By Abdou Latif MANSARAY – The National Sponsorship Day initiated by Plan International Senegal was celebrated yesterday in the presence of more than 30,000 children from 5 regions of Senegal. It brought together administrative authorities, local authorities, community leaders, economic interest groups that take care of the logistics around the relationship between the godfather-godmother couple and sponsored child, young people, women, representatives of village chiefs, but also all the representatives of other community stakeholders. According to Ms. Salimata Bocoum, country representative of Plan International Senegal, the celebration of this day is an opportunity for communion. And “a lot of recognition, a reminder of our commitment as an organization to ensure that children’s rights are a reality in Senegal. For this beautiful sponsorship day, we have more than 30,000 Senegalese children who have been sponsored at the level of 5 regions of Senegal for the years that Plan International Senegal has existed. And sponsorship is a priority program, a basic program that allows us not only to collaborate with communities, but also with local authorities,” explains Ms. Bocoum.
Testimonies between Plan International Senegal agents were on the menu, the emotion was palpable in the room. Ms. Bocoum assures that the work within the communities will continue to help vulnerable families get by. “And it is not about supporting an individual child, of course it goes through the child yes, but it is the entire community that is targeted. And it is through participatory joint planning with the communities and local authorities. It is a very heavy work that involves a lot of things, but which is based on the commitment of the communities because it will involve identifying the children, raising awareness among families, informing them about the content of the programs,” she adds. Ms. Bocoum thanked the technical services of the various ministries, the local authorities. “Plan International supports government programs and our objective is to ensure that policies that are related to children’s rights are effective and implemented for the well-being of children. We have supported actions at the national level, decentralized in several areas, and these are the resources that we mobilize to carry out these activities,” she notes.
The first edition of National Sponsorship Day organized by Plan international Senegal marks an important step in the celebration of child sponsorship, the cornerstone of the action of the structure present in Senegal for more than 40 years. “This is the first time since 1982 that such a day has been organized to highlight the concrete impact of sponsorship on the lives of the most vulnerable children. An inspiring and unifying event,” notes Plan international.
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