IRIN Interview with Senegal's Minister of Family and Small Children, Awa Gueye Kebe.

After a three-day expert meeting on the state of children's rights in West Africa, Awa Gueye Kebe talked to IRIN about the reasons for the regional meeting and some of the issues affecting children in Senegal. QUESTION: What motivated this ECOWAS peer review meeting? ANSWER: The international community pledged last May in New York [at the United Nations Special Summit on Children] to improve the situation of children through the implementation of action programmes. President Abdoulaye Wade [of Senegal] and his peers [in West Africa] want to turn into concrete acts the recommendations taken at the summit on children. This decade has also been declared The Decade of the Child [by ECOWAS, the Economic Community of West African States]. These are what motivated this peer review meeting, which aims to be a mechanism of impulsion, orientation, follow-up of all actions in favour of children. The first stage of this mechanism was this expert meeting. Their conclusions were submitted to the conference of ministers, which I had the honour to chair. The ministers will submit recommendations to the summit of heads of state for adoption and implementation. Q: What can be achieved on this issue, when we know that international treaties have not been signed or ratified by some of the states, and when the situation of children varies across the region? A: Some countries have progressed, others have not. Through this peer review meeting, we want to push countries that have made progress to act as locomotive for others. It would push the ministries in charge of children's affairs to urge legislators to ratify the international instruments. After Bamako, the heads of states will adopt the Operational Action Framework and ensure that the situation of children sees a noticeable improvement. And - because the situation is not the same throughout the region - we will work to identify common situations to draw up objectives and actions that require specific strategies, and each country will take engagements. Every year, heads of states will meet to see if the pledges have been transformed into acts. Q: In Senegal, how are the authorities dealing with the question of "Dara" children, meaning children who attend Islamic schools, some of whom are said to be exploited by corrupt "spiritual guides"? A: A clarification needs to be made. Children in "Dara" are not those one finds in the streets of the capital, Dakar. A study has shown that children in the streets are exploited by adults who send them out to beg on the streets. In reality, the children who attend traditional Islamic schools are, for the most part, in villages with their marabouts ("charm makers", who are founders or spiritual leaders of Islamic brotherhoods). Soon we plan to hold a national conference to address the issue, with religious leaders among others, to see how to eliminate this social plague. Q: What is the situation of children in Casamance [in southern Senegal], which is a conflict zone? A: Evidently, those are children who are trapped in a harsh conflict situation. They need particular assistance. With assistance from UNICEF [the United Nations Children's Fund], we've adopted specific socio-psychological strategies to alleviate the trauma that they've endured. We don't have the means to satisfy all their needs, but that is one of our priority areas. We are working closely with UNICEF on our strategies concerning Casamance. Q: How have you dealt with the case of a 12-year-old girl who died following her honeymoon with her adult husband, when that case and the light sentence given to the man caused an outcry? A: This question raises the tandem issue of the application of laws and the sentence imposed for such acts. One thing is sure, early marriage is somewhat codified in Senegal. However as a ministry, we are not satisfied. We want to raise the minimum age of marriage. We try to lobby as much as possible before the justice ministry when such issues do come up, but we cannot tell the judges what sentences to hand down. All we do is make sure that laws that are in the books are respected. As a ministry, we will continue to work with civil society to ensure that the advocacy effort is well conducted so to stiffen penalties for such people.