Blog - Hold the Child | Our Action. Our Future

Universal Children’s Day 2017

: HCO Admin; Blog; 03-03-2017; 2017-03-03T14:16:42+06:00

The African Tradition and the customary law have brought un answered questions especially when it comes to the constitutional law. Reconciling the two differences makes one wonder whether the two will marry each other. From the look of things, the way an African child was brought up is slightly different from the current constitutional law that abides the child rights. There might be conflicting issues that still remains un tackled especially when it comes to disciple and morals, marriages, customary rituals and generally the way things are done. This will be a topic for another day to be discussed as we will not go into so much details.

Our main focus today is to understand how the two laws should favor one another and make the rights of the children to be realized as I will break it down to our Country South Sudan context.

South Sudan being one country that has been devastated by war, a lot is left to be desired especially when it comes to the right of a child. The long lasting impact of the war has made certain practices to remain seemingly normal for instance, forced marriage, imposing of cultural marks on the body, violent practices which one may think shows how strong they are, inter-tribal cattle raid which has brought a belief of one being superior to the other. Unfortunately, this bears a big impact on the children who in most cases are the victims of circumstances. Doing something which deprives a child of their rights is punishable by law according to South Sudan Child Right 2008.

For the parents, guardians to understand that it’s an abomination to subject the children to in human practices like child labor, rape, defilement, child trafficking, violence against children among others, they must come to the realization that some of the effects of these practices have devastating consequences on the psychological, physical and emotional well-being of the child and it must stop completely. In its resolution 71/177, the General Assembly requested the Secretary-General to submit to the Assembly at its seventy-second session a report on the status of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the issues addressed in the resolution, with a focus on violence against children. The present report highlights significant achievements by Member States, United Nations system entities (including the Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Violence against Children, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the United Nations Children’s Fund, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and the World Health Organization), regional bodies, multi-stakeholder coalitions and others in advancing the protection of children from all forms of violence and includes recommendations for continued progress on this critical issue

During our kids express talk show on Radio Miraya, many of the children echoed their voices on how they would like to be protected against all harm that may endanger their lives and cripple their future. One Jacob Mading had this to say

‘’ A child has no clue on what is right and wrong, and yet they look to their parents who have folded their arms and subjected the children to all kind of child right violation in the society, children are being used as a source of wealth not minding about their future. He continues to say their future will be doomed if nothing is done to help the children of South Sudan and the world at large.’’

Jacob’s plea for protection of the children is a representation of too many children who are suffering in silence and have no one to speak for them. If only we can recognized that when we protect and invest in the children today that is when we will be able to secure a safe future for our children to be in a better place that can change lives.

That first step begins today, do not stay silent when you see the right of the child is being abused and violated, take action today and slowly we will eliminate all kind of violations being committed on the children.

World Malaria Day 2017

: HCO Admin; Blog; 03-03-2017; 2017-03-03T14:16:42+06:00

At an event on the eve of World Malaria Day in Nairobi, WHO called for accelerated scale-up of efforts to prevent malaria and save lives.

In sub-Saharan Africa, which shoulders 90% of the global malaria burden, more than 663 million cases have been averted since 2001. Insecticide-treated nets have had the greatest impact, accounting for an estimated 69% of cases prevented through control tools.

In South Sudan, all the stake holders have tried their level best to make sure that the deadly malaria disease is averted with all possible measures. The Ministry of health and World Health Organization (WHO) are working hand in hand with other partners who are implementing projects in the areas of health to reach down to the grass root to provide preventative measures like Treated Mosquito nets, spraying bushes around the communities that would act as breeding place for mosquitos.

Within the communities, people are being encouraged to take on measure that can fight the cause of malaria like draining stagnant water, clearing bushes and also taking proper medical treatment to avoid re-occurrences of malaria among others.

The prevail economic hardship in South Sudan leaves a lot to be desired, as the common man is struggling to put food on the table, it becomes extremely hard for one to get proper medical care if they can’t afford expected daily bread or put food on the table. In areas with insecurities where people have left their homes and living in the bushes, one wonders how access to medical care can be made possible for them given the fact that some areas have no access to aid from the humanitarians on ground who are trying to access the areas. This has been attributed to the fact that humanitarian staffs have lost their lives in an attempt to deliver aid in areas that is expected of them.

Hold the Child, one of the humanitarian and development Organization on ground with presence in 10 different locations across South Sudan, through their program of community health has been working hand in hand with other partners to provide aid, empower the people who are in dire need and support in order to survive and live a healthy life.

Any death from malaria – a preventable and treatable disease – is simply unacceptable,” said Dr Pedro Alonso, Director of WHO’s Global Malaria Programme. “Today we are urging countries and partners to accelerate the pace of action, especially in low-income countries with a high malaria burden.

In May 2015, the World Health Assembly approved WHO’s Global Technical Strategy for Malaria 2016–2030, a 15-year blueprint for all countries working to control and eliminate malaria. The strategy set ambitious targets for 2030, including reducing malaria case incidence and death rates by at least 90%, eliminating malaria in at least 35 countries, and preventing the reintroduction of malaria in all countries that are malaria free.

Photo credit: Poac.org

Water Crisis in South Sudan

: HCO Admin; Blog; 03-03-2017; 2017-03-03T14:16:42+06:00

International World Water Day reminds me of the debate we used to have in Primary School about ‘’water and fire.’’ Which of the two you would prefer? Back then, I would scratch my head a wonder which one to choose between the two. Its common knowledge though that water is life and that explains why nearly 70 % of an adult human body is made of water.

Imagine with me for a moment how life would be like if there was no water. Talk of the different uses of water, ranging from drinking, cooking, washing, bathing, irrigation among others. Almost 75% of the earth surface is covered by water.

As we commemorate World Water Day, let’s remember to get fresh clean and safe water because that is the best that can save human lives not just any kind of water. Through the different water sources we have, we can choose to have safe clean water which promotes better hygiene for good health.

The theme for this year is ‘’Waste Water’’ which reminds me of how we have taken water for granted and misused it and wasted it in our own ways. It’s only responsible to use water in a proper way.

According to UNICEF, Recent surveys show that more than 30 per cent of the people in South Sudan do not have access to safe water supplies. Only 45 per cent of South Sudan’s 3,349 basic primary schools have access to safe water.

When Hold The Child Organization conducted an interview with primary school going pupils in Juba in regards to the commemoration of World Water Day, they found out that many families still struggle to get safe clean water because of scarcity of money to buy clean water and sometimes the water distributors do not reach all the parts of the City center due to high demand from the general public.

While visiting the Schools, majority of the schools within the City have either borehole water or Water Tank Tap. However, in the outskirt, many of the schools still have no access to safe and clean water to keep good hygiene and to help them quench their thirsts.

The United Nations has declared that access to safe and sanitary water is an inalienable human right, yet more than one in ten people around the world about 663 million people lack access to sanitary water. This global crisis is evident in communities facing contamination, infrastructure problems and water scarcity around the world. Together, we can end this threat to human survival.

As water still remains a challenge for most South Sudanese, the best solution to this is to have a collective responsibility from all the stake holders to join hands together to participate and make sure that peace prevails, build better stable economy so that people can afford and create more avenues for easy water accessibility to promote good health.