Established in 1961, Save the Children UK has been a major contributor to the country's social and developmental activities, including the NGO Complementary Report to the Committee (CRC) on the Rights of the Child released recently.

Assistant Minister of Gender, Youth, Sports and Recreation, Mr Hlonepho Nts'ekhe, speaking at a ceremony to bid the NGO farewell, said the SCUK has played an extremely vital role in the development of many Basotho children and that parents as well as the government were very appreciative of its sponsorship programme.

Mr Nts'ekhe said he was one of the direct beneficiaries of that sponsorship programme and that its track record is not only visible to the direct beneficiaries but even to those who have not, as those who benefited have been active both in government and in the private sector.

SCUK Programme Director Mrs Fiona Napier said the Lesotho Chapter was established in 1961 and its first programme was the school feeding programme where they helped feed hundreds of Basotho school children.

This was followed by the sponsorship programme, which assisted up to 16 000 Basotho children with school fees in both primary and high schools.

'We have also empowered local agencies, communities, families and children to build their own capacity as well as promote children's rights and improved their welfare.'

They also cooperated closely with the Disaster Management Authority (DMA) and Juvenile Training Centre (JTC), she said.

The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) representative Ms Anne Marie Fonseka was also full of praise for Save the Children UK, showing how it had played a very active and influential role in every major national policy development pertaining to children. They have often been the conscience of children in an adult-focused world.

The organisation has tirelessly striven to place children and child participation in the forefront of all issues concerning their development and well being, in line with Article 12 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which states that every child has the right to express their opinion freely and have that opinion taken into account in any matter or procedure affecting the child, Ms Fonseka said.

10 December 2004