CHILD RIGHTS SECTOR COLLABORATION KEY
FOR CHILD FRIENDLY DEVELOPMENT
The
Zimbabwe Child Rights Sector has launched its five year Advocacy strategy with
more than hundred organisations participating in the compiling of strategy
document under the auspices of the Zimbabwe National Council for the Welfare of
Children.
The
vision of the sector is summed up in the strategy as “Full enjoyment of rights
and responsibilities by children as citizens of Zimbabwe.” In support of this vision the sector has
pledged to promote, protect and respect the rights of children as a coordinated
and united body. The advocacy strategy has three major priorities they desire
to fulfill by 2017 and these are;
·
Access to quality Health
·
Access to quality basic education
·
Child Protection, covering subthemes like child sexual abuse,
child labour, detention of minors, child marriages and birth registration.
Commenting
on the launch of the Advocacy Strategy, Mr Musa Chibwana the Development
Manager at Zimbabwe National Council for the Welfare of Children said that “this
advocacy strategy is coming with an objective of establishing collaboration and
harmony in the child rights advocacy at a macro level as well as giving the
sector direction on priority issues”. His comments come at the backdrop of
mushrooming individualistic and illegal children’s homes, institutions and
crèches threatening collaboration for the best interest of the child.
The
growth of the child rights sector was mainly propelled by the need for
extensive advocacy and lobbying against human rights abuses and policy blunders
by the government that was prevalent at the wake of the new millennium in
Zimbabwe. It is at this time that several advocacy organisations were birthed
to give alternative care to children and also put pressure on the government to
observe human rights. By the year 2000, the number of organisations
representing children was huge and blooming ranging from community based to
faith based national and international organisations. These organisations
commendably worked in different thematic areas of child rights programming and
trustee response was very high to the plight of the children in the country.
Despite
the good work that has been done by the sector; prevailing socio-economic,
cultural and political circumstances are presenting growing challenges to
vulnerable children. It is also worrying that the sector’s response to these
complex challenges has been lacking consensus on the priorities and some have
even ignored binding government policies. In addition to divergent priorities
the other tragedy that emerged was the lack of coordinated and effective macro
advocacy with key stakeholders resulting in the latter being indifferent about
the sector. This discord has been downplaying the African Committee on the Rights
of the Child’s concluding Observations (1995); which stipulates the need for
legislative and policy reforms that will benefit all children in Zimbabwe
through collaborative effort.
The
sector’s advocacy strategies must be therefore be harmonised in initiating and
conducting research, budget tracking, establishing systematic learning and
knowledge management platforms and strengthening the capacity of children as
rights holders. The organisations in the sector should then create a body of
evidence by collecting on the ground indicators on the conditions and state of
children’s rights in their areas. It would be upon the ZNCWC as the mother body
to have a national call for policy reforms or reversal on the child rights
basing on the body of evidence and this will bring a child friendly development
in the country.
