Domestic violence, child labor, early unions, sexual abuse, and illiteracy are some examples of the abuses many children are subjected to around the world.

In Mozambique, data from the National Institute of Statistics (INE) indicate that in the period between 2019 and 2020, 46.4% of girls between the ages of 15 and 19 were pregnant.

Graça Machel, former first lady, activist and child counselor, considered the situation of minors in the country to be worrying and said that the observation of human rights concerning minors is precarious.

To monitor the observance of these rights, the Observatory for Children's Rights in Mozambique was launched in Maputo on Monday 27th.

"It's strange that so many violations are happening, so many violations of the basic needs of children and that this is happening in a way that is becoming normal," Graça Machel told VOA, who showed concern about the way children are treated by society.

"There are new issues that emerge in society in an unexpected but equally serious way. For example, we would not know that in 2022 we would have a worrying situation like alcoholism among children. It's a reflection of a complete failure of society that starts with the family and even manifests itself in our schools," said the activist and former First Lady at the launch of the Observatory of the Rights of the Child by the Civil Society Forum for the Rights of the Child (ROSC) and the Civil Society Learning and Empowerment Center (CESC).

The Observatory will take a specific look at the victims of terrorism in Cabo Delgado, Paula Monjane revealed.

"Terrorist actions are affecting children in a way that they may be being killed, others raped, persecuted and others don't have access to health or education because health facilities or schools are being burned and that is a challenge we have," said Paula Monjane, director of ROSC

The initiative is supported by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), said Veronica Avaty, for whom "this observatory will be important to ensure monitoring of the recommendations of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child at a particularly difficult time with the UNCID-19 pandemic, the global economic crisis, the impact of climate change, and conflict.

Mozambique has a total of 20% minors in premature unions and 28% of children aged 15 to 19 cannot read or write, according to the National Institute of Statistics.
Statistics also point out that 38% under-fives suffer from chronic malnutrition.