Government hailed for fighting child marriages, implementing legal reforms

GOVERNMENT has been hailed for taking measures to entrench human rights in the country by implementing the recommendations of the

Universal Periodic Review (UPR) under the United Nations Human Rights Council. The UPR involves a periodic review of the human rights records of all 193 United Nations member states with members declaring actions they have taken to improve the human rights situation in their countries.

The review is done by other countries on all member states being reviewed. Countries are free to accept or decline the recommendations.
The UPR was established when the Human Rights Council was created on 15 March 2006 by the UN General Assembly.

Civil Society Organisations under the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum met at a hotel in Bulawayo on Thursday to review progress made by the country in the implementation of the recommendations arising from its last UPR process in 2022.

Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO forum research specialist Ms Chidzwa Mulingwa hailed the progress made by the Government through various actions it has taken since the last review.

“We are gathered here to do a CSOs mid-term review of the third cycle of the United Nations UPR which was last conducted in 2022 and there were a number of recommendations which were given. Commendably, the Government supported about 80 percent of these recommendations and we have seen notable progress, especially on issues to do with child marriages.

“We have seen the amendment of the Marriages Act, we have seen them increase the age of consent. We have seen them also take seriously the issue of criminal offenders or perpetrators.

“Government has also taken strides to remove the death penalty with those on death sentence being given life in prison instead. We have also seen development in putting in place an independent complainant’s mechanism through the Independent Complainants Commission Act which was gazetted in October 2022. This will help victims who would have faced violations from security personnel,” she said.

Ms Mulingwa urged the Government to continue working on other recommendations which have not been implemented saying CSOs would continue to engage the Government in addressing areas of concern. United Nations Resident Coordinator to Zimbabwe, Mr Edward Kallon, commended the country for continuously submitting reports for the UPR process.

“Zimbabwe has participated in all the UPR cycles, with the latest review being in 2022. In addition, Zimbabwe has diligently and voluntarily submitted mid-term reports and for this, the Government should be commended. It is my hope that they will continue this best practice and submit a mid-term report ahead of the country’s review in January 2027,” he said.

Mr Kallon said there is a close link between the achievement of human rights and the attainment of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
He said the UPR recommendations can also be included in national development strategy documents.

“As we go about doing our human rights work, we need to continuously remind ourselves that human rights and SDGs are two sides of the same coin. As such, the effective implementation of UPR recommendations will significantly accelerate the achievement of the SDGs by promoting human rights, strengthening institutions, and fostering inclusive development.

“For Zimbabwe, integrating the UPR recommendations into national development strategies will also ensure that the SDGs are achieved in a manner that respects and upholds human rights for all citizens,” he said. —themkhust