DEAR Editor,-
SCRIPTURE Union (SU) South Africa and its team of staff and volunteers vehemently condemn in the strongest terms the ever-increasing occurrence of abuse of young children by adults they trust. The level of senseless violence is alarming and we call upon all the key role players, parents, teachers and churches to ensure that the perpetrators of these horrible crimes are prosecuted.
As a nation, we have failed our precious little ones and the only way to stop this carnage is to put an immediate stop to all actions that disempower children.
As an organisation that works with children and teens, we call upon all adults to respect children’s rights and promote efforts that will create a safe environment for our children. We also call for stricter sentences for the alleged culprits. We all have a role to play in protecting the well-being of our children by refusing to take part in any acts that exploit children in any way.
SU South Africa engages children and teens in a variety of programmes that utilise safe venues for children. These are conducted both during term time and over weekends and school holidays. Staff and volunteers are trained in a comprehensive child protection policy that ensures young people’s rights are protected while in the care of SU.
SU partners with a range of stakeholders, such as schools and churches. Together with these role players, the rights of young people are promoted. An assortment of developmental outcomes is achieved through activities like camps, holiday clubs, lifeskills programmes and school Christian groups.
During 2014, SU South Africa will be joining other initiatives and proclaiming a ‘Year of the Family’ in which special focus will be given to family-based events. Parents and caregivers are key partners in the protection of young people and SU plans to increase its service to these role players in the year ahead.
For further information, contact 021 6868595 or tony@su.org.za.
TONY NZANZAH
SU General Director
