Second Five-year Plan to Protect and Look After Children

Children represent 49% of the Sudanese population, a premonition that necessitated handling child care with extra dedication. The National Childhood Council hosted a workshop to prepare the second five-year plan to protect and look after children, after the expiration of the first one from 2007-2011, one during which a number of projects were implemented.
Head of the Planning, Research, and Training at the National Childhood Council Mohammed Ahmed Musa presented the five-year plan as follows:
The plan's vision covers the realization of safe, stable, luxurious, and serene childhood for the children of Sudan. Another aspect of the plan is analyzing the weakness and strength points, available opportunities, already-existing mechanisms, political, social, economic, and technological factors. Current issues must be discussed as well, issues such as: birth registry, child labor, war children, children involved in altercations with the law, female circumcision, homeless children, children with no parental care, , children separated from their families, children accompanying their mothers in prison, disabled children, and early marriage.
The strategic goal of the plan is to secure a safe environment for children in Sudan through: Unifying visions among concerned authorities, securing children's rights and protecting them from all kinds of violence, exploitation, mistreatment, and negligence, and finally supporting children's issues and making sure they are handled the right way.
The main goals of the plan though are: Activating laws, issuing legislations, formulating policies, devising plans and strategies, developing the childhood information center, performing research and studies, building the capacities of social workers, raising awareness, changing negative conceptions and practices, building and strengthening childhood protection mechanisms, and ensuring that children get all their rights including health care, education, and development.
Along with a plan, an array of projects –projects to be implemented from 2012 to 2016- were presented. The workshop has contributed to enhancing the plan for example adding a number of projects to plan related to providing care to children without parental care and homeless children. The workshop has also shed light on exerting more effort on showing solidarity regarding children's issues and the necessity to issue more policies in the field of protecting children especially the disabled ones and the ones forced into labor. The workshop also called for strengthening the mechanisms pertinent to child protection in armed disputes.