Brava: Edil calls for urgency in the creation of the Municipal Committee for the Defense of the Rights of Children and Adolescents

The mayor of Brava, Francisco Tavares, warned today of the "urgent" need to create the Municipal Committee for the Defense of the Rights of Children and Adolescents and to have an action plan.

The mayor made this announcement after a second meeting of the living forces in an attempt to create the committee, but which was not possible due to the weak participation of local entities.

For Francisco Tavares, the creation of this committee is something that becomes “necessary and urgent” taking into account the data presented by the head of the Cabo Verdean Institute for Children and Adolescents (ICCA).

“The creation of the municipal committee is urgent, not to say an emergency, because it involves various public and private institutions and non-governmental civil society organizations and people have to do their part, which is to participate in order to be able to elect the elements and start working on the elaboration of an action plan”, he advanced, justifying that the number of cases of violation of children's rights in 2022 in Brava for a population of 5,500 inhabitants is already proving to be a little worrying.

It is in this sense that he warns of the need for the creation and “urgent” functioning of this committee, recalling that for this to happen it is necessary that all social actors and all members of the community who are invited to participate do everything they can to participate.

“We all have rights, duties and even obligations towards civil society, that the defense of children's rights is a very noble objective and that must be worked on as soon as possible if they want to have a better future and responsible young people and adults of tomorrow, safe and with a society within the desired standards”, he concluded, informing that the city council, together with the ICCA, will once again invite all institutions for a third attempt.

In turn, the head of the ICCA delegation on the island, Mileida Cabral, stressed that she will continue to press the same button, asking for the participation of all living forces so that this committee can be formed.

Therefore, he justified that it “is important for the defense of the rights of children and adolescents, since it turns out to be one more element that supports the fight against violence, but it will also be another pillar for the implementation of the National Plan to Combat Sexual Abuse.

In addition, he underlined that data on the violation of the rights of children and adolescents in Brava in 2022 are worrying, adding that there were 160 cases, with the largest number of cases being related to behavioral problems, family conflicts and of other natures and 16 cases of sexual abuse and assault.

In view of the data, Mileida Cabral demonstrated the need for institutions to engage in the creation and operation of the committee to improve the situation on Brava, but also the need for people to denounce situations of violations that can be done anonymously.