Members of parliament examining the new law on child rights have said that parents have the primary responsibility to ensure the safety and welfare of their children. The amendments to the existing law have been tabled by the Ministry of Gender and Family Promotion and the National Children Commission in order to bring it up to date with new developments. MP Ignatienne Nyirarukundo said the law should clarify the kinds of violence and mistreatment to include carelessness by parents, even outside the home. “Violence in the home should not be the only reason for placing a child in third party custody. Serious challenges a child meets outside the home due to parents’ carelessness should also be considered,” she said. For example, she said, parents can send children to school without any company or even giving them transport and on the way, they are sexually abused. In that case, parents must be held accountable. Dr Claudine Uwera Kanyamanza the Executive Secretary of National Children Commission said the law was being amended to see if there was no other relevant element left to protect children’s’ rights. “Parents don’t have the right to do everything they want to their children. We sometimes hear of parents burning their children for small faults of misconduct. Some families even still think that only boys have the right to education and some don’t register their children. All those are forms of violence children still meet,” she said. Espérance Nyirasafari the Minister for Gender and Family Promotion said children deserve respect from their custodial parents or tutors, and if not, the law can be used to place the child in third party. “According to the article 9 of the child’s law, violence, mistreatment, incapacity to provide children with care following mental disability and being stripped of parental authority are the main causes of depriving parents or any legal guardian of the right to custody of the child. The third party can be the extended family if they are there, or other governmental systems to help children in need,” Kanyamanza said. editorial@newtimes.co.rw
