ZNCWC Annual Report 2019

2019

Zimbabwe National Council for
the Welfare of Children Annual

Report

Contents

1.0 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 3

THE STATE OF CHILDREN IN ZIMBABWE: 2019 5

Socio-economic situation 5

Child protection issues: Child abuse and gender based violence 6

Legal and Policy framework 6

2.0 PROJECT SUMMARIES 7

2.1 CHILD PARTICIPATION AND INCLUSION PROJECT: Supported by BMZ 7

2.2. ADVOCACY PROJECT ON KINSHIP CARE IN ZIMBABWE: supported by FOST 10

2.3 CHILD AND YOUTH DRIVEN PEACE INITIATIVE: Supported by Terre des Hommes (TDH) 11

2.4 INCREASING CIVIC PARTICIPATION IN CHILDREN’S RIGHT TO EDUCATION- Supported by

WEI/OSISA 12

3.0 STAKEHOLDER COORDINATION AND COMMUNICATIONS 14

3.1 Child Rights Coalition (CRC) activities 14

3.2 The Zimbabwe Child Rights Coalition Conference 15

3.3 Media Engagements 18

4.0 REGIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL ENGAGEMENTS 18

5.0 ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT 19

5.1 Organizational Policy Development 19

5.2 Staff Capacity Building 20

6.0 CHALLENGES 20

7.0 RECOMMENDATIONS 20

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1.0 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The Zimbabwe National Council for the Welfare of Children (ZNCWC) Annual Report for 2019 was
compiled to give a detailed description of all project activities carried out in the year. The report
gives an overview of the state of Zimbabwe’s children in 2019, the operational environment the
organization has been implementing child rights advocacy activities; in the economic, social and legal
context. The current operational portfolio of ZNCWC consists of four projects; the on-going BMZ
(German Cooperation) and Terre des Hommes (Germany) (TDH) projects, as well as a project
supported by the World Education Inc/Bantwana (WEI/B) and Open Society Initiative Southern
African (OSISA). The organization was also co-implementing a project with Farm Orphan Care Trust
(FOST). The purpose of the report is to determine the progress ZNCWC has made towards achieving
its strategic objectives in 2019. The report will highlight summaries of various program activities
undertaken, including communications and stakeholder coordination, regional and international
advocacy engagements. Organizational development issues such as staff capacity building, resource
mobilization activities and organizational policy strengthening have been included in this report. The
Annual Report also gives an overview of the Child Rights Coalition (CRC) activities that the
organization coordinated. The report will also highlight challenges faced in the reporting period and
possible recommendations for the next operational year.

The four projects that were being implemented by ZNCWC in the period under review were:
• Child participation and Inclusion Project – supported by BMZ
• The Child and Youth Driven Peace Initiative – supported by TDH Germany
• Increasing Civic Participation in Children’s Right to Education project – supported by WEI/B
and OSISA
• Advocacy Project on Kinship Care in Zimbabwe – supported by FOST

The major successes achieved by ZNCWC in the period under review included:

• Reaching approximately 2,459 children and young people directly and indirectly through the
various projects, including trainings on child protection systems, participation,
accountability, leadership, governance, ecological child rights, disability inclusion, and
through several commemorations such as International Day of the Girl Child, Day of the
African Child, Universal Children’s Day amongst others

• Successfully hosted the Zimbabwe Child Rights Coalition Conference and Children’s Summit
commemorating the 30th anniversary of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the
Child (UNCRC) with 244 children and young people participating with 36 duty bearers.

• ZNCWC also undertook research projects, which included a research study on a culture of
peace in Zimbabwe (TDH) and a scoping study on kinship care (FOST) as well as coordinating
data collection by child rights CSOs for the CSO complementary report to the African
Committee of Experts on the Rights of the Child.

The key lessons learned in the reporting period included:
• Increased capacity in emergency programming: with the occurrence of Cyclone Idai in March
2019, which had a devastating impact on the lives of children in Zimbabwe, ZNCWC was
faced with addressing disaster preparedness, mitigation and response mechanisms within
the child rights sector.
• Child rights advocacy and state party reporting: ZNCWC followed up with the Ministry of
Health and Child Care with regards submission of the state party report to the African
Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, which was supposed to have
been submitted in December 2018

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• Identifying and accelerating key child rights advocacy issues which included review of the
2020 National Budget, harmonization of child rights laws including amendment of the
Children’s Act, the Education Act and progress on the Child Justice Bill, the Marriages Bill,
amongst others

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THE STATE OF CHILDREN IN ZIMBABWE: 2019

Socio-economic situation

Humanitarian crisis: Cyclone Idai

In March 2019, one of the most devastating cyclones the Southern African region ever experienced,
hit Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe. As of the 30th of June 2019, 339 people in Zimbabwe were
reported dead, with 349 presumed missing. Approximately 270 000 people were affected, including
129 900 children. Approximately 51 000 people were displaced1; with homes, schools, crops,
livestock roads, bridges, and livelihoods washed away. A total of 97.5 per cent of these displaced
persons were still living in host communities and 2.5 per cent were residing in camp sites and
collective centres at the end of June. The relocation plan for those in collective centres and those
in high -risk areas is still being finalized whilst resource mobilization efforts are being prioritized.
The risk of water-borne and vector borne diseases was high in the most flood affected districts.In
the same period, the country reported 5,634 typhoid cases of which 165 have been confirmed
and 12 deaths (a case fatality rate of 0.21%).Most children were left orphaned, injured, without
homes, schools or school equipment, and were left with emotional/psychological effects.

Food insecurity

The food insecurity situation was further compounded by the ongoing macro-economic crisis.The
country has been experiencing an economic downturn characterized by hyperinflation, which was
175 per cent in June 2019 up from 97.85 per cent in May. By December 2019, hyperinflation had
reached approximately 225.29%. The hyperinflation has caused an increase in the price of basic
commodities, as well as the general cost of living. According to the Zimbabwe Vulnerability
Assessment Committee (ZIMVAC) (2019) assessments in both rural and urban areas, a total of 7.7
million people (including 3.7 million children) were in urgent need of humanitarian assistance in
20192. The ZIMVAC results also highlighted that the national prevalence of Global Acute
Malnutrition (GAM) was 3.6 per cent, with boys more affected than girls due to poor child care
practices. In addition, eight districts out of a total of 60 districts reported GAM levels which are
over 5 per cent. The national prevalence of Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM) was 1.4 per cent
with 13 districts recording SAM levels above 2 per cent. In addition, those affected by the
flooding from Cyclone Idai were in dire need of critical, lifesaving nutrition support to enable
them to recover from the impact of the floods3.

January 2019 unrest

On the 14th of January 2019, violent demonstrations erupted in the country’s major cities, following
the announcement of a price hike of fuel by about 150%. In the wake of the demonstrations, violent
clashes between protestors and security personnel, looting and vandalism, children were reported
caught up in the mayhem. In their investigations, the Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission
highlighted that that juveniles were also arrested although they were eventually released into the

1Zimbabwe Humanitarian Situation Report - Multi-Hazard Mid-year SitRep: 30 June
2019https://reliefweb.int/report/zimbabwe/zimbabwe-humanitarian-situation-report-multi-hazard-mid-year-sitrep-30-
june-2019

2Zimbabwe Vulnerability Committee Assessments (Rural and Urban), July and September 2019
3Zimbabwe Humanitarian Situation Report - Multi-Hazard Mid-year SitRep: 30 June
2019https://reliefweb.int/report/zimbabwe/zimbabwe-humanitarian-situation-report-multi-hazard-mid-year-sitrep-30-
june-2019

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custody of their parents by the courts (numbers not confirmed). Some children were said to have
spent more than 48 hours in detention. The police during the bail hearings in Chitungwiza admitted
that they had arrested primary school children, some as young as 11 years, although they were later
released at the police stations4.

Child protection issues: Child abuse and gender based violence

Childline Zimbabwe reported that in 2019, they received 4 239 reports of sexual abuse of children.
Of these child survivors, 3 920 of them were girls5. In 2019, Zimbabwe reported a 15% increase in
sexual abuse cases mostly affecting teenage girls, which exposes them to HIV and STIs, teenage
pregnancies and child marriage. The National AIDS Council pointed out that teenagers fuel the new
infections of HIV in Zimbabwe. Their report indicated that HIV prevalence among 16-24 year old
females is at 4.5% compared to 3.5% of males of the same age group. Harare, Manicaland and
Mashonaland West provinces recorded the highest number of sexual abuse cases, with a 14.9%
increase in cases reported in 20196. Save the Children also alerted that disasters line Cyclone Idai put
children in further risk of child abuse, with the Zimbabwe Republic Police Victim Friendly Unit (ZRP-
VFU) raising concern over under-reporting of child abuse cases7.

Legal and Policy framework

African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACERWC) Mission Visit
In June 2019, the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACERWC)
conducted a follow up mission visit to Zimbabwe to monitor the status of the implementation of the
Concluding Observations and Recommendations (COR) by the Government of Zimbabwe. The
mission team, which was held from the 12th to the 15th of June 2019, was led by the Chairperson of
the Committee, Honorable Goitseone Nanike Nkwe. The team had consultations with key ministries
such as the Ministry of Health and Child Care, Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare,
and Ministry of Foreign Affairs. They also met with development agencies and civil society partners,
including ZNCWC. The mission took note of Government’s efforts regarding on-going harmonization
of child rights laws to the Constitution, the outlawing of child marriages, and revisions of the
Children’s Act, Marriages Act, Education Act and Child Justice Bill. The team recognized the strides
that GoZ has taken regards pre-trial diversion, setting up birth registration facilities in hospitals,
immunization coverage, among others. However, the Committee expressed its concern over the
following:

• Placement of the National Plan of Action of Children (NPAC) in the Ministry of Health and
Child Care which is not instrumental for the implementation of the ACRWC

• Delayed pace of the Children’s Act Amendment Bill
• Delayed pace of the harmonization of child rights laws to the Constitution

4Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission: Monitoring Report in the Aftermath of the 14 January to 16 January
2019 “Stay Away” and Subsequent Disturbances: https://www.zhrc.org.zw/monitoring-report-in-the-aftermath-of-
the-14-january-to-16-january-2019-stay-away-and-subsequent-disturbances/
5Childline worries over rising number of sexual abuse cases: Newsday, 20 February 2020
https://www.newsday.co.zw/2020/02/childline-worries-over-rising-number-of-sexual-abuse-cases/
6 Zimbabwe records 15 percent rise in sexual abuse cases: The Chronicle, 15 September 2019,
https://www.chronicle.co.zw/zimbabwe-records-15-percent-rise-in-sexual-abuse-cases/
7 Concern over delayed reportage of child abuse cases: The Health Times, 10 September 2019,
https://healthtimes.co.zw/2019/09/10/concern-over-delayed-reportage-of-child-abuse-cases/

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• Challenges regarding child friendly budgeting
• Child marriages which are still rampant in the country
• Charging of indirect fees regarding birth registration

It was also disturbing to note that the Government was yet to submit its state party report to the
Committee, which was due in December 2018. ZNCWC on behalf of the Child Rights Coalition has
since been making follow ups through the office of the Permanent Secretary for the Ministry of
Health and Child Care. The link for the full report of the mission visit can be found at
https://www.acerwc.africa/follow-up-missions/

Education Act
The Education Amendment Bill was gazetted in February 2019 which sought to amend its
predecessor of 2006. The new piece of legislature was seeking to align the Education Act with the
Constitution, to promote free and compulsory basic education for all learners and to ensure equal
opportunities for girls and boys to attain access to education. One sticking point was the issue of
second chance education for female learners who fall pregnant before completion of their studies,
which faced wide opposition from communities. Public consultations were conducted around the
country, with ZNCWC through its networks, member organizations and the Child Rights Coalition,
particularly organizations like Education Coalition of Zimbabwe (ECOZI) mobilizing children, civil
society and ordinary citizens to contribute in these consultations. Resultantly, the bill was passed
into law in December 2019 (to come into effect in 2020).

Marriages Bill
The Marriages Bill was also gazetted in 2019 and was drafted to amend the Marriages Act and the
Customary Marriages Act. The Marriages Bill is significant in that it seeks to uphold the rights of
women and children as outlined in the Constitution, to outlaw child marriage, pledging of children
and women in marriage, protection of children from sexual exploitation, protecting women and
children’s rights upon dissolution of marriage, among other issues. Having one marriage law in
Zimbabwe will ensure the legal age of marriage at 18 years, which supersedes the previous law that
the age of customary marriage at 16 years. Similar to the Education Act, ZNCWC and its partners
took part in consultations at various platforms for the Marriages Bill especially regards outlawing of
child marriage. The bill is yet to be enacted into law and civil society is monitoring progress.

2.0 PROJECT SUMMARIES

2.1 CHILD PARTICIPATION AND INCLUSION PROJECT: Supported by BMZ

Specific objectives:
• To enhance the participation of children in Kwekwe, including those with disabilities in
advocating for their rights and participate actively in policy making processes
• To strengthen the role of Civil Society Organisations through enhanced networking
platforms to advocate for children’s’ rights
• To increase the capacity of People with disabilities to better exercise their rights and are
better integrated in their communities

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• To strengthen local project partners in the area of project management, gender equality and
specific child rights issues

Major achievements in 2019
• Project team members were invited to the selection of Junior Councilors from Municipality
of Redcliff. A JA member (a girl) was invited to the Girls Get Equal launch by Plan
International where the First Lady of the country was Guest of Honor. Project team also
participated at the District Careers Day where awareness of the project was raised specially
to aspiring child leaders
• Children from Kwekwe JAs participated at the children’s conference that was conducted
from the 28 April -3 May 2019 at Karumazondo Outdoor Centre. Children validated their
report they had produced during the previous conference held in December. Out of the 8
children representing Kwekwe district 3 were participating for the first time to ensure an
accurate validation of issues from Kwekwe. The conference drew a total of 138 children.
Team Kwekwe were runners up in the quiz competition and won a trophy while Redcliff
came fifth out of 21 competing teams
• A total of 33 children participated (17 from Zibagwe Rural District Council, 12 from Redcliff
municipality and 4 from Kwekwe City) Incoming group of Junior Councillors and Junior
Members of Parliament were trained on the projects three thematic areas. The main thrust
for the Junior Assembly is child protection and child participation. Emphasis was put on their
role to gather information on child rights violations as well as to report their findings to
relevant authorities and partners so that the issues could be addressed.
• 1 Stakeholders Sensitization Meeting on Junior Assembly Model was conducted with a total
of 57 participants (25females and 32males). Project took advantage of already existing
platforms at district level to sensitize the stakeholders.
• 1 Children-CSO engagement session on the implementation of their rights was conducted
with a total of 32 people participated, 17 females and 15 males. 10 J.A members were
present 5 boys and 5 girls, together with CSOs in Kwekwe district in the child rights sector
participated in the meeting. Representation was from 9 CSOs that are targeted by the
project.
• The project supported 100 children for the Day of the African Child commemorations in June
2019 (62 females and 38 males), 80 girls for the girls Conference and During the
International Day of Persons with Disabilities, 350 participants attended the event (203
females and 147 males)
• The project conducted training of 13 CSOs on child rights, gender and advocacy were
Participants were refreshed on disability inclusion, advocacy as well as gender and social
inclusion. A new topic on Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) and Sexual and
Gender Based Violence were introduced.
• The project facilitated engagement between junior assembly members and 2 Members of
Parliament in October 2019, with 10 children 5 girls and 5 boys including 6 children with
disabilities with their parents from support groups. They engaged with 2 Members of
Parliament, one from Redcliff and the other from the Disability Desk in the President’s
Office. Also, present was a representative of MP for Silobela, Department of Social Welfare
(DSW), ministry of Youth and local authorities. JA representatives strongly advocated and
lobbied for free access to sanitary wear and increment in the number of vulnerable children
covered under the Basic Education Assistance Module. In response legislators stated that
various pieces of legislations were under review among them the Education Amendment Bill
and Persons with Disabilities Act Amendment Bill.
• Supported 3 CSOs from the Midlands province to attend the Zimbabwe Child Rights Coalition
Conference and Children’s Summit in November, hosted in Harare.

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• 52 copies of Shona and Ndebele Disability Toolkit as well as the simplified UNCRP translated
into Shona and Ndebele have been printed and distributed to Community Based
Rehabilitation Volunteers.

Figure 1: Junior assembly members from Kwekwe District take the lead at the Day of the African Child
commemorations, Zhombe 2019

Figure 2: Entertainment at the Day of the African Child Commemorations, Zhombe, 2019

Figure 3: Discussions with child leaders happening on the sidelines of the Day of the African Child commemorations,
Zhombe, 2019

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2.2. ADVOCACY PROJECT ON KINSHIP CARE IN ZIMBABWE: supported by
FOST

Specific objectives:

• To identify strategies to improve the quality of care and support for Orphans and Vulnerable
Children in need of alternative care in Zimbabwe

• To explore practical approaches to advocate for the adaptation and implementation of the
reintegration guidelines by Government of Zimbabwe

• To develop a National advocacy strategy to enhance the acknowledgement and recognition
of Kinship Care as a well assessed, supported and documented practice in Zimbabwe.

Major achievements 2019
• FOST has supported 3 Child Rights Coalition Quarterly meetings that were held in Harare (2)
and Bulawayo (1).
• ZNCWC and FOST hosted a 3-day National Advocacy Strategy Workshop on Kinship Care
which was attended by 30 participants including one from Rwanda and two from South
Africa who shared their experiences with regards Kinship Care in their countries
• ZNCWC and FOST with support from the Ministry of Public, Service Labour and Social
Welfare, conducted a research study/Kinship Care Scoping study in Manicaland and
Mashonaland Provinces.
• The key objectives of the research study were to:

o To identify forms of kinship care that exist in the two targeted districts (Mutare and
Mutare)

o To identify the key needs of different types of kinship care families in the two
districts

o To evaluate the strengths and weaknesses and successes and challenges of the
identified forms of kinship care in meeting the identified needs of kinship care
families

o To come up with recommendations on how the pilot project can best meet the
needs of the kinship care families

o To develop a methodology for consulting local actors about the support that should
be provided to kinship carers

o To use the research findings to inform advocacy work on Kinship Care

• Key findings from the research report included the following:
o Kinship care is common in the two districts targeted during the study. All the cases
of identified kinship care arrangements in both districts are informal, undocumented
and unregulated there by making it difficult to determine prevalence of kinship care
in the two districts.
o Main drivers of kinship care include: traditional and religious values that emphasize
that children are a special gift from God that must be protected; death of parents
mainly due to HIV/AIDS; migration of parents to cities and abroad in search of
employment; divorce; and incapacitation of parents due to illness or disability
among other factors.

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o Main benefits of kinship care to children include: children being located with
families and the environment that they are already familiar with thereby lessening
chances of “culture shock” and psychological trauma; and children’s needs being
met by the kinship family which is essential for child development;

o Main challenges in kinship care include: vulnerability of children to sexual abuse and
exploitation; children exploited as cheap labour; lack of guidance and control of
children who live with elderly care givers who will end up engaging in sex work,
drugs and other social vices; and limited capacity of elderly care givers (usually
grandparents) to adequately provide for the needs of the children such as food,
education and health

2.3 CHILD AND YOUTH DRIVEN PEACE INITIATIVE: Supported by Terre des
Hommes (TDH)

Specific objectives
• Improved enforcement and monitoring of laws and policies to prevent all forms of violence
against children and build a culture of peace within various social institutions.
• Children are better protected from all forms of violence in schools and communities.
• Strengthened and effective child protection systems for prevention of violence against
children.

Major achievements in 2019:

• Successfully launched the Child Friendly Local Governance initiative which seeks to ensure
that the rights of children are at the centre of local government initiatives. This project was
launched during the Mayor’s and Town Clerks Forum which took place in February 2019.
After its launch, 46 local authorities were interested to take up the project roll out the child
friendly budgeting initiative in their respective councils.

• Supported the participation of children in local governance processes through the junior
councils that are supported by the project. Children were supported to influence decision
making and policy formulation processes through participating in the budget formulation
process to ensure that child rights are realized. Children participated in budget consultations
and submitted their views.

• Conducted breakfast meetings to influence policy issues in favour of child rights. The issues
highlighted in these meetings included
o access to birth registration for marginalized children, especially in vulnerable
communities that ZNCWC operates (such as Hopley),
o aspects of child marriage as an input into the proposed anti-child marriage clause in
the new Marriages Bill,
o aspects of the Education Bill, especially referring to the clause on the provision of
free basic education and the elimination of corporal punishment against children in
the school environment

• To ensure child participation in policy formulation processes, the project continued to
support children in validating the Children’s Report to the African Committee of Experts on
the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACERWC), with more than 100 children participating in
the National Conference conducted in April 2019. Children validated their report, and
incorporated statistics and cases studies in the report which will support the presentation of
their report to the ACERWC.A delegation of 20 children, which will be downscaled to 10
children following a selection process, will take a lead in the presentation of the report to
the Committee possibly in 2020.

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• There was the hosting of the Environmental Child Rights Conference for TDH Southern Africa
Partners in Harare in June 2019. The Conference Theme was: “Towards a Children and
Youths Rights-Based Approach to Environmental Justice”. The conference brought together
partners from Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe to discuss strategies of promoting
environmental child rights in the region.

• The project facilitated community-based campaigns against attitudes, beliefs and
perceptions that influences violence against children with the first campaign being
conducted on 13 of September 2019 reaching to 60 (41F/19M) duty bearers and the second
campaign on the 20th of September reaching out to 34 (19F/15M).

• 4 awareness-raising sessions were conducted in Hopely reaching out to 409 (290F/119M)
duty bearers, which comprised of community members, teachers, members of the police
and VFU, department of social welfare, religious leaders and local council officials. The
awareness raising sessions were conducted on 3 October 2019, 15 October 2019, 25 and 26
October 2019 all in Hopely.

• The project successfully hosted a National Conference (Children’s Summit) on the 28th of
November 2019. The Conference reached 244(133F/111M) children and young people.
36(20F/16M duty bearers were also reached.

• The project conducted one training session for 50 (28F/22M) children and young people in
Hopely on non-violent ways of resolving conflicts. The training focussed on demonstrating
how conflict can be resolved and through role-plays children and young people showed how
conflict can be resolved in non-violent ways. The training was conducted on 11 and 12
December 2019.

2.4 INCREASING CIVIC PARTICIPATION IN CHILDREN’S RIGHT TO
EDUCATION- Supported by WEI/OSISA

Specific objectives:
• Capacity building on accountability and governance to child protection committee members,
junior councillors and parliamentarians in 5 selected schools
• Capacity building of the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education (MoPSE) on leadership
and accountable governance in 5 selected schools
• Strengthen coordination and consultation among the Child Advisory Boards, junior
councillors and parliamentarians and child led CPCs

Major achievements in 2019

• Being a new project, most activities were introductory with ZNCWC establishing the new
project in Mazowe, Goromonzi and High Glen districts

• 4 monthly coordination meetings for Child Advisory Boards conducted in October 2019 (4
out of 5 schools where ZNCWC oriented on the composition of the CABs, roles and
responsibilities, their terms of reference/constitutions, their modalities for conducting
meetings, documentation and record keeping, their activities/work plans,
successes/achievements and their challenges

• ZNCWC successfully introduced to the district MoPSE, the child advisory boards, and
oriented on their success’s challenges and action plans so far

• 10 children (2 from each of the Child Advisory Boards in the 5 schools) including their
mentors, representatives from district MoPSE participated in the Stakeholders’
Dissemination meeting for the research findings on promoting a culture of peace in
Zimbabwe and orientation meeting on the training manual for non-violent ways of resolving
conflict held in Harare from 22 to 23 October 2019.

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• Review Child Participation Framework to enhance issues of school accountability and
governance in conjunction with WEI/B - The review process started in October and to be
carried on in November with consultations with the Child Advisory Boards in the 5 schools.

• ZNCWC attended the 2020 Proposed Budget presentation for the Ministry of Primary and
Secondary Education in Parliament on 17 October 2019 and presented an analysis of the
budgetary allocations to social protection.

• ZNCWC organized CABs to make their 2020 oral and written budget submissions to the
MoPSE and also to the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Primary and Secondary
Education

Figure 4: Child Advisory Board monthly coordination meeting in progress at Govera
Secondary School; Goromonzi District (October 2019)

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Figure 5: Child Advisory Board monthly coordination meeting taking place at
Mandindindi Secondary School; Mazowe District (October 2019)

3.0 STAKEHOLDER COORDINATION AND COMMUNICATIONS

3.1 Child Rights Coalition (CRC) activities

Child Rights Coalition First Quarterly meeting
• ZNCWC coordinated and hosted the first quarterly meeting in Harare in March 2019. The
objectives of the meeting were to give an update on the Coalition’s strategic plan and to
discuss chid rights key issues
• The outcome of the meeting was CRC members came up with strategies to address key child
rights advocacy issues

Child Rights Coalition Second Quarterly meeting
• The second CRC meeting was conducted in Bulawayo in June of 2019. The main objectives of
this meeting were to give feedback on key child rights violations taking place in
communities, to discuss alignment of children’s laws and newly introduced children’s bills
such as the Education Bill and Marriages Bill and to give feedback on the ACERWC CSO
Report
• Data collection for the ACERWC CSO Report had since been completed and was in the
process of being compiled into the report
• Major outstanding issues deliberated were the feedback from public consultations on the
Education and Marriages Bill

SAPST Parliamentary Engagement Capacity Building Workshop

• ZNCWC assisted the Southern Africa Parliamentary Support Trust (SAPST) in coordinating
Child Rights Coalition members to participate in this crucial capacity building workshop on
parliamentary engagement

• The main aim of this capacity building workshop was todiscuss the role of Parliamentarians
in legislative and policy formulation processes and to share strategies and experiences of
CSOs regarding engaging with parliamentarians for advocacy and lobby/policy and legislative
influencing

• CSOs were capacitated on coming up with effective advocacy strategies and CRC members
acquired knowledge on engaging parliamentarians

CSO Capacity Assessment
• The CSO capacity assessment was conducted for Coalition members so as to review CRC
Communication Protocol, to identify the capacity needs of the Child Rights Coalition and
member organisations and to clearly map out coalition members and put them in clusters
• Following the assessment, a Consolidated CRC members list/database was developed, the
communications protocol for the Coalition was reviewed and the CRC Capacity assessment
reported was developed and shared with members. A capacity building schedule for CRC
members was also developed and shared.
• The Coalition members were taken through a capacity building session on state party
reporting in April 2019

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3.2 The Zimbabwe Child Rights Coalition Conference

• The Zimbabwe Child Rights Coalition Conference which was held in Harare on the 27th and
28th of November 2019. The event convened various organizations, children and
government of officials in the country to discuss issues affecting children and map a way
forward in addressing the key issues in child rights. The main objective of the Conference
was the commemoration of the 30th anniversary of the United Nations Convention on the
Rights and Welfare of the Child (CRC@30)

• The first day of the Conference had several events which included a presentation on the
status of child rights in Zimbabwe given by ZNCWC, which highlighted at the successes that
have been made by both the Child Rights Coalition and the State, on achieving the rights of
the child as dictated by the UNCRC and the ACRWC. This was also to look at the gaps that
existed and that kept the violations of child rights going on.

• Presentation on the findings of a scoping study on Kinship Care by Farm Orphan Support
Trust of Zimbabwe (FOST), which highlighted that there is a huge gap in the terms of
assessment, monitoring and the support of the kinship care model (see summary of key
findings)

• Presentation on the Guidelines for the Alternative Care of Children by SOS Children's Villages
International, which focused on the purpose of the guidelines which are to enhance the
implementation of the CRC and relevant provisions of other instruments regarding
the protection and wellbeing of children deprived of parental care or at risk of being
so. Other presentations and deliberations centred on the education landscape of Zimbabwe,
provision of services for adolescent sexual reproductive health rights, care for refugee
children and ecological child rights.

• The second day was dedicated to the Children’s Summit. The Children’s Summit was focused
on giving children a platform to articulate their experiences as far as the achievements
towards attaining child rights in Zimbabwe following 30 years of the UNCRC.

• Presentations were given by child led groups, junior assembly members and other child
leaders from Chinhoyi, Kwekwe, Bulawayo, Norton, Mvurwi, Goromonzi, Mazowe, Chiredzi,
Chitungwiza and Harare. The presentations were in the form of PowerPoint presentations,
poetry, drama and song. The presentations covered various aspects including deprivation of
child rights due to shortage of schools, school dropouts due to child marriage and long
distances, limited provision of services such as health, water and sanitation.

• Presentations also highlighted sexual exploitation of children, child abuse, family
disintegration, violence against girls and young women, harmful traditional and cultural
practices, food insecurity and HIV and AIDS. Other issues highlighted included drug abuse,
early and unintended pregnancies, children living and working on the streets and child
labour issues.

• The following session was dialogue between children and Members of Parliament
representing various Parliamentary Portfolio Committees (finance, education and health)
Hon. Nyashanu, Hon. Madiwa and Hon. Gonese.

• The following advocacy issues were identified for follow up and further review:
o Separate children’s ministry (National Child Rights Policy to be adopted)
o Resources ear-marked for children to be channelled to children’s developmental
activities
o To review the 2020 National Budget to increase allocation to social protection ,
health and education sectors
o 2001 Children’s Act to be reviewed
o Access to birth registration

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Figure 6: Members of Parliament following proceedings at the Children's Summit, Harare, 2019

Figure 7: Child leaders and CSO members follow proceedings at the Children's Summit, Harare, 2019

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Figure 8: Presentations happening at the Children's Summit, Harare, 2019
Figure 9: CSO members follow proceedings at a Child Rights Coalition Quarterly meeting, Harare, 2019

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Figure 10: CSO members participating actively in a Child Rights Coalition Quarterly meeting, Harare, 2019

3.3 Media Engagements

Press Statements
• Press statements were made to address various issues on child rights. Three press
statements were made from January to June. The first statement was made to address
violence taking place on children following political demonstrations which led to detention
of some minors.
• The other statement was made to address Cyclone Idai and show our empathy and to raise
awareness on how much damage it had caused and how children were affected.
• In commemoration of Day of the African Child another press statement was made to
acknowledge government’s efforts and progress made so far in upholding children’s rights in
Zimbabwe as well as to highlight some gaps in the alignment of children’s laws.
• A Press Conference with Deaf Trust Zimbabwe was conducted to address the government to
ensure that the education amendment bill is inclusive and provide disability friendly
infrastructure in schools to be able to handle learners with disabilities
• A letter was also submitted to the Office of the President and Cabinet, to follow up on delays
regarding the alignment of children’s laws to the Constitution

Radio and TV engagements
• In accordance with agreements made between the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation
(ZBC) and ZNCWC’s Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), the Communications
department is taking a lead on a TV program on corporal punishment which will be
broadcasted on the national TV. The department has organised meetings with some
coalition members and ZBC to discuss about the program and come up with an action plan.
• Communications also participated in a radio interview with CapiTalk FM to talk about how
Cyclone Idai, the catastrophic disaster, affected children, women and people with
disabilities.

4.0 REGIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL ENGAGEMENTS

The National Director participated in various regional/international coordination engagements,
which included the following:

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Child Rights Network of Southern Africa (CRNSA) Annual General Meeting (AGM) that was
conducted in Maputo, Mozambique, in March 2019

• The AGM was conducted in order to enhance the coordination of child rights regional CSOs
and bodies to ensure the promotion of child rights in southern Africa

• It is imperative to note that the former coordinator, Dr. Musa Chibwana (Zimbabwe), has
since left CRNSA and has joined the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare
of the Child (ACERWC). He has been replaced by Felistas (Botswana)

International Conference on Social Protection was conducted in Tanzania in March 2019
• Main issues discussed included the evolution and key trends in social protection,
comprehensive and integrated social protection systems and strategies to ensure that social
protection systems respond to the needs of vulnerable groups, including children
• There was to be a follow up meeting to be conducted in Zimbabwe, organized by the
Zimbabwe Social Protection Platform and ACT Alliance in August 2019, where ZNCWC gave a
presentation on child sensitive social protection.

Zimbabwe-South African Cross Border Coordination Committee for Unaccompanied and Separated
Migrant Children was conducted in Musina, South Africa in May 2019

• The key issues deliberated included updates on the current migration trends of children
across the Zimbabwe-South African border, follow ups on pending cases and strategies to
prevent and mitigate child trafficking, smuggling, and forced labour

• The National Director however failed to attend the Chirundu Cross Border Migration
Coordination Forum due to funding constraints

African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child meeting conducted at the
African Union Headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in February 2019

• This was the 32nd Ordinary Session of the Assembly where the main action on the agenda
was the declaration of the annual theme: “The Year of Refugees, Returnees and Internally
Displaced Persons: Towards Durable Solutions to Forced Displacement in Africa”

• There were deliberations around the results of the report on the Mapping of Children on the
Move within Africa, which was done by the ACERWC

• The main outcome of the meeting was a declaration by the Assembly, which sets out
obligations for state parties to ensure that children on the continent are protected from
child trafficking, smuggling and statelessness.

5.0 ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

5.1 Organizational Policy Development

ZNCWC Memorandum of Understanding with National Association of Social Workers Zimbabwe
(NASW-Z)

• ZNCWC has since developed and signed an MOU with NASW-Z with the aim of fostering a
strategic partnership with the Association

• The main objective of the strategic partnership is mostly advocacy, capacity building and
research to improve the standard and implementation of alternative care systems in
Zimbabwe.

• The activities of the proposed strategic partnership include: conducting joint analytical work
on state of institutional care and alternatives in Zimbabwe, conducting census of children in
institutions in Zimbabwe, and promoting strategies for deinstitutionalisation.

• Other activities included capacity building of relevant stakeholders and child rights sector
players in positive parenting methodologies, Child Protection and Child Welfare systems
strengthening, and capacity building of social workers

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Policy Strengthening
ZNCWC developed and revised new policies which include:

• The Financial Policy and procedures (revision; completed)
• The Cost Recovery Policy (new policy; completed)
• The Monitoring and Evaluation Plan 2019-2021 (revision; completed)
• The Resource Mobilization Strategy (new policy; in progress)

5.2 Staff Capacity Building

Staff members were taken through a few capacity building sessions, which included the following:
• Capacity building in child safeguarding, monitoring and evaluation, outcome mapping and
theory of change development, disability inclusion, gender and financial management –
supported by BMZ project
• Capacity building on social inclusion, social accountability and resilience building in disaster
and emergency programming – supported by VSO
• Capacity building on problem tree analysis and theory of change development – supported
by TDH

6.0 CHALLENGES

• The main challenge being faced by the organization still remains as financial and resource
constraints. Currently, there are only two main projects (BMZ and TDH) within its
operational portfolio that are fully supporting ZNCWC’s activities. There are limited
unrestricted funds to cover administrative costs, and there are constraints regarding
meeting salary costs.

• Macroeconomic policy changes such as the promulgation of Statutory Instrument number
142 of 2019 which prohibited the use of the United States dollar as legal tender in
Zimbabwe. This had an effect on project activities requiring cash transactions.

• Slow pace of alignment of children’s laws – delay in harmonization of children’s laws with
the Constitution is creating gaps in terms of legal and policy implementation that favours
child rights

7.0 RECOMMENDATIONS

• Enhancing resource mobilization through consortiums, as well as exploring and
strengthening private sector/corporate partnerships

• Budget realignment and continuous assessment of the macroeconomic environment to
anticipate and mitigate unplanned policy changes that are beyond the organization’s
control.

• Enhance evidence gathering and capturing of best practices in child rights advocacy, as well
as pursuing strategic partnerships with other like- minded organizations at national and
regional level to enhance networking and coordination to speed up the re-alignment process
of children’s laws

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