adminMary Doma
The National Junior Councils Association of Zimbabwe will host its third national conference from August 27 to 31 in Victoria Falls.
Child participation is defined as an ongoing process of children’s expression and active involvement in decision-making at different levels in matters that concern them.
NJCAZ president Shingirirai Chikazhe said the conference is aimed at assisting the sitting councils to keep the structures sustainable and well-focused on developing their communities to be child friendly.
“The conference will focus on developing the capacity of junior councils to be able to plan and implement meaningful developmental activities for the betterment of lives of the disadvantaged children in different societies,” Chikazhe said.
He also said different child-led structures were established in the past years with the sole purpose of ensuring that children participate effectively in issues that concern them. These groups range from Junior Parliament, Junior Councils and various child-led groups in different parts of the country. However nothing much has been achieved since these structures are not coordinated and they do not raise their concerns as one and small voices come from different corners which make no impact at all.
The 11 junior councils across the country will converge to share experiences and what they want to achieve in advocating for children’s rights during their term of office.
Chikazhe said the conference would help to create links among different child-led groups to ensure the sharing of experiences and working together to advocate for children’s issues at national level with one voice.
Victoria Falls junior council will host the conference and this will allow it for the first time since its formation to interact with other junior councils and acquire knowledge of other councils’ operation through networking and knowledge-sharing.”
Online Reporter