Child Friendly Budgeting

                                                                               

With the introduction of the new constitution, much attention has been drawn to section 81 – children’s rights. Acknowledging children, who make up 45% of the Zimbabwe population (UNICEF, 2011), as a vulnerable demographic that requires the protection of the state is a pivotal moment in a step towards sustainable development in Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe National Council for the Welfare of Children (ZNCWC) commends the government of Zimbabwe for coming to this realisation. The child rights sector subsequently hopes to envision social policy that is biased towards children.

The provisions of children’s rights in the constitution are the ideal state of children’s welfare that we want to see in Zimbabwe. Tools and other mechanisms are required in order to arrive at this end goal. One of these tools is national and council budget. A budget is considered child friendly if it enhances the welfare of children by allocating adequate financial resources to sectors of the economy that directly and indirectly affect the welfare of children.

With this said, it is important for government and council alike to adhere to the recommendations of the Abuja, Dakar and Maputo declarations that were ratified in the early 2000s. The Abuja declaration promises to allocate 15% of GDP to the health sector, the Dakar declaration promises to allocate 20% of GDP to education and finally the Maputo declaration promises to allocate 10% of GDP towards agricultural development and food security.

A trend analysis of the past five years reveals that in the recent three years education has received allocations well above the requirements of the Dakar declaration. However there has been a lag in health and food security that has been in the ranks below 10%.

There is also a difference between allocations and actual disbursements. It is important to ensure that the allocated finances be disbursed in full to the relevant ministries so as to ensure efficient service delivery for the realization of children’s rights. Hence it is our duty and responsibility as citizens of Zimbabwe to ensure that finances that are allocated are disbursed and are used solely for their intended purposes. It is also imperative to be diligent in tracking the use of these finances by analysing the performance of the budget through active participation in the budget process. This encourages a citizen’s budget that performs optimally and in transparency