Harare. (News Of The South) – This year we commemorate the day of the African Child under the theme “Leave no child behind for Africa’s development”. This theme reinforces last year’s theme which was “The 2030 agenda for sustainable development for children in Africa:Accelerating Protection, Empowerment and Equal Opportunity.”
In 2018, emphasis is being placed on mainstreaming children’s rights in developmental programs which are implemented. The theme makes it clear that the child in Africa who has been historically marginalised should not be left behind.This is coming from the context that children form the majority of Africa’s population.
It is sad that the African child has little to celebrate on this particular day. Although the required framework for the protection of children’s rights is in place, the implementation is severely lacking.
Children are still not taking centrestage in development programs and matters involving economic empowerment and this makes the success of agenda 2030 a mere pipeline dream.
Political violence is still claiming lives of children in African countries as was the case of Professor Lunge, the 2year old son of Rambai Lunge, who was murdered simply because his parents were National Patriotic front political party members. As the election campaign intensifies, we fear the loss of life attributed to political violence.
Also worth mentioning is the resurgence of incidences where primary and secondary school children are forced to attend political party rallies to beef up rally numbers of the ruling party so as to give a semblance of popularity as the general election draws to its logical conclusion. This is a blatant disregard of children’s rights as their education should be a priority rather than political party sloganeering.
The Day of the African Child is an important day but it should not be used for just celebrations but also for increased children’s rights advocacy.
Isabel Mwonzora
Secretary General of the Youth Assembly MDC-T
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