UNICEF The Gambia is committed to raising children’s awareness and understanding of their rights. This is centred on the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), and this year is the CRC’s 30^th anniversary. The convention says what countries must do so all children grow as healthy as possible, can learn at school, are protected, have their views listened to and are treated fairly. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are linked to the CRC, since they represent the globally agreed approach towards human development.

One of the rights identified in the CRC, is the right to information. It is on this premise, that UNICEF is working with diverse summer camps being organised during the holiday to reach out to children, adolescents, and youth on information, creating awareness, education and the need to take action for SDGs, CRC and U-Report.

Also, the sessions were linked to other relevant issues such as disaster response, peace and justice, and prevention of harmful traditional practices: Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting(FGM/C) and child marriage.  The participants attested to an increased knowledge and understanding on the CRC, SDGs and how they can contribute to bringing change to their communities.

The summer camps were flavoured with the introduction of U-Report. U-Report is a platform that amplifies the voices of the adolescents, youth and community people using mobile phones. It creates a safe channel to communicate and discuss issues on CRC and SDGs with children, adolescents and youth at no cost to them.  Some of the camps attended are:

• §      Children’s National Assembly of The Gambia(CNAG) Training (20^th July, Tendaba)
• §      The Gambia Red Cross Society Volunteers Training (22^nd July, Essau)
• §      Fulbe Africa Conference (3^rd August, Kombo)
• §      QCity Summer Camp (6^th August, Kombo)
• §      GOVI Leadership and Entrepreneurship Training (22^nd August, Kombo)

            Picture 1: Children’s National Assembly Training at Tendaba

P          Picture 2: The Gambia Red Cross Society Volunteers Training at Essau

Would you want to be a U-Reporter?  Be a U-Reporter by sending the word “JOIN” to 1234 with an Africell or QCell line. (All messages are FREE).

Currently, through the summer camps we have reached 540 persons and the number is still growing as we plan to visit more summer camps before schools resume. 

Picture 3: GOVI Annual Leadership Camp at GOVI in Kombo

Picture 4: Fulbe Africa Conference at Kairaba Hotel in Kombo

The Summer Camps are still loading…Visit this site for more information.