Children talk to the EU President in Johannesburg

On 16 September, accompanied by, Herman Van Rompuy, President of the European Council, and the EU Ambassador to South Africa, President Barroso attended a press conference where he was interviewed by child journalists.

The event was opened by Susanne Martin who introduced the EU delegation. 

Timothy Bainbridge, Regional Director of Save the Children Sweden gave a brief background of the EU Save the Children relations. William Bird, Director of Media Monitoring Africa, a Save the Children partner implementing the Children and the Media programme in South Africa, introduced the programme and what MMA does. He also introduced the children who were to share the information and those who were to conduct the interview.

 There were thirteen children who had an interest in sharing information with the EU president. The children talked about why they monitor the media and what they monitor. They explained to the president why it is important to have fair media coverage of children’s issues. They also shared their concerns with the impact of poor reporting. Three children from schools around Johannesburg interviewed Barroso on his understanding of child rights and how they are realised. Jead Stehr , a 13 year old from Saxonworld Primary, asked what the president thinks of children’s rights.

Barroso’s response focussed on the need to protect children and ensure their safety, access to education and to be taken care of. “Children are our future” he said, “we need to take care of them”. The president encouraged children to stay at school and learn. He told them that learning is not easy but to succeed, one needs to be committed to what they are doing. He made an example where he had to learn English. This has made life easier for him as it has improved the way he communicates. It also allows him to meet people.

Hosted by the University of Johannesburg, the event was a success. Talking to the children after the interview, they indicated how relaxed Barroso was and that he seemed to understand children (based on his responses and jokes).  When he came to the room he asked for some children to come and sit next to him. Asking one of the children how he felt about sitting that close, he said, “Yho, I was scared at first but he made me laugh and it was easy to tell him what we do in our school”.