Cape Town - The voices of children were heard for the first time in the UN children’s global consultation on sustainable development. The aim was to hear how it affects children’s economic, social and cultural rights.
Children’s rights organisation Molo Songololo got children involved from Atlantis, Delft and Beaufort West and their It’s Your Move Children’s Forum.
Representatives from various countries pitched their ideas and solutions to the problems pertaining to inequality and discrimination, sustaining the natural environment and the impact of climate change.
Molo Songololo director Patric Solomons spoke about the opportunity afforded to them and how they prepared for it.
“As a child rights organisation, we network with other groups and we’ve worked closely with the UN.
“They wanted children’s participation in the next consultation and we volunteered for it. We held workshops because they wanted to hear children’s views of what the government is doing in their country,” Solomons said. .
Some of the social issues the It’s Your Move forum highlighted were gender and economic inequality, racial discrimination, and high unemployment and dropout rates.
Environmental issues included poorly paved roads, water and sanitation problems, and waste removal and climate change problems such as rising sea levels caused by global warming.
Aleah van der Berg, 16, from Atlantis High School, and Nhlanhla Bans, also16, from Good Hope High School, were the representatives for the team and gave their insights into the experience.
Van der Berg said doing the research for the talk taught her so much about the country and that she never realised tsunamis could be possible in Cape Town.
Bans said she enjoyed the experience and learning about issues from other countries.
Solomons said giving children a platform to learn more about their own country and to find solutions to issues that will affect them in the future, is a great way for them to start to make a difference.