BUJUMBURA June 19th (ABP) – The Minister of National Solidarity, Social Affairs, Human Rights and Gender, Mrs. Imelde Sabushimike, issued on Thursday, June 15, 2023 a statement on the occasion of the celebration of the African Child Day, 2023 edition, as part of remembering the massacre of the children of Soweto in South Africa, in 1976.
She recalled that those children were massacred because of their simple demonstration to claim their right to an education not based on racist principles, during the Apartheid regime in that country.
In that statement, Mrs. Sabushimike indicated that on June 16 of each year, Burundi joins other African countries in celebrating the Day. Indeed, the ceremonies marking that day will take place on Tuesday, June 27, 2023, in the City of Bujumbura, in Ntahangwa commune, Buterere zone. They will be marked by the synergy of the media, programs hosted by children, songs dedicated to children, interactive theaters as well as children’s games. It is planned, in those ceremonies, the participation of children living with disabilities and former street children.
The theme chosen for this year is “the rights of the child in a digital environment”. The Minister in charge of human rights underlined that in Burundi, this theme fits well with the current context where digital technologies are much more useful in several areas, both in the life of the people and in the functioning of the country.
However, she pointed out that digital technology has both advantages and disadvantages especially when it is not used well. When it is well managed, it promotes the intellectual and economic development of citizens and the country, she said, adding that it allows children and parents to get a lot of information and knowledge on children’s rights through, among other things, television, smartphones, and computers.