©AfreePress- The NGO Compassion International Togo hosted an online conference and debate that was a great success today, in order to celebrate the 16th of June dedicated to the African child. This conference debate that was held online due to the current health crisis of COVID-19 focused on the theme : COVID-19, the issue of domestic violence and its impacts on children.
Moderated by Dr. Jacques TOKO, Child Protection Specialist at Compassion International Togo and KAMA-DJONNA AKOURA, Director of the Prevention of Vulnerable Situations at the Ministry of Social Action, this webinar conference-debate, which brought together pastors, CPC presidents and coordinators of Compassion International Togo’s partner churches, aims to raise awareness among the various actors involved in child protection on the risks of domestic violence against children. These risks of violence are caused by the economic and social pressures in addition to the containment due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The NGO Compassion International Togo is an institution that advocates for and protects children. Compassion International Togo, which initiated this conference-debate, therefore first intends to sensitize its church partner leaders on the need to raise awareness on the situation of children in this time of restrictions; then to offer alternatives for positive discipline in this time of confinement and even afterwards to enhance the visibility of Compassion International Togo through speeches on the national and international media. In the near future, Compassion International expects church leaders to commit themselves against violence against children in this time of COVID-19 and to raise awareness among their congregations through the various channels of communication at their disposal. As for the media, they will convey what they learn from the activity and in turn, they will raise the awareness of their followers.
As a reminder, the Day of the African Child is an international day that is celebrated every year since June 16, 1991 in memory of the massacre of hundreds of children during a march for their rights in Soweto (South Africa) by the regime of apartheid on June 16, 1976.
For this 29th edition, the theme chosen by the Executive Council of the African Union at its 34th ordinary session is: access to a child-oriented justice system in Africa.
