Tonga Parliamentarians act on child rights issues

Tonga Parliamentarians act on child rights issues

Nuku’alofa, Tonga, 27 June 2011 - Tonga parliamentarians are moving to act on alarming challenges in the area of education and nutrition faced by vulnerable children in Tonga.

About fifteen Members of the Tongan Parliament gathered last week in a one-day advocacy forum organized by the Tongan Legislative Assembly and United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Pacific office held in Nuku’alofa, Tonga. The forum deliberated on key findings from sentinel surveillance that monitors the social impacts of the Global Economic Crisis and its child rights implications.

Hon Dr ‘Ana Taufe’ulungaki, Minister for Education, Women’s Affairs and Culture, said that “we need to define ‘child labor’ and find out the accurate figure of school drop outs in Tonga”.

When asked how Government can respond to the issue of vulnerable children who drop out of school and work to supplement family income, Taufe’ulungaki said, “We will be reviewing existing education legislation to increase the age limit for free and compulsory education to cover secondary school children up to 18 years old.” This will effectively enforce the Royal Command issued by His Majesty the King.

Responding to the various issues raised by sentinel monitoring, Parliamentarians also emphasized the importance of the role that community plays in finding practical and sustainable solutions.

Hon. Sunia M. Fili, Minister of Finance, said, “We need to focus on community-based solutions. As a way to address the issue of malnutrition or threat to rising food price increases, for example, we can encourage food trading between fish and agricultural products among community members.” Taufe’ulungaki further suggested that volunteer schemes by churches and youth groups to look after children living with disabilities and elderly will give communities a sense of ownership and responsibility.

Parliamentarians also recognized their role as duty bearers at the top of the ladder of responsibility to ensure any violation of children’s rights are promptly addressed by relevant authorities, communities and families.

“The Standing Committee for Social Services will scrutinize the progress of child rights implementation that is carried out by ministries” stated Hon Dr. ‘Ana Taufe’ulungaki, the Chair of the Standing Committee for Social Services within Tonga’s Legislative Assembly.

Tonga ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) in 1995 and the initial state party report is still pending submission since 1997. As a first step forward, the Standing Committee for Social Services will endorse Tonga’s first submission of the Report to the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child in Geneva.

For more information, please visit our website www.unicef.org/pacificislands

ENDS

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