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Statement on the Day of the African Child
Youth Forum
June 15, 2012

The Day of the African Child (DAC) is commemorated every year on 16 June by Member States of the African Union (AU), and its Partners. This occasion is firstly a commemoration to recall the 1976 uprisings in Soweto, when a protest by school children in South Africa against apartheid-inspired education system resulted in the mass killing of unarmed young protesters by police officials.

The DAC further presents an opportunity to focus on the work of all actors committed to the rights of children on the continent, to consolidate their efforts in addressing the obstacles for realising these rights. The DAC also provides an occasion for Governments, International Institutions and Communities to renew their on-going commitments towards improving the plight of marginalised and particularly vulnerable children by organising activities aimed at including these specific children.

The 2012 theme is "The Rights of Children with Disabilities: The Duty to Protect, Respect, Promote and Fulfil". The Youth Forum takes the occurrence of DAC as an opportunity to reflect on and improve our work as we strive to be more responsive to the needs and aspirations of differently-abled young people and children throughout our programming, practices and representation. To this end, and as the Youth Forum gears up for its inaugural congress slated for August this year that will elect a new board of trustees systems have already been put in place to ensure that young people and children with disabilities will be represented in the board of trustees. This will go a long way in ensuring that the needs and views of the differently-abled youth and children influence our programming.

The Youth Forum NOTES with regret that the partisan government initiated youth fund has not been tailor-made to accommodate the needs of children and youth with disabilities as they continue to wallow in abject poverty. We also urge Amai Grace Mugabe to utilise the $7million grant secured from China wisely by building a modest orphanage in Mazowe and distributing the rest to other reputable centres throughout the country which have a been taking care of young people with disabilities. We note that the wanton call for urgent elections by President Robert Mugabe will further worsen the plight of children with disabilities as no modalities have been put in place to mitigate the looming political violence. Most of these children and youth have suffered irreparably due to state sponsored violence and they face a repeat of the same as calls for elections become louder.

The Youth Forum also encourages all players in our country to take a social view at young people with disabilities that looks at disabling environments and social structures (including attitudes) rather than at the disabled person. Instead of viewing disability as a shortcoming on the part of the individual, the focus will be moved to the environment and society as a whole and to the lack of consideration for human difference. With this thrust in mind the Youth Forum will be advocating through relevant avenues for elimination of both direct (when someone treats a person with disability less favourably because of their disability) and indirect (when a person with a disability is prevented from doing something a person without that disability can do. In this case, no-one sets out to be deliberately unfair, but the end result is unfair) discrimination.

Areas that young people frequent where discrimination is rampant include education, access to goods, services and facilities, access to public places, accommodation, clubs and associations, sport, employment and work. Eliminating discrimination from these areas will result in a society where there will not be any justification for the exclusion of Zimbabwean children with disabilities from society.

It is also disturbing to note that the leading causes of disability in Zimbabwe are preventable diseases (such as poliomyelitis, meningitis and cerebral malaria), accidents, and inadequate prenatal and neonatal health care services. These are issues that our government has failed to address in its 32 years of existence; it has even exacerbated the situation by instituting and sponsoring political violence which has led to a lot of young people with disabilities.

It is with these in mind that the Youth Forum:

• Strongly recommends the review of existing legislative and policyframeworks at national level to address discrimination against children with disabilities and to ensure the effective inclusion of these children in all areas of society
• Urges the government to consider effective strategies for prevention of disability in childhood.
• Advocates for the right to be heard and to participate for children with disabilities: all children capable of forming their own views have the right to express those views on all matters of concern to them, and to have these views given due weight in accordance with the child's age and maturity. To promote these principles of participation, it is important for Governments to consult with children with disabilities and disabled children's organisations in the conceptualisation and monitoring of policies and plans aimed at ensuring the realisation of their rights.
• The Inclusive Government should ensure that the forthcoming elections are held in a tranquil environment so to guarantee the participation of young people with disabilities.

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