Representatives of children forum committees during a briefing meeting in Ngoma District

The annual National Children’s Summit is a national level consultative forum that convenes children’s delegates from all the administrative Districts and Sectors across the country. The Children’s Summit provides children with a special opportunity to express their views and wishes about building the nation. Children are also thus given a voice about what is done or planned for them; concerning the country’s policies and programs, economic and social development, children rights, challenges and responses as well as children’s own role in all that concerns them.

Preparations for the 8th national children’s summit organized by the National Commission for Children (NCC) started on Thursday November 29, 2012 with briefing meetings in all Districts nationwide. These meetings brought together representatives of children’s forum committees at sector and District levels, and staff from all the sectors of the districts in order to explain the theme of the year and to better understand how the pre-summit consultations will be conducted in the following weeks.

This year’s theme is “The role of children in sustaining self-worth”. Self-worth is what enables individuals, group and a country to enrich their/its potentials in all domains of development on a sustainable basis. It also makes us believe that we are capable of doing our best with our talents and contribute efficiently in the society. Building it up again is therefore natural, essential, and healthy. The theme will be explored through the following sub themes:

• The role of children in preventing and combating alcohol and drug abuse
• The role of children in combating vagrancy and street children phenomenon
• The role of children to sustain child hygiene and nutrition

The national wide grass root consultative meetings aimed at consolidating children’s views, opinions and suggestions on the theme and its three sub themes will take place from 10th to 11th December, 2012. These consultative meetings will convene all members of the children’s forum committees of the Villages in the Cell, while the consultations at sector level will gather members of the children’s forum committee of the Cell. These consultations will be officially launched in Rulindo District on December 10, 2012 at the national level and also expected to commence in all the other Districts.

The summit which is expected to attract over 600 participants will take place in Kigali on January 4, 2013 at the Parliamentary building.

You can download the concept note for the summit

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