Government to review National Action Plan for Orphans

Thandeka Moyo-Ndlovu, Senior Health Reporter
GOVERNMENT is in the process of reviewing the National Action Plan for Orphans and other vulnerable children and incorporating strategies to address violence against children including child marriages.

Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare Minister, Professor Paul Mavima, said this on Wednesday during a high-Level child protection policy dialogue event where key stakeholders agreed that more needs to be done to address issues that children continue to face in Zimbabwe.

He said despite funding challenges, strides to address the social worker child ratio of 1:49000 that was prevailing in 2010 have been made as the Public Service Commission increased the number of social workers from an average of two per district to an average of five per district.

Further, with the support of Unicef through the Child Protection Fund and the support of USAID, additional social workers for case management are in place in 42 of the 67 districts to assist in handling the case-load.

The Government is also funding many child protection interventions, including through the introduction of additional child-focused social protection programmes such as tuition grants, provision of sanitary wear in schools, school feeding programme and the establishment of the learner welfare programme under the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education.

To complement Government efforts, development partners have contributed significantly over the years towards child protection in Zimbabwe.

Unfortunately, recent trends have witnessed declining investments of development partners in the child protection sector.

“This High-Level Policy Dialogue on Child Protection Financing is of critical importance as children in Zimbabwe face many protection issues, including child marriage, violence against children and child labour,” said Prof Mavima.

“Direct budgetary allocations for child protection in the national blueprint, the national budget, are very much limited compared to the need on the ground. Much of the funding is allocated to children’s education through the Basic Education Assistance Module (BEAM).

“However, child protection is broader than access to education — it incorporates all strategies to prevent and respond to issues that harm the child and that requires huge sums of finance,” he said.

“Prevention is better than cure, there is need to invest more in prevention strategies such as the work of community childcare workers, early warning systems, awareness campaigns, positive parenting etc.

Currently child protection financing is heavily leaning on donor funds and that is not sustainable.”

The minister said the Government will continue to look into this issue and mobilise domestic resources.

“Government is open to collaborating with the private sector, philanthropists, the development partners, private voluntary organisations, faith-based organisations, churches and anyone willing to finance child protection in the country,” he said.

“This will be done in a more organised, transparent and strategic manner coordinated by the Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare with technical assistance from the Ministry of Finance to ensure accountability,” added Prof Mavima.

The High-Level Policy Dialogue on Child Protection Financing included a panel discussion with Deputy Minister of Finance and Economic Development, Clemence Chiduwa, the Ambassador of Netherlands to Zimbabwe, Dr Margret Verwijk, Ambassador of Sweden to Zimbabwe, Ms à…sa Pehrson and UNICEF deputy regional director for Eastern and Southern Africa, Ms Lieke van de Wiel.

According to the 2019 Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey conducted by the Government of Zimbabwe with support from UNICEF and partners, one woman out of three in Zimbabwe aged 20 to 49 was married before the age of 18, and five percent of girls were married before the age of 15.

Poverty is a major correlation of child abuse and exploitation, including child marriage.

Poverty is also the main trigger of child labour in Zimbabwe.

Nearly one child out of three between five and 17 years in the country is engaged in child labour, involving particularly young boys living in rural areas, as well as children living with disabilities.

Zimbabwe also faces widespread violence against children, with two-thirds of girls and three-quarters of boys experiencing physical violence by a parent or an adult relative.

“UNICEF recognizes the good work being done by the Government on the issue of child protection.

The notable achievements include a developed child protection legal, policy and institutional framework, as well as the strengthening of the provision of child protection services through the roll out of the National Case Management System in all districts,” said Dr Tajudeen Oyewale. — @thamamoe