Solidarity || Thousands of youths and children in Angola perform a long mega-march of repudiation protesting all forms of violence against children

Thousands of faithful including children, representing all children in Angola and the world in general, participated last weekend in a march of repudiation against all forms of child violence.

The movement that lasted approximately 6 hours brought together children, young people and adults who came organized from various parts of the city, singing the following:

Breaking the silence, justice for the child.

Violence against children is a crime and a sin.

Justice for the child, I will not be silent, I will speak.

Promoted by the 7th-day Adventist Church Union, the march also served to show support and solidarity to all minors who suffer from the consequences of the violation of their rights, including those who are out of school and all those who are sick and hospitalized in several health units.

The month of July is the month of solidarity, the month of Nelson Mandela.

Therefore, this initiative aims to offer solidarity to all children in the world who are victims of abuse, as well as to raise awareness about the fight against violence, abuse, trafficking and sexual exploitation against children.

The Adventist community marched through the municipalities and occupied the streets of Luanda to protest against the successive cases of domestic violence against children, which have shocked local society and the country in general, associated with sexual abuse, corporal offenses and signs of kidnapping, in country.

We understand that when the victim speaks, manifests himself, protests, he inhibits the aggressor. The end of the silence of the victims can put an end to the violence.

Child abuse report in Angola 

Over 7000 cases of sexual abuse against children were registered in Angola between March 2021 and March 2022, with Luanda registering the highest number, it was announced on Tuesday.

The information was provided today by the director general of the National Children’s Institute (INAC) of Angola, Paulo Kalesi, during the presentation of the balance of the national campaign to prevent and combat sexual violence against children in Angola.

Luanda, the Angolan capital, recorded the highest number of cases of violence against minors, in this period, totalling 2,500 cases. Lunda Sul, with nine, was the province with the lowest number of cases.

The highest direction of the church represented by President Pr. Teixeira Mateus Vinte, through the Youth Ministries, Children's Ministry, Women's Ministry and other ministries, appealed to parents, educators, churches and the whole society to protect children from all evils, such as physical aggression, sexual abuse, among other crimes, under penalty of compromising the future of the nation.

Mandela and the Adventist Church

Regarded as a great humanist leader who spanned the last two centuries, Nelson Mandela has been laid to rest. And as always, his memory is being incensed on social media and news sites around the world.

Nelson Mandela (1918-2013) was buried on December 15 in the city of Qunu, where he spent his childhood, with his parents and three of their children, in an intimate ceremony, as was his wish, said the former president of South Africa, Jacob Zuma.

Mandela had a special connection with the seventh-day Adventists, a worldwide organization that also values freedom and preaches against segregation of any kind. Mandela enrolled two of his children in an Adventist School near Johannesburg and supported the Adventist Church while he was president of South Africa.

Adventism has a rich heritage in South Africa, and Mandela helped the Church develop there in the 1990s and even after.

“Today more than ever we need to continue our efforts to support people suffering from violence and abuse. We are choosing our actions very carefully and planning them carefully so that they are really very effective”.