CHAPTER ONE
1.0 INTRODUCTION
In every child who comes into this world, the hopes and dreams of the human race are born new. Children are bearers of our common future, a future that is in our hands as never before. For the world has the knowledge, the resources and the legal imperatives to give every child the best possible start in life, in a family environment that offers the love, the care and the maturing that children need to grow, to learn and to develop to the fullest. But still these children are being exposed to all diverse kind of mistreatment ranging from child labour, violence, abuse, neglect and commercial sexual exploitation of children. Children are more venerable than adult to being hurt, neglected, abused and exploited. Their survival is at risk and their full development is compromised. Violence against children occurs writing amities, is school and communities. However, the need to care for these children so as to meet the increasing and challenging demand arouse. Thus, man resolves to help to mobilize a Global movement for children, an unstoppable crusade to end it, at long last, the poverty, ill health, violence and discrimination that have needlessly blighted and destroyed so many young lives. In this juncture, there is need to know who a child abuse and neglect is. In traditional and even contemporary African, various ethnic group have different concepts who a child is while some seen one as a child so far he cannot contribute to the development of the society, others see him in terms example, Olulfoshi et al (1990) posited that: “ there is not upper limit of childhood begins in terms of the right to vote and be voted for and the age considered by the federal ministry of youth and culture, and eructation as being upper limit of childhood differs”…Even internationally, there are divergent definitions as to who a child is. The OAU charter defines a child as “every human being be gent the ages of eighteen opinions and as to what is the age limit of a child, it is the view of the author, that a child physiological/psychological and physical development. in other words, anybody between zeros of his/her birth to eighteen (18) years is a child. Child neglect is connoted act of omission, denial or even giving basic needs, rights and deeds of the child by parents/guardians, which may or not necessarily impair the well being of a child,. Neglect can also take the form of inadequate provision of resources for the welfare of the child both now and in future.
Child care on the other hand represents an area of programming targeted at “children in need of special protection measures”. There are children who are victims of or belong to, groups which are especially vulnerable to, various kinds of abuse, exploitation, violence and abandonment. Vulnerable groups includes children effected by armed conflict or by other situations of emergency, children engaged in hazardous or exploitative labour, including those who are trafficked, child tenderized of parental protection due AIDS, children subjected to sexual exploitation and abuse, children living with disabilities and children in conflict with the law. Because of the above situations, communities need to be strengthened and families supported to provide the necessary care to improve child survival, development. Families need knowledge, skills, motivation and support. They need to know what to do sustain new practices. They need to be motivated to try and to sustain new practices and finally need support form the health centers/services and health workers should have to give effective advice, drugs and more complex treatment when necessary.
