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Courage Nyamhunga Our Children, Our Future—

2017 is the year of renewing commitment towards Zimbabwean children and its young people.

For us it is a year of progress and promise with new responsibilities to deliver positive results that ensure that a girl child in Bulilima is able to finish her Ordinary Level studies free from the fear of being a victim of child marriage. To save more precious lives of children from the widespread of typhoid and also to ensure that a child in Mutare does not have to suffer the same fate as that of a 13-year-old girl from Mbare Hostels, before we intervene.

The UNICEF Zimbabwe Country Office is taking a proactive approach to the evolving situation of typhoid focusing on three key priorities in addressing the situation, namely preventing further transmission in the affected areas, preventing a new outbreak in other at risk areas and responding to ongoing and new outbreaks.

Our efforts to support the most vulnerable children and the young people come against the backdrop of a fragile growth, challenging unemployment levels and an uneven recovery. For us innovation has been the springboard that fuels our mission to face these unprecedented challenges, this is what is relevant to us in 2017. We are making efforts to bring together young people,technologists, the private sector and civil society to seek out fresh approaches and develop new tools for solving these emerging tasks.

Unicef in conjunction with the Government of Zimbabwe through the Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare with support from development partners, launched the next phase of the National Action Plan for Orphans and Vulnerable Children (2016-2020). This is one relevant pillar which we are committed to strengthen the child protection systems and social protection-safety nets, that aim to support and consolidate the efforts of families to reduce social exclusion and mitigate the risk of separation, violence and exploitation, what is generally termed “child abuse” in its various forms.

In our programmes for 2017 we are committed to work with our partners at all levels, across provinces, districts and wards, to promote the rights of children, to ensure that they have access to health-care services, adequate nutrition, they are immunised on time, access to basic-inclusive education,HIV and AIDS prevention and treatment. In 2016 we made significant strides in ensuring the criminalisation of marrying off a child under 18 years and we want to build on that success story, through advocating for children’s inclusion in the re-alignment of our national laws, strategies and budgetary frameworks

We also deepen our commitment in giving the highest priority to children’s and youth’s right to education through the development of an inclusive and high quality education system that guarantees opportunities. Furthermore, we want to reduce the disparities among children with disabilities and those without, among children from rural and urban environments.

In 2017, we look forward to hear that a U-Reporter in Hopley is mapping the environment and other dangers of his community and taking greater control over the environment he lives in. We want to have more success stories that bring positive change and impact to many lives of children and bring in better outcomes for our young people. Through the innovative tools that we have such as EduTrac,we endeavour that a toddler in Chiweshe, Mashonaland Central, attends an early childhood development programme, thus ensuring his or her brain growth and opening the door to a lifetime of learning, this all because early moments matter to us.

Our organisation must and will adapt to the changing environment in which we work and the emerging needs of children posed by the El Nino disaster. We must do more than adapt to change. We must also strive to harness the local innovation for the benefit of every Zimbabwean child. 2017 is for every child.

Courage Nyamhunga is the U-Report Coordinator for Unicef Zimbabwe Country Office.For comments and suggestions he can be contacted at: [email protected]