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Ms. Seynabou Ndiaye Diakhaté, 49, from Senegal, is the Chairperson of the African Committee on the Rights and Welfare of the Child. She has been a member since July 2005. Her term ends this summer. Ms. Diakhaté is a member of the Court of Justice of the West African Economic Even in my role as a Prosecutor I would still go to the courts even though according to the penal code this is the job of the deputy Prosecutor, because - in my head and in my actions - I am first and foremost a child rights advocate. Many of the children I saw as a magistrate were beaten at home. Children are also hit in schools here. I think that corporal punishment should absolutely be banned. The problem is, in my country, the word for education and the word for stick - “yar” - are the same! Many people think that using the stick is the same as teaching! The thing I am most proud of is that when people see me in my country, they know me as an advocate of children's rights. For me, the best thing about the Committee is the reporting process. It provides an opportunity for the Committee and States to have a dialogue and talk through children's rights issues together. The worst is a lack of money to run all the activities we want. The fact that we are not an autonomous body, but an organ of the African Union is a particular constraint. Civil society organisations have always been a partner of the Committee. In many ways, their voice is higher than ours – they can go everywhere, into society, into homes, they know what children's lives are really like and they support us with this knowledge. If I could give one piece of advice to NGOs it would be to be patient and to work hard. The wait is very long, but we can win I think.
and Monetary Union. She has also been the Senior Investigation Magistrate at the Court of
First Instance in Dakar, Senegal and the Public Prosecutor at the Court of First Instance in Thiès and Deputy Public Prosecutor in charge of children's cases at the Court of First
Instance in Dakar.
In my country we privilege educational and rehabilitation measures over detention. I can think of countless cases where children have been able to turn around their lives with some support. Sometimes when I am walking around the market in Dakar, a girl or boy who I met in court will come up to me and say "Mme Diakhaté, I remember you" and they will tell me about what they are doing with their lives now.