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dream come true for them.
Well, all is set for the belated International Day of the African Child celebrations at the Rainbow Towers today. The day is commemorated on June 16 every year.
The day coincides with the official opening of the 21st Session of the Junior Parliament and the launch of the National Youth Policy.
The commemorations are running under the theme “Eliminating Harmful Social and Cultural Practices Affecting Children: Our Collective Responsibility” and seek to promote and protect our cultural heritage.
The reviewed National Youth Policy is about the inclusion of the 25 percent quota participation of young people in the running of the economy of the country.
Zimbabwe Youth Council director Livingstone Dzikira said the idea of having these two activities is key to the participation and empowerment of children and young people in Zimbabwe hence the reason for holding them simultaneously.
“The Junior Parliament stems its background from the Day of the African Child commemorated on the 16th of June annually. Zimbabwe joins the African Union in commemorating the Day of the African Child by holding the opening session of the Junior Parliament every year,” he said in a statement.
The Day of the African Child is commemorated in honour of thousands of black school children who protested against the standard of education under the apartheid system in South Africa.
On June 16, 1976, about 10 000 black schoolchildren marched in Soweto demanding their right not to be taught in Afrikaans. More than a hundred were killed in the process while more than a thousand were injured.
In the quest for a racism-free educational system, the brutal apartheid police gunned down innocent children.
This then led to the reform and made a significant contribution to the South African liberation struggle.
The day also raises awareness of the need for improvement in the provision of African education.
He said the day draws attention to the rights and responsibilities that the African child is entitled to and the strides being made to the realisation of these.
However, the opening of the Junior Parliament will also see Junior Parliamentarians from all the country’s constituencies presenting child issues and debating on the harmful social and cultural practices affecting them in their constituencies and how these can be eliminated.
The debate programme and activities will be centred on this year’s theme and goal. Children living in the streets will also be given an opportunity to participate in the proceedings.
President Mugabe will be present together with the country’s legislators, Cabinet ministers and diplomats. The Junior Cabinet will have an opportunity to get responses from them.
Online Reporter