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Zimbabwe Women Lawyers Association joins the rest of the world in commemorating the day of the African Child. This is a day set aside to celebrate the African child, it is celebrated in memory of the children who were massacred in Soweto, South Africa for protesting against the injustices of the apartheid era in 1976.This year Day of the African Child will be marked under the theme “Conflict and Crisis in Africa: Protecting all Children’s Rights”.

According to section 81 of the Zimbabwean Constitution a child is any person below the age of 18 years and this definition is in harmony with article 2 of the African Children’s Charter. While the Constitution guarantees children various rights, for example right to dignity and the right to life. The Constitution recognizes the vulnerability of children and goes to custom make a section dedicated to the rights of children in section 81. The highlight of section 81 (2) is that the child’s best interest is of paramount importance in every matter concerning the child. While every child in this country has the right to education, health care services, to be protected from all forms of abuse amongst other rights section 81 (2) goes an extra mile by placing the interests of the child on a pedestal. It goes without saying that the future of the African continent lies in the hands of the African child.

At a regional and international level Zimbabwe has shown its commitment to children’s rights. On the 19th of January 1995 and the 11th of September 1990 Zimbabwe ratified the African Charter on the Rights and the Welfare of Child and the Convention on the Rights of the Child respectively. Ratifying these conventions is not merely for cosmetic purpose but has a significant value from a legal perspective and on the lives of the children in Zimbabwe. The rights echoed in these conventions include but are not limited to a child’s right to an identity, freedom of expression, thought and religion. Section 46 of the Constitution is a peremptory provision, which states that when interpreting the fundamental rights, and freedoms guaranteed in the Constitution including children’s rights one “must take into account international law, treaties and conventions to which Zimbabwe is a party to”.

We thus take this opportunity:

• To urge the Government of Zimbabwe and citizens in general to adhere to provisions in the Constitution that protect and promote children’s rights. We are fighting the increased cases of gender based violence particularly involving child sexual abuse and child marriages.

• We urgently call for the alignment of laws to the Constitution to ensure that the age of marriage is set at 18 years as stipulated in the Constitution.

Written by: Fiso Ncube (Transformative Justice Department) Zimbabwe Women Lawyers Association (ZWLA) For feedback, questions and comments please feel free to email: [email protected] or to send a whatsap message on 0777 828 201 and we will definitely address them. For a 24 hour response to Gender Based Violence Issues, call our toll free number 08080131: hotlines 0776736873/ 0782900900