Speech by H.E Dr. Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete, President of the United Republic of Tanzania, at the Opening of the Fourth Forum of the Global ...
Speech by H.E Dr. Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete, President of
the United Republic of Tanzania, at the Opening of the Fourth Forum of the
Global Network of Religions for Children (GNRC),
16 June 2012, Dar Es Salaam
Theme: Ending Poverty, Enrich Children: Inspire. Act.
Change
Reverend
Keishi Miyamoto, President of the Arigatou International;
His
Excellency Alhaj Ali Hassan Mwinyi, Former President of the United Republic of
Tanzania;
Your Excellency
Dr. Salim Ahmed Salim, Co-Patron, GNRC Fourth Forum;
The Right
Bishop Dr. Method Kilaini; Co-Patron, GNRC Fourth Forum;
Dr.
Mustafa Ali, Chairman of the GNRC Fourth Forum Organizing Committee;
Mr. Abubakar Kabwogi, Secretary General of the
GNRC Fourth Forum;
Elhadj As Sy, UNICEF Regional Director for Eastern
and Sothern Africa;
Eminences,
Excellencies;
Invited
Guests;
Ladies
and Gentlemen:
 |
| President Dr Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete opening the 4th Global Network of Religions for Children (GNRC), at the Serena Inn in Dar es salaam today June 16, 2012. |
Allow me to join those who spoke before me in thanking
God Almighty, the Merciful and Compassionate, for enabling us to meet here this
morning. I would also like to thank
Reverend Miyamoto, Dr. Ali and the entire Organizing Committee for affording me
this rare opportunity of being part of the Fourth
Forum of the Global Network of Religions for Children.
This is the first time the Forum is being held in
Tanzania. Indeed, it is a great honour
for us to play host to distinguished participants from 64 countries and representatives of UN agencies. I know you have
already been welcomed, but let me add my voice in welcoming you all to
Tanzania, and to Dar es Salaam in particular. I hope you will have a
comfortable stay. Please feel at home and I encourage you after
the meeting, to see a bit of the country and experience what Tanzania has to
offer. I am sure you will be appetised enough to come back for a longer safari
and beach experience.
Ladies
and Gentlemen;
I commend the organizers for choosing a very
opportune theme for this Forum “Ending
Poverty, Enriching Children: Inspire. Act. Change.” It is a statement of
fact that where poverty has been ended, children benefit. They are happy and grow to realize their potentials
and ambitious in life. On the contrary,
where poverty abound, children suffer the most and all their hopes and
aspirations are dashed. Indeed, poverty is the world’s biggest
development challenge of our time. We must
fight it and win; losing is not an option because the situation is not good at
all.
The UNICEF estimates that 22,000 children are dying each day due to a host of deprivations
because of poverty. Many die quietly in some of the remotest and poorest villages
on earth, far removed from the scrutiny of the watchful eye and the conscience
of the world. It is equally sad to note that about 67 million children of primary school age in the developing world
do not attend school and around 300
million children go to bed hungry every day. The sad story does not end
there as 650 million (1 in 3) live
without adequate shelter; 400 million (1
in 5) have no access to safe water; and 270
million (1 in 7) have no access to health care services.
Excellencies,
Your Lordships;
Ladies
and Gentlemen;
Overall, out of 2.2 billion children on this planet, nearly half are severely
deprived of at least one of the essential goods and services they require to
survive, grow and develop to fulfilling adulthood. So many children are losing
their lives to easily preventable diseases or malnutrition, and others are
being murdered in armed conflicts.
Unfortunately, a number of these conflicts are caused by religious
extremism and fanatism. Furthermore, intolerable numbers are dying from
HIV/ AIDS before reaching adulthood, and many more suffer from discrimination,
hostility and violence, just because of being children. In conflict areas, the
situation is worse and too ghastly to contemplate.
Ladies
and Gentlemen;
These statistics are a stark reminder of the
magnitude of the challenge we are faced with.
They confirm that too many of our children in both developing and
industrialized countries are living in deplorable conditions. As a result of
this, too many children are denied their basic
rights such as education, healthcare,
nutrition, and protection from harm and exploitation. As a consequence children’s
mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual development is inhibited. Rural children are more affected than those
living in town because of the dichotomy between rural and urban
development. Sadly, also, the girl child is worse off than
the boys, mainly because of bad cultural practices. Indeed, these deprivations greatly undermine
children’s ability to achieve their full potential when they grow up.
Ladies and Gentlemen;
I am sure every responsible and well-meaning
person should be concerned with the well-being of our children and young
people. All of us must appreciate the
need and be ready to do something useful for the sake of our children. It is heart-warming, indeed, to note that this
world is not short of such people. Those
of you gathered here today and this organization, the Global Network of
Religions for Children, is clear attestation to that assertion of mine. I wish
we could have more people and organizations like yours in this world. Surely, this world would be a great place to
live in for us, our children and children’s children.
I am happy with
the increasing global awareness and readiness to take action to fight and
improve the lives of children. There are many international, regional and
national convention, protocols, proclamations, instruments and laws which are
geared toward addressing the many challenges and needs for children on this
planet. The challenge is about ensuring
the objectives of these instruments are implemented to the latter and spirits. We
are beginning to witness positive results, but a lot more needs to be
done. There are too many children who are
still left out which calls for continued concerted efforts at national,
regional and international levels.
In my view, tackling child related poverty
requires two pronged interventions. The
first one is to assist families of the children become prosperous so that the
children will live a poverty free environment.
The second is actually informed by the fact that it may take time before
poor families can become prosperous. In
this regard, children should not be left to wait for so long. This therefore, behooves humanity to look for
ways to directly assist children from poor families get the necessities of life
they are deprived of because of being born and living in poor families. Such children need nutrition, education,
health care and protection so that they can live in dignity survive and grow to
become productive human being in society.
This is the responsibility of every one of us,
parents, all people in their communities, governments, civil society and faith
based organizations. We must properly
anchor the promotion of children’s rights and needs in
our plans, programmes and activities. We
need to make children a priority in our plans and programmes to reduce and
eradicate poverty.
Ladies
and Gentlemen;
I would like to state clearly and honestly that we,
in Tanzania, are also facing similar challenges as our counterparts in
developing countries. In a country where 33
percent of the people live below the poverty line, certainly there are many
children affected and suffering from poverty.
The Government has been taking a number of measures to address the challenges
of poverty in the country and child poverty is being given particular attention. We have adopted an all inclusive approach
because this matter is multi-stakeholder in character and involves many actors.
First and foremost, we have a fully fledged
Ministry dealing with children’s affairs. It champions the formulation of policies,
plans and programmes guiding action on child development in the country. The Ministry oversees their
implementation. As a result, we have enacted
laws protecting the rights of children, we have the National Child Development Policy (2008), the Child Act No. 21 (2009), the
National Costed Plan of Action for Vulnerable Children (2007-2010), and the National Policy Guideline for the Health
Sector Prevention and Response to Gender Based Violence (2011), all
dedicated to the welfare of children.
We also have other related policies include the National Education Policy (1995) and the National Health Policy (2010).
Excellencies;
Ladies
and Gentlemen;
I am happy to mention as a result of these
efforts, many indicators are showing that we are now making progress in
reducing child poverty. For example, child enrolment in primary schools has
reached 97 percent which makes us
well on track to reach the MDG target by 2015. Furthermore, between 1999 and 2010 child
malnutrition has been on the decrease, but we need to do more work in this
area.
We are on track with regard to gender parity in
primary and secondary schools. Unfortunately,
that is not the case with higher education where there are more boys than
girls. However, the government is
working hard to ensure that the number of girls in higher education is
increasing. Education is a critical key to development and success. With the appropriate education a child is
empowered with a very effective lever to break the poverty cycle and live a
fulfilling life. The various special
mechanisms to support students from poor families get education have been very
useful. We are committed to do more so
that all get access to get education.
Ladies
and Gentlemen;
Based on our own experiences, we have learned that
tackling child poverty requires strong partnership of all stakeholders including
development partners, private sector, civil society, faith based organizations
and persons of goodwill. It is not a
matter for government alone. This is a cross-cutting
matter which requires the involvement and participation of many actors besides
government. However, government has assume
the leadership role of formulating policies and putting in place measures which
will guide actions of various stakeholders with interest in the welfare of
children.
Religions and faith based organizations have a
unique role to play. Working in solidarity
with governments and other stakeholders for the advancement of children, much
more can be achieved. In essence, religions have the unenviable duty of guiding
and helping people to be good citizens on this planet. Enable them to live harmoniously, peacefully,
lovingly and in cooperation with other people within and across the religious,
racial and other social, economic and political divide. Religion guides people to become responsible
citizens in the sense of knowing their purpose in life as well as their duty
and what is expected of them in life.
Ladies
and Gentlemen;
There are no better persons for religions to
dedicate efforts to impart these values than our children. I know schools are doing it but religions in
their own right have a unique role and a very special way of doing it. The two systems should complement each other.
If through both systems we can succeed to make our children understand these important
values of life, adapt them and live by them, we will have succeeded in creating
model global citizens. Indeed, many of
the problems our societies and nations are facing today will be eased.
We will get responsible parents and good mannered
children. We will get good citizens,
friendly to all people, hard working and doing the right things. This way we will fight poverty in families
and among children in a comprehensive and sustainable manner. Children will be born in families free from
poverty and a world that is caring. They
will get time to pursue their studies instead of being forced to engage in
child labour to make ends meet for themselves or their families.
Ladies
and Gentlemen;
I humbly appeal to all religious leaders and
followers of the different religions to play their rightful role to enable our
children to become responsible citizens and empower them to fight poverty. We should also remember that it begins with
parents and it involves governments and everybody else in society including the
private sector, civil society and religions.
All should play their roles properly.
So working together with all players is a matter of essence. Let us all do it for the sake of our
children, nations and the world.
Indeed, the
work of the GNRC speaks volumes about what can be done by religions and faith
based organizations in efforts to create a society where children are valued,
respected and happy. A society where children can be given the opportunity to
grow to their fullest potential and become good and productive citizens. Allow me to take this opportunity to commend
the GNRC for its initiatives and programs on promoting child poverty
eradication, children’s rights, protection of the environment, ethical and
peace education, and empowering children and young people. I implore you to continue the good work you
are doing. The good thing about it is
that it crosses the boundaries of faith. Please keep up the good work.
Excellencies;Invited
Guests;
Ladies
and Gentlemen;
Before I conclude my remarks, I want to assure you
that, my Government and I, are satisfied with the invaluable contributions of the
GNRC in pitching for the advancement of our children. I pledge our readiness to strengthen the
cooperation with your Organization and work with you towards the realization of
our shared goal of ensuring that Tanzanian children get the opportunity to live
and grow in a conducive and secure environment.
An environment that supports them to reach their fullest potential.
I am aware that this is not easy and neither is it
an overnight thing. But, I am confident
that, it is doable especially when we remain steadfast in pursuit of this noble
cause and direct requisite resources to that end. That is what we are exactly doing. We are confident and inspired when we have partners
like the GNRC, development partners and other national and international
stakeholders ready to work together with us.
For sure we will overcome and attain our lofty goal of making our world
a good place for our children and our children’s children to live in.
Ladies
and Gentlemen;
At this juncture, the words of my good friend Bono,
the lead singer of the U2 Band are resonating in my ears, “God is in the slums, in the
cardboard boxes where the poor play house. God is in the silence of a mother
who has infected her child with a virus that will end both their lives. God is in the cries heard under the rubble of
war. God is in the debris of wasted opportunity and lives, and God is with
us if we are with them”. These
words, Ladies and Gentlemen, meet so much to what we are doing right here at
this Forum.
Ladies
and Gentlemen;
After those many words, it is now my singular
honor and pleasure to declare the Fourth Forum of the Global Network of Religions
for Children officially open. I wish you very fruitful deliberations
and every success in your endeavors.
God Bless
Africa!
God Bless
Tanzania!
God bless Children of the World!
 |
| President Dr Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete and the President of the Arigatou International Global Network of Religions for Children (GNRC), pose with some of children participants from different countries and religious constintuences after opening the 4th GNRC forum at the Serena Inn in Dar es salaam today June 16, 2012. |
I
thank you for your attention.
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