing and dancing on stage

24. Mid shot, a group singing and dancing on stage
25. SOUNDBITE: (ENGLISH) MICHAEL NGABIRANO, UNITED NATIONS
ASSISTANCE MISSION IN SOMALIA SENIOR CHILD PROTECTION ADVISER
“This campaign follows another successful one which most of you will be
aware of, the campaign that was dubbed children not soldiers. Those of you
who have been working on children issues you will remember the campaign
children not soldiers. So that campaign was successful and we want the Act
to Protect Children to be equally successful. As we celebrate the
achievements of the work that we are doing there is also still need to
recognize that we still have challenges, children continue to be recruited,
children continue to be maimed and killed in battle, children continue to be
abducted and children continue to be raped. This is something that needs to
stop.”
 26. Mid shot, DSRCC, Simon Mulongo, Senior Child Protection Advisor, Human
Rights Protection Group, UNSOM Michael Ngabirano, and Hassan Hussein
Hajji, Minister of Justice and Judicial Affairs of the Federal Government of
Somalia holding a poster imprinted with the slogan ‘Act to Protect’
27. Wide shot, DSRCC, Simon Mulongo, Senior Protection Advisor, Human
Rights Protection Group, UNSOM and Hassan Hussein Hajji, Minister for
Justice and Judicial Affairs of the Federal Government of Somalia holding
posters imprinted with slogan ‘Act to Protect’
28. SOUNDBITE: (ENGLISH) MICHAEL NGABIRANO, UNITED NATIONS
ASSISTANCE MISSION IN SOMALIA SENIOR CHILD PROTECTION ADVISER
“The Act campaign calls on everybody in their own way to take action and the
action is to be taken at the family level, at the community level, at the
government level and at the international community level so that we can all
act together to protect children.”

29. Mid shot, group of youths posing with a trophy as the Somali national anthem
plays
30. Wide shot, group of youths posing with a trophy as the Somali national
anthem plays

Somalia commemorates the Day of the African Child

Mogadishu, 17 June 2019 – Somalia joined the rest of the African continent in
celebrating the International Day of the African Child with a commitment to uphold
child welfare and protection rights across the country. This year’s theme was:
‘Humanitarian Action in Africa: Children’s Rights First’.

Children in Somalia have been the victims of different forms of violations due to the
armed conflict that ravaged the country for many years. In 2012, the government of
Somalia and the United Nations signed joint action plans to end the recruitment and
use of children in armed forces and to end the maiming and killing of children.

The Federal Minister of Justice and Judicial Affairs, Hassan Hussein Hajji, reiterated
the importance of upholding the rights of children in Somalia as per the transitional
constitution.

Mr. Hajji, who was speaking during the Day of the African Child commemoration
ceremony held in Mogadishu, yesterday, said the Somali government was
implementing the transitional constitution which explicitly advocates for the rights
and welfare of children in article 29 of Chapter Two.

“The constitution says all children should be brought up in an appropriate

environment where they have access to quality education and life so that they can
have a better future in life,” Hussein said.
The African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) has been carrying out various
programmes geared towards the protection of children in Somalia as enshrined in
both national and international laws.

Speaking at the same event, Deputy Special Representative of the Chairperson of the
African Union Commission (DSRCC) for Somalia, Simon Mulongo, said AMISOM has
been working closely with the Somali National Army (SNA) and the Somali Police Force
in establishing child protection units with the security forces.

“We have conducted basic training for about 3,000 AMISOM and Somali security
forces on ‘prevention of the recruitment and use of child soldiers’,” said Mr. Mulongo.

The DSRCC noted that AMISOM has also trained 70 Somali trainers from the federal
government, federal member states and various line ministries on how to prevent the
recruitment of child soldiers.

“Indeed, we are proud to say that we now have a pool of Somali trainers across the
country capable of carrying out training on child protection. This is a major milestone
in the promotion of human rights in the country,” Mr. Mulongo noted.

Recruitment of children as child soldiers is still rampant in Somalia with the main
culprits being Al-Shabaab militants. The militants have been accused of forcing
parents to give out their sons for recruitment and killing those who resist their orders.

The United Nations Assistance Mission Somalia (UNSOM) Senior Child Protection
Advisor, Michael Ngabirano, who represented the United Nations Resident
Coordinator, said that the UN will continue to work closely with the federal
government and development partners to ensure those responsible for violations
against children are made to account for their actions.

“The campaign entitled ‘act to protect children affected by conflict’ is a national

campaign which will be championed by government ministries and departments to
ensure children in Somalia are protected,” Ngabirano said.

Ngabirano added that the UN and the federal government recently held a consultative
meeting to discuss ways of rolling out an awareness campaign on the prevention of
violations of children’s rights.
The participants called on the government to fast-track the enactment of the
Children’s Act and the Sexual Offences Act and also ratify the Optional Protocol to
the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Involvement of Children in Armed
Conflict (OPAC) to enable the country effectively fight all forms of crime against
children.
AMISOM Human Rights Officer, Ulrike Kahbila Mbuton, said this year’s celebrations
were organised by the UN, AMISOM and federal government ministries responsible
for child welfare and protection.

The Day of the African Child was established by the Organisation of African Union, the
African Union’s predecessor, in 1991 following the Soweto uprising in South Africa,
where children participating in a peaceful protest were attacked by police officers
under the apartheid regime in 1976.

ENDS