It is a beautiful week. I see a glorious future for us and our children. Today the CREED will focus on you, your children and their needs.

Duty bearers and their roles identified

 The custodians in the life of the child (primary and secondary) are duty bearers. They are duty bearers because they owe it to the child to protect him.

Considering the fact that the primary custodians(parents) invited the child to this world without his consent, they are duty bound to protect and care for the child. The secondary custodians(nannies, teachers, etc) accept responsibility for the children, therefore they are duty bound to protect and care for the child.

Above all, children cannot take care of themselves. It is therefore the responsibility of the family, community, state and international community to protect and take care of the child.

They form the four rings of protection, whose responsibility is to create protective enviroment, where the family is strenghtened, child protection is codified into culture and norms, which enamate from the peopele and effective legal framework.

(RELATED: Fundamentals of the CREED)

Therefore, duty bearers do not respond to the child on the basis of his needs as if he is doing the child a favour. He responds to the child on the basis of his rights.

Once it is the child’s rights and the primary caregiver can afford it, having invited the child to this world, it will be a duty and never a sacrifice. Once the secondary caregiver signs up to protect and take care of the child, it will never be a sacrifice.

In a nutshell, in dealing with the children, primary and secondary caregivers must employ and be grounded in the Rights-Based Approach as against the popular Needs-Based Approach. Failure to do so will amount to a breach of trust. Therefore when we fulfil our obligations to our children and they say, ‘thank you,’ our response must always be, ‘it is a duty.’

Children have five basic needs

Having been involved in Child Protection for almost half of my life, I have by personal and field experiences, study and research come to the irresistible conclusion that bringing a child to this world is far less important than what the society, beginning from the parents/guardians plan to make of the child.

Since, I came to this conclusion, I no longer rejoice ordinarily when I hear that a child is born. I only rejoice if I know that the parents and society are deliberately equipped to give the child a future and a hope through proper training.

The foregoing, I believe they can only do when they are aware of the requirements, according to divine and universal principles for properly bringing up a child. I daresay that it is not everybody, who is qualified to be parents. To be qualified, prospective parents must understand the five basic needs of children as enumerated below and have an adequate plan to meet them:

1. Every child needs SOMEONE to BELIEVE-  A Role Model
2. Every child needs SOMETHING to BELIEVE – Values
3. Every child needs SOMEWHERE to BELONG-Family&     Community
4. Every child needs SOMETHING  to BECOME- Aspiration to Significance and Pursuit of Inner Potential 
5. Every child needs the AFFIRMATION of his FREEDOM and RESPONSIBILITY- A sense of dignity and self-worth

The family institution provides the best environment for bringing up children.

A family instituted by a man and a woman, who are married and love each other (and love their children) and live in unity is the best environment to bring up a child.

The role of the family cannot be overemphasized. The family plays the most important roles in the life of the child as the seat of the primary care givers.

The real roles of the secondary care givers are to build on the foundation laid by the family and also strengthen the family.

The truth is that until the family gets it right, other custodians cannot get it right. Thus a Ghanaian proverb says,‘‘the ruin of a nation begins in the homes of it’s people.’

It goes without saying that the opposite is also an absolute truth and I render it thus: ‘the prosperity of a nation begins in the homes of it’s people.’

Gary Chapman in his book, The Four Seasons of Marriage said, ‘I explored ethnographies compiled by various anthropologists. One conclusive finding of these studies was that marriage between a man and a woman is the central, social building block in every human society, without exception. It is also true that monogamous, lifelong marriage is the universal cultural norm.’

Permit me to sign out here. I charge you to Think the Child…Think Today….Think the Future… Do have an INSPIRED week.

About the Author

Taiwo Akinlami, Advocate & Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Nigeria is the Principal, Taiwo Akinlami INSPIRES, foremost Child Protection Specialist, Consultant to UNICEF on Child Protection, Independent Legal and Social Regulatory Expert on Child’s Rights and Responsibilities Issues, Legal Enlightenment & Development Enthusiast and an accredited facilitator of the British Council School Leadership Program. Website: www.taiwoakinlami.com│Blog: www.taiwoakinlami.wordpress.com│Twitter: @taiwoakinlami