18 Jan 2012 • Trafficking and exploitation, Health and nutrition... Benin and Nigeria

Benin: Terre des hommes and PLAN International fight together for the promotion of child rights

- Published by Darcissac, Marion

Terre des hommes and PLAN are two international organisations working to promote and protect the rights of the child throughout the world. In Benin, they have just signed up to a partnership and a three-year plan of action in the Department of Zou, where the two organisations are already installed. From now on they will be intervening jointly to benefit of children affected by mobility and the risks of exploitation, trafficking and abuse. The two NGOs will be working together to strengthen the system of child protection, including judicial matters, and in cases of emergency, as well in the system of health and nutrition for mothers and children.

Extreme poverty exposes children to all sorts of risks

Despite the government’s efforts to improve the basic social services and to promulgate laws favouring and protecting child rights, numerous cases of violation of their rights persist. In 2009, a study on vulnerability in Benin revealed that 44% of the children under 5 live in the most poverty-stricken households by the standards of the UNO, where they have no chance to enjoy a decent life. 34% of children aged between 5 and 17 (source: ILO) are compelled to work, despite free primary schooling and the Benin Code of Work which formally forbids child labour. The possibilities for these children to benefit from education are very limited and, what is even more worrying, the work they do makes them particularly vulnerable to exploitation. The violation or non-respect of child rights constitutes a real blight on society and nowadays deserves especial attention by the people working on child protection. This is why the delegations of Terre des hommes and PLAN International in Benin have decided to muster their forces and help the State and communities in the Department of Zou to secure the children’s rights.

An alliance between the two largest NGOs for child rights in Benin

The new collaboration between the two organisations is part of the framework for child protection and promotion of child rights, on subjects linked to mistreatment, violence, abuse, juvenile justice, prostitution, exploitation of children, as well as the health and nutrition of children and their mothers. Terre des hommes and PLAN are committed to supporting the State, its institutions and local communities to put in place the recommendations made by the two NGOs in a study on the mobility of youngsters in West and Central Africa. “This collaboration is a real advantage, as it permits the two most important NGOs in child protection in Benin to work jointly on the same issues with more means and resources. In the initial stage, both partners will bring their own financial resources into a common project and will support one another in each one’s projects”, explains Jean-Luc Imhof, delegate for Terre des hommes in Benin and Nigeria.