DAC2022: Raising Voices against Child Injustices

“No to Child labor! No to virginity testing! No to child marriages!” Children chanted as they marched in the streets of Hatcliffe, a high-density suburb located in Harare.

To commemorate the Day of the African Child, Save the Children jointly with the Education Coalition of Zimbabwe (ECOZI), Zimbabwe National Council for the Welfare of Children (ZNCWC), Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture, and the Zimbabwe Republic Police conducted an awareness campaign in Hatcliffe.

The awareness campaign which took place on the 16th of June aimed at shining light on the harmful practices affecting children in Zimbabwe and to call on parents, the community, and local and national leaders to collectively work together to eliminate these harmful practices as they destroy the future of children.

Children marched waving placards and carrying banners voicing for their to be observed. Some of the signs read: “Protect children from all forms of violence”, “Minimum age of marriage is 18”, "No one should get married or marry before the age of 18", and "Child labour is child abuse".

The Zimbabwe Republic Police vehicle led the group of campaigners with one police officer making use of a megaphone to sensitize the community of consequences of child abuse and encourage people to report all cases of child violation.

“Members of the community, we are here to remind you that child abuse is a crime which attracts jail term. We encourage everyone to protect children from all forms of abuse and report all child violations to the ZRP Victim Friendly Unit.” A voice from the megaphone could be heard.

The campaign ended with remarks from the Child Parliamentarian for Hatcliffe, Fadzai Nyaguse who encouraged everyone to work towards creating an Africa where every African child is protected from all harmful practices.

The Day of the African Child commemorations rallied behind the theme, “Eliminating Harmful Practices Affecting Children: Progress on Policy & Practice since 2013”.