The Forum recognises that girls in Southern Africa and around the world represent the coveted pride of humanity, and that girls are endowed with the infinite potential to achieve wonders within their communities and beyond. The SADC-PF has always consistently advocated for equal treatment of girls at all levels at par with boys, such that girls blossom into empowered women who are changemakers of society and role models for others to emulate. Girls who have comprehensive access to education, and who enjoy an educational life without hindrance, have the best chances and opportunities to fully integrate the socio-economic community and make informed choices, whether in choosing a life partner in matrimony, or to make career decisions in professional life. In this regard, we firmly believe that the African girl child is by birth bequeathed with all the qualities to climb to the top of any profession or to set foot on the moon, if she so wishes.
We associate ourselves fully with the UN theme of 2022 which is “Our Time is Now – Our Rights Our Future” since it is indeed in our hands to change the present by leveraging on a robust human rights framework in view of empowering girls, adolescents and young women such that they grow to become leaders and decision-makers in their own rights.
On this august day, the Forum thus calls on its Member Parliaments and partners in Southern Africa and around the world to continue protecting the human rights of girl children and nurturing them in a stable home environment with access to quality education and information, such that they can progress and lead to make a difference. In this context, the Forum strongly calls all stakeholders to pursue the implementation of the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, and the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa, both of which consecrate the need to protect the girl child, adolescents and women in Africa through enabling domestic provisions. The Forum also seizes this opportunity to reiterate the provisions in the SADC Model Law on Child Marriage, which ensures that the girl child lives with the dignity that she deserves.
Happy International Day of the Girl Child 2022.
Yours sincerely,
Ms B. Sekgoma,Secretary General, SADC Parliamentary Forum
