By Dylan Munashe Dzenga
“The government is increasing measures to curb child abuse by helping the victims and punishing the perpetrators. This comes as the country faces an increase in the number of sexual assault against the girl child in the past few weeks.”
The Vice President and Minister of Health and Child Care Dr Constantino Chiwenga addressed at the World Children’s Day commemorations in Harare yesterday.
This year’s theme was “An inclusive society where all children, including those living with disabilities, have their rights respected as equals.”
This comes at a time when the country is facing series of sexual assaults against young girls, resulting in most of them falling pregnant at a very young age.
Although the persons responsible for the young girls’ traumatic experiences, the Government is rounding up assistance to ensure that the victims get another chance to create a bright future for themselves.
“Government is deeply concerned with the surge of cases of children under the age of 10 getting pregnant and I would like to assure you all that whilst we are coming up with programs to make sure the victims are rehabilitated, it is now imperative that the perpetrators are dealt with, in terms of the law of the land,” said VP Chiwenga
UNICEF country representative Dr Tajudeen Oyewale called for the inclusion “where the rights of all children are respected. Children with disabilities have the same rights as all other children.”
European Union (EU) Ambassador to Zimbabwe Jobst von Kirchmann commended the government’s efforts in promoting the rights of children in the country.
Child speaker of Parliament Monalisa Mwoyoweshumba also called for the implementation of policies and infrastructure that would also cater for the needs of children with disabilities as well.
The government is working on certain priority areas to enhance the protection and nurturing of children.
Some of these include the advancement of digital learning for school-age children, radio and television lessons and also positioning children within the national action strategies to address climate change amongst other issues.