By Crispina Cummings
The UN children’s agency, UNICEF, on Tuesday engaged three parliamentary oversight committees on health, education and Social Services in the promotion of education for the girl child.UNICEF Country Representative, Roleland Monasch noted that the three oversight committees in parliament are very important in promoting and advocating on issues relating to children.
Monasch pointed out that UNICEF would be collaborating with those parliamentary committees in enacting laws relating to the child and to discuss key priorities in children’s welfare including health and education. He said that there was need to build on the capacity of the free medical health care and to look into issues like teenage pregnancy as Sierra Leone is among the countries ranked high on teenage pregnancy issues.
He urged MPs to focus on public sector reforms and the engagement of partners in development in promoting education in the country and to tackle teenage pregnancy and early marriage.
The chairmen of the three oversight committees said they appreciated the move by UNICEF to engage parliament in moving the agenda of children forward in the country, promising to work with UNICEF to achieve the Millennium Development Goals for children.
The chairperson of the program, Emma Kowa, MP, commended UNICEF and called for more support to be given to the committees to do their oversight functions efficiently. She said their oversight work was hindered by inadequate mobility to go on oversight trips.
