Back to Index

Commemorating the Day of the African Child
Padare/Enkundleni/Men's Forum on Gender
June 16, 2010

Today, June 16 2010, marks the day when all the attention is drawn to the lives of African Children as we commemorate The Day of the African Child whose theme for this year is , "Planning and Budgeting for children: Our collective responsibility." Padare/Enkundleni/Men's Forum on Gender joins all Africa Union member states, civic society organizations, the international and the private sector in highlighting issues specific to the African Child which incorporate; eradication of sexual violence, education, including school dropout; employment and gender equality.

The day has come at a time when Zimbabwe is faced with an increasing number of child sexual abuse cases. This has been compounded by the most unfortunate fact that most relatives do not bring cases of incest to light as most of them are going unreported. The culture of silence has been attributed as the most crippling factor that has seen many perpetrators going scot-free. The most painful part is that these perpetrators are parents, relatives or guardians by whom victims are intimidated not to report such cases least they be punished. Resultantly, most children end up suffering in silence a situation that affects their normal growth and that of their respective households and communities.

There is so much ignorance on the rights of children in most communities. This calls for intensive awareness and educational campaigns to effect behavioral change on some members of the community who are steeped in a culture which says "It is okay to let a child abuser go scot-free as long as the person is a relative".
In line with this year's theme, "Planning and budgeting for children - our collective responsibility", efforts should be made to ascertain that children are catered for in their urgent felt specific needs especially in the education area. As an organization, we are constantly disturbed by the continued media reports on the failure of the current education system to deliver, a situation which is highly correlated to the exposure of the children to a number of other varied vulnerabilities. We are calling upon the government and all related stakeholders to continue making concerted efforts in making sure that children receive good quality education.

The struggle against child sexual abuse should not be regarded solely as the responsibility for civic society organizations that deal with child abuse cases but should involve all stakeholders to offer their unwavering sustainable support.

Zimbabwe has a number of legal instruments specifically designed to protect the welfare of children. It is our desire to have a broader spectrum of children's specific issues covered in the current constitution making processes to ensure the enforcement of policies that protects children. We are therefore calling upon all responsible authorities to effectively implement these so that children are guaranteed a safe and an enabling environment in which to grow. In addition communities should now work towards revamping Child Protection Committees that will contribute towards addressing and dealing with any cases of child abuse and bringing the perpetrator(s) before the law.

Visit the Padare fact sheet

Please credit www.kubatana.net if you make use of material from this website. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License unless stated otherwise.

TOP