The 14^th session commemorated the 22^nd edition of the Day of the African Child.

The 14^thsession of the Children’s Parliament in Cameroon took place on Saturday June 16 at the National Assembly in Yaounde. The session marked for the 22^nd edition of the Day of the African Child. The theme this year was “Rights of children with disabilities: Duty to protect, respect, promote and fulfil.”

In his presentation, the Assistant Resident Representative of UNICEF Zachari Adam said it is estimated that, overall, between 500 and 650 million people worldwide live with a significant impairment. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), around 10 per cent of the world’s children and young people, some 200 million, have sensory, intellectual or mental health impairment. Around 80 per cent of them live in developing countries. In Cameroon, statistics show that over 2 million children live with disabilities; most of them discriminated and marginalised. It was in this light that the young MPs asked members of government some pertinent questions on the plight of disabled children.

The Minister of Social Affairs Catherine Bakang Mbock was the first to take the rostrum. The Junior Member of Parliament for Mefou and Afamba, Honourable Herman Teugne Fongang Hermann wanted to know what the ministry is doing to ensure the social integration of disabled children. Minister Catherine Bakeng Mbock said several measures had been taken to ensure the social integration of children such as sensitising parents of disabled children to take care of their children, supporting the work of the National Centre for Rehabilitation of Handicapped People and the offer of subventions to centres caring for disabled children. The Ministers of Public Health, Secondary Education and Women’s Empowerment and the Family equally gave presentations of the measures taken in their ministries to protect the rights of disabled children in the country.

Closing the session the President of the National Assembly, The Right Honourable Cavaye Yeguie Djibril, called on all Cameroonians to join efforts in the protection of the rights of disabled children. He called on the Junior MPs to be good ambassadors as they go back to their constituencies. One of the major resolutions taken at the end of the session was the integration of brail in training the training of teachers. The MPs took the commitment to work harder than last year and to support and protect the rights of disabled children in the country.