What does Zimbabwe have to offer children?
October 20th, 2010
What does Zimbabwe have to offer children? Well that’s an easy question to answer. Zimbabwe is full of opportunities for an extremely well-rounded childhood. One can meet with friends and play some cricket in the nets, travel out into the bush, hunt, fish…the list really does go on. As many of the older folk would know, Zimbabwe used to enjoy a tremendous education system with the prospect of employment ridiculously higher than it stands now. Moving to Zimbabwe when I was younger was definitely the best thing that could have happened to me. The great weather encourages an outdoor life with outstanding opportunities where a young person can do all sorts of activities.
Health and safety is currently of paramount importance in the United Kingdom. Everything is constantly being scrutinised and being made “safe”. This is not necessarily a bad thing, however in my experience it can hinder one’s enjoyment of what is on offer. In Zimbabwe, I was allowed to walk right to the edge of the great ‘Mosi-oa-Tunya’, and for those who don’t speak Kololo, the ‘Smoke that Thunders (aka Victoria Falls). I could let the wind fly through my hair with arms open wide and hear only the sound of the mighty Zambezi crashing on the jagged rocks below. Amazingly there are sections of the walk through the rainforest towards the border with Zambia where there isn’t a fence! This is a real experience without all the restrictions that would inevitably be present in the United Kingdom.
Children really do have the world at their feet and, as the saying goes, ‘The world is their oyster.’ Unfortunately, this has changed somewhat in Zimbabwe. Children have found themselves marginalised and pushed aside while Zimbabwe struggles with all its problems. Children are the future and sustaining children in ones country with good education, heath and general well being will strengthen the local community, as well as contributing to a sustainable national development. In 1990, world leaders met at the world summit and stated that, ‘Each day, countless children around the world are exposed to dangers that hamper their growth and development.’ This statement rings in the ears of those who look into the welfare of children in Zimbabwe even now in 2010. In 2002 the United Nations General Assembly met in a special session to renew the appeal to the international community to give every child a better future.
Away from personal experience, the law protecting children or, more accurately, the lack of law protecting children in Zimbabwe is shocking. Looking at the current constitution as of February 2009, there is no particular area where the needs of children are addressed. In 2004 IRIN Global raised the need for the reform of the legislation regarding births in the Zimbabwean Constitution. The article tells us that the Convention of the African Child which Zimbabwe has ratified states that it is compulsory to register a child at birth, however Zimbabwe has still not adhered to this, neither in the Constitution nor in the Births and Registration Act. The Constitution presents a major problem. Most commonwealth countries I look at have individual sections dedicated to children, the best in my opinion being South Africa which protects fundamental rights, such as the right, ‘to basic nutrition, shelter, basic health care services and social services’ (Article 28 1 (c)). How can Zimbabwe safeguard its future if there is no solid protection in law for children?
However, it is not all bad news. Currently Zimbabwe does offer some support to children through the Children’s Protection and Adoption Act. This Act describes a child as someone under the age of eighteen. The 2001 amendment provides some element of protection e.g. it defines as “hazardous labour” work which (a) is likely to jeopardise or interfere with the education of the child or young person; (b) involves contact with a hazardous substance; (c) involves underground mining; (d) exposes the child or young person to electronically-powered hand tools, cutting or grinding blades; (e) exposes the child or young person to extreme heat, cold, noise or whole body vibration; (f) is night shift work. However, these amendments are somewhat miscellaneous and slightly confusing when seen in the context of the Act as a whole.
The main international authority is the Convention on the Rights of the Child 1989. Zimbabwe is a signatory but this illustrates how International Law can be a smoke screen for inaction. Zimbabwe’s record on child protection in the last decade is appalling. However, when asked by outside bodies what they are doing to address this, Zimbabwe can point at their signature to the Convention. They can claim that they are adhering to its rules and the international community can do very little. The marginalisation of the child continues on the ground and Mugabe flashes his textbook smile.
I have already mentioned the Kariba Draft and how a section may be dedicated to the rights of the child in Zimbabwe, however, this does need to be made more comprehensive. Other African countries are paving the way for a change in attitudes to young people. South Africa provides the best example and even the Rwandan constitution goes further than Mugabe’s cronies in Kariba by including in their preamble a full adherence to the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
The Minister of Justice and Legal Affairs, Mr Patrick Chinamasa, announced this year that the new Bill of Rights is ready for the revised Zimbabwean Constitution. I look at this and see how a Human Rights Commission will be set in operation by this new Act and I am encouraged, even if it is coming from men with no history of compassion for the vulnerable. Let us hope that children will get the representation they need, that their rights will be taken seriously and that once the necessary legislation has been passed by both houses we will be telling a different story about the next generation in Zimbabwe.
This blogger grew up in Zimbabwe and spent his childhood there. He currently lives in the United Kingdom but recently returned after a visit to the country he grew up in and loves.
