WOMEN have vowed to chain themselves to the gates of the Ministry of Gender Equality and Child Welfare if Government does not heed their concerns on the Children’s Status Bill.
Staging a peaceful protest on the steps of the Tintenpalast Parliament building yesterday, representatives of more than 20 women’s and children’s rights groups and the Council of Churches of Namibia (CCN) pleaded for parliamentarians to listen to the voices of the grassroots. ‘Children Status Bill: Listen to the People’, read one banner held by child protesters.’The children of Namibia are speaking’, ‘Don’t ignore the rural women’ and ‘Let our voices count’, others stated.With chants of “we want everything, we want it now.Who must listen to our voices? Parliament,” women said they feared that rapists would have access to their children should they die.RISK OF ABUSE It has been nearly two years since the Children’s Status Bill was first tabled in the National Assembly and two public hearings have been held – one by each chamber of Parliament – yet the recommendations of both have been rejected for inclusion in the bill.For the first time since the bill sparked controversy, the United Nations Children’s Emergency Fund (Unicef) joined the fray to impress on Government the importance of acting in the best interests of children and of formulating laws in line with the International Convention on the Rights of the Child.”We all want to get this bill passed quickly, but not at the expense of harming certain groups of children.Namibia’s harsh social realities of protecting children born out of wedlock in the care of single parents who are mainly women and a situation of absent fathers have to be addressed looking at all the complex angles,” said Unicef Representative Khin-Sandi Lwin.Lwin said any law that does things “automatically”, such as awarding sole custody to the surviving parent, is a cause for concern.She said especially in the current situation of the high prevalence of HIV-AIDS and children becoming orphaned as a result, the children of single parents are even more at risk of abuse and neglect.”It is not about the equality of men and women, but about the best interest of our children,” said Elizabeth Khaxas of the Women’s Leadership Centre.The Legal Assistance Centre, which has been the driving force behind lobbying for changes to the bill, said yesterday that the extent of public input was being overlooked.The LAC’s Dianne Hubbard said most of the 28 organisations that were lobbying for amendments to the proposed law had consulted nationally on issues of concern and were upset that Gender Minister Marlene Mungunda was not prepared to enter into dialogue with civil society groups.”Both Parliament and civil society has done their job by consulting widely,” said Hubbard “it’s not just the people here in Windhoek.”Sister Namibia’s Liz Frank said the protest had been organised to plead with Parliamentarians to view the bill in as serious a light as civil society was.”MPs are elected to apply their minds,” read Sister Namibia’s poster.The Minister of Gender Equality and Child Welfare, Marlene Mungunda, was not present at the protest but when approached by The Namibian after the National Assembly sitting yesterday, she appeared annoyed by the lobby.WHO’S CONFUSED? “They are the ones who are confused,” she said.She said their opinion was not being ignored and would be incorporated in the Child Protection and Care Bill, which must still be tabled in Parliament.Mungunda also said it was untrue that she was not prepared to listen to their views.”This bill is just to get children on an equal footing.The other things will still come,” she said.The women’s and children’s groups are opposed to according the parents of children born out of wedlock equal custody and guardianship, saying in the majority of family situations it would not be in the best interests of the child.Equal custody rights, they say, could give leverage to unscrupulous fathers to withhold maintenance from the mother, who is most likely going to be the one to take care of the child irrespective of the equal custody and guardianship rights.Civil society has objected to a provision in the bill that would let an uninvolved parent automatically become a child’s custodian and guardian upon the death of the other parent.The lobbyists are further outraged that a man who has fathered a child by rape could automatically become the child’s sole guardian, should the mother die.’Children Status Bill: Listen to the People’, read one banner held by child protesters.’The children of Namibia are speaking’, ‘Don’t ignore the rural women’ and ‘Let our voices count’, others stated. With chants of “we want everything, we want it now.Who must listen to our voices? Parliament,” women said they feared that rapists would have access to their children should they die.RISK OF ABUSE It has been nearly two years since the Children’s Status Bill was first tabled in the National Assembly and two public hearings have been held – one by each chamber of Parliament – yet the recommendations of both have been rejected for inclusion in the bill.For the first time since the bill sparked controversy, the United Nations Children’s Emergency Fund (Unicef) joined the fray to impress on Government the importance of acting in the best interests of children and of formulating laws in line with the International Convention on the Rights of the Child.”We all want to get this bill passed quickly, but not at the expense of harming certain groups of children.Namibia’s harsh social realities of protecting children born out of wedlock in the care of single parents who are mainly women and a situation of absent fathers have to be addressed looking at all the complex angles,” said Unicef Representative Khin-Sandi Lwin.Lwin said any law that does things “automatically”, such as awarding sole custody to the surviving parent, is a cause for concern.She said especially in the current situation of the high prevalence of HIV-AIDS and children becoming orphaned as a result, the children of single parents are even more at risk of abuse and neglect.”It is not about the equality of men and women, but about the best interest of our children,” said Elizabeth Khaxas of the Women’s Leadership Centre.The Legal Assistance Centre, which has been the driving force behind lobbying for changes to the bill, said yesterday that the extent of public input was being overlooked.The LAC’s Dianne Hubbard said most of the 28 organisations that were lobbying for amendments to the proposed law had consulted nationally on issues of concern and were upset that Gender Minister Marlene Mungunda was not prepared to enter into dialogue with civil society groups.”Both Parliament and civil society has done their job by consulting widely,” said Hubbard “it’s not just the people here in Windhoek.”Sister Namibia’s Liz Frank said the protest had been organised to plead with Parliamentarians to view the bill in as serious a light as civil society was.”MPs are elected to apply their minds,” read Sister Namibia’s poster.The Minister of Gender Equality and Child Welfare, Marlene Mungunda, was not present at the protest but when approached by The Namibian after the National Assembly sitting yesterday, she appeared annoyed by the lobby.WHO’S CONFUSED? “They are the ones who are confused,” she said.She said their opinion was not being ignored and would be incorporated in the Child Protection and Care Bill, which must still be tabled in Parliament.Mungunda also said it was untrue that she was not prepared to listen to their views.”This bill is just to get children on an equal footing.The other things will still come,” she said.The women’s and children’s groups are opposed to according the parents of children born out of wedlock equal custody and guardianship, saying in the majority of family situations it would not be in the best interests of the child.Equal custody rights, they say, could give leverage to unscrupulous fathers to withhold maintenance from the mother, who is most likely going to be the one to take care of the child irrespective of the equal custody and guardianship rights.Civil society has objected to a provision in the bill that would let an uninvolved parent automatically become a child’s custodian and guardian upon the death of the other parent.The lobbyists are further outraged that a man who has fathered a child by rape could automatically become the child’s sole guardian, should the mother die.
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