Maravi

Most policies in Zambia are child blind – Mulenga

Most policies in Zambia are child blind – Mulenga
By George Chellah and Masuzyo Chakwe
Sat 02 Jan. 2010, 04:00 CAT

ZAMBIA Civic Education Association (ZCEA) executive director Judith Mulenga yesterday said most government policies in Zambia are child-blind.
Mulenga said the Zambian government was not among the most child- friendly governments in Africa.

“Most government policies in Zambia are child-blind, politics in Zambia do not put children first, laws do not give equal protection to all citizens including children and there is chronic under-funding to national budget programmes that are meant to provide for the country’s most vulnerable children’s basic needs. This has been re affirmed by the African Report on Child Wellbeing: How child-friendly are African Governments?

A report compiled by the African Child Policy Forum in which Zambia is ranked 27th out of the 52 African countries surveyed,” Mulenga said. “This ranking is a telling effect on this government’s governance record which has focused with chilling intensity on squabbling with every sector of society instead of instituting comprehensive protective legal and policy instruments that would meet children’s survival and development needs. The report has shown that it is politics, and not economics, that account for differences in government performance towards the realisation of children’s rights.

“The Child-friendliness Index used by the Child African Policy Forum shows that a government does not have to have massive oil reserves to provide a better country for children. For example, according to the report, despite their relatively low GDPs, Kenya, Malawi, Rwanda and Burkina Faso are among the best child-friendly governments in Africa.”

She said Zambia had not comprehensively put in place appropriate legal provisions to protect children against abuse and exploitation.
“Corporal punishment continues unabated in homes and public places such as schools.

The case of the 15-year-old girl who lost first both her legs and then her life after corporal punishment from her mother and a neighbour soldier is a case in point. The acceptance and even glee of violence by cadres from government leaders such as Hon Shikapwasha’s smug applaud of cadres’ violence on hapless journalists sends a message to the children of Zambia that violence is acceptable, justifiable and may be applied whenever there is a conflict,” Mulenga said.

“A recurring explanation or excuse given by governments for inadequate provision of the minimum core content of adequate standard of living for children is limited financial capacity, lack of resources and poverty. But to what extent is this true for Zambia? How does one explain the failure by this government to recover the money awarded to Zambia through the London Judgement? Nor the failure to rigorously pursue the recovery of US $20million from the arms deal, US$ 8.5million from the Carrington maize deal?”

She said the recovery of all these monies could provide universal basic education, health services, housing and community amenities to Zambia’s six million children.

“The absence of a social security policy for poor children and the consistent low allocation to social services demonstrates the lack of this government’s commitment to the realisation of children’s rights. The misapplication and ineffective use of resources as demonstrated by the Ministry of Health scams is an indication of government’s poor management of national financial resources,” Mulenga said.

“How does one explain the US $6.7 million award in damages to an individual who has been left with no permanent physical injuries and yet many people have either been left maimed or dead by the same police brutality.

Yes, there should be compensation but this should be proportion to the injuries suffered. Why is there discrimination on the proportion of effective remedy in this country? For example, the family of an Armco security guard Chanda Chayafya who was murdered by police on suspicion of being one of the murderers of former Minister of Finance, Mr Ronald Penza, was only compensated K13 million for loss of his life this year, 10 years after his brutal killing!”

She said the tenets of democracy were hurriedly being eroded such as gagging civil society organisations and the media by hostile laws that fly in the face of free expression accorded to citizens all over the world in all true democratic countries.

“The lack of tolerance of dissenting views dubbed ‘insults’ and the lack of respect for other professionals who are consistently and continuously being heckled as ‘quacks’ shows this government’s refusal to be held accountable by the people it governs. This is a strange and disturbing heresy. Child-friendly governments are truthful, honest and critical of themselves both at an individual and collective basis,” Mulenga said.

“Message for 2010; we citizens should insist on our constitutional right to freedom of expression but, most importantly, we should have the courage and be the first to speak out and engage in the defence of the inherent rights of all human beings including children. We citizens should resist despair. Yes, there are considerable challenges facing us Zambians, but change and progress are possible and feasible even at individual levels of development.”

And Mulenga said the chronic hunger being experienced by many Zambian children, including those in urban areas, was hindering universal primary education.
Mulenga said Zambia should make primary education compulsory if it was to meaningfully attain MDG number two and beyond 2015 for sustainable development and effective participation of citizens in national governance.

She said the supportive environment to achieve universal primary education that Zambia had put in place is good.

“For instance, the Ministry of Education gets a big chunk of the national budget. However, the current measures lack the legal backing to ensure every Zambian child who is of school going age gets access to primary education without discrimination. A minimum age limit should be set when a child can legally leave school. Making primary education compulsory will also protect children from early marriages and child labour because these are the two factors that force children to leave school,” she said.

Mulenga said the persistent low progression rates that were being experienced in certain districts in North Western, Western, Luapula and Northern Provinces due to children dropping out of school would not exist once primary education was made compulsory.

Labels: JUDITH MULENGA, YOUTHS, ZCEA

posted by MrK @ 11:23 AM