In a couple days, the country would be celebrating Children’s Day and ahead of that, the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs has announced plans to establish family courts across the country.
According to the Minister, Pauline Tallen, the FG has established the courts in 16 states to ensure child-friendly justice for children, either as victims or as offenders of violence.
She mentioned that the establishment of family courts results from the effective and sustained advocacy and sensitisation for effective implementation of the Child Rights Law (CRL) across the country.
Tallen at a press briefing announced the theme of this year’s Children’s Day celebration. The theme being ‘Strengthening Supportive Systems for the Protection of the Nigerian Child; A Wake-Up Call.’
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She went on to add that despite efforts by the government and other stakeholders, children were still vulnerable and victims of abduction, ritual killings, rape, child marriage, domestic abuse, and others.
“As a ministry, we are sometimes overwhelmed with these issues and it will seem as if we are not doing enough.” She said.
“More worrisome is the recent increase of violence in schools, where children are physically and sexually abused online and offline. In the meantime, the ministry, in collaboration with relevant stakeholders, has developed policies and carried out a series of programmes to ensure the safety of children.”
“The establishment of family courts in 16 states of the federation is a direct result of the effective and sustained advocacy.”
She added that the ministry had also launched the Beta Version and upgraded the National Orphans and Vulnerable Children Management Information Systems (NOMIS) database. According to her, the database was to provide robust data on the National Orphans and Vulnerable Children, generated from the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
