Children In Need Network
Newsletter
2009 Newsletter Articles
Gender
Based Violence And You
By Bestone Banda
A couple of days ago after knocking off from work, I found my son not feeling well. He was coughing continuously and he had very high temperature. So we quickly rushed him to Chelstone Clinic a few blocks from where I live.
As we drove there, I wondered what exactly was wrong with my cute little boy. Thoughts of spending nights at the clinic were very unpleasant especially after having a long day with plenty of issues to deal with. Thoughts of being rebuked by medical personnel for not bringing the child during the day time bugged me, I was not in the mood for any explanations.
But these thoughts vanished when we reached the clinic. Everything in me was moved at the glimpse of a young lady who sat on a wheel chair sobbing. What caught my attention about this lady was not her beauty but the bruises on her body and anguish she appeared to have been going through.
She had a swollen face, with one eye inflamed, a big bloody cut on one of her legs, bruised knees and elbows with clothes so dirty as if she had been rolling on the ground.
While I was still wondering what had happened to this lady a nurse come from the doctor's office and announced that the clinic was not in a position to help until they obtained a police report.
“She must have done something for her to get that beating” whispered someone next to us. “There is just no way you can hit someone you love without a reason” they added.
Then it came to me that this young lady had been battered by her spouse or boy friend.
But then was it her fault to have suffered this barbaric beating, is there any justification for perpetrating gender based violence?
The million dollar question is; how many of us really understand Sexual and Gender Based Violence (SGBV)? Do we know what to do when we experience SGBV and most importantly do we know what stapes to take to protect ourselves from it?
Sexual and Gender Based Violence (SGBV) implies any violence on the basis of gender (i.e. because a particular individual is male, female or child) with an emphasis on sexual violence. Some examples of SGBV include; rape, defilement, harmful religious and traditional practices and domestic violence e.g spouse battering.
We should always remember that everyone
has the right to be treated with respect and dignity at all times by doctors, nurses,
police officers, prosecutors, and social workers who help us after the SGBV incidence. For
instance you have the right to emergency medical treatment e.g. Post Exposure Prophylaxis
(PEP) for rape victims to prevent HIV/AIDS and information about your health is
confidential.
Everyone is at risk of SGBV, be it men, boys, girls or women and if one experiences it, he should quickly report to the nearest Police Post and seek medical treatment as soon as possible. One should quickly talk to someone who can listen and help them cope with their feelings especially a counselor.
SGBV service providers are found at all clinics/ hospitals, Police and other service providers such as the SGBV Coordinated Response Center along Mfukwe Close behind YWCA and opposite UTH Mortuary in Lusaka.
At the police post/station a free police report is issued to help health providers assist someone, a docket is opened and the matter is taken to court. All health centers offer free services for cases of sexual abuse, the doctor will examine you and she will give her opinion regarding the extent of the injuries which will be used in court as evidence.
The big question is; what exactly should one do to protect him/herself from SGBV? First of all we should avoid moving alone at night and report all attempts of sexual abuse. We should talk to children about SGBV so that they can know what to do when it happens to them.
As for the battered lady at the clinic I
doubt if she reported the matter to the police station, she did not sound enthusiastic
about having her hubby locked up. But then again how do you advise someone when they tell
you that they love their hubby too much to report them.
CHIN
OD Programme Bears Fruit Success stories of the CHIN
‘s OD Programme
“We are now able to write project proposals and with the support of sponsors we have managed to build other classrooms for the children”. “We have even managed to do a five years strategic plan and are able to see the future clearly”, said Chiti Community School Coordinator Mr. Emmanuel Mukuka.
He said this when I asked him about how the Organisational Development Programme (OD) has benefited his organization. Mr. Mukuka who was visibly excited about the new developments at Chiti Community School noted that going through the Organisational Development process has really opened their eyes to great opportunities.
Thirty five (35) organisations took part in the Organisational Development Programme in 2008. The CHIN OD programme is a part of the capacity building initiative to assist member organisations to improve practice and to manage their organisations more efficiently and effectively. The programme offers support, training and mentoring for selected CHIN member organisations.
The first step in the OD process is a self assessment exercise during which organisations identify their weaknesses and with the help of OD mentors, they started working on those weaknesses to better their organisations. Apart from trining and mentoring some organisations in the programme also received computers and computer related equipment
“The OD process was like a mirror where we noticed our weakness, such that after noticing these weaknesses we knew what was crucial for us to do” said Mukuka.Through the OD programme, Chiti Community School has now managed to draw a number of sponsors including MTN, Care International and the Ministry of Education.
After learning how to write project proposals the school then wrote to Care International since provided them with home based care and sports kits. They also wrote to Ministry of Education for support and the Ministry came to their aid by providing learning materials and text books.
“After realising that we really needed an income generating activity to sustain our project, we decided to open a private school as an IGA for the school and this is what is helping us to settle some of the bills today” noted Mukuka.
But Chiti is not the only member that praising the OD programme, I had an opportunity to visit Jatisha Community School another CHIN member
The
Status of the Zambia Child Council, what is
the position today?
By Innocent Mulenga
Zambia signed the Convention on the Rights of the Child on 30th September 1990 and ratified it on 6th December without any reservations and is therefore obliged to implement the provisions of the Convention.
The UN Committee on the rights of the child is concerned that government has taken long to establish and operationalise the National Child Council and recommends that it hastens its establishment and adequately provide resources for its operations.
There are several government ministries
whose policies and programmes aimed at enhancing the welfare of the child and that their
coordination is critical to advancing the rights of the child. Currently there is no
effective coordination since the National Children's Council has not yet been established
to date 7 years after Zambia submitted her First and Initial Periodic Report to the United
Nations in which she reported that she would establish it.
The Ministry of Sport, Youth and Child Development is responsible for policy development and coordination of child related activities. The drafting of the National Child Council Act is the responsibility Ministry of Justice. However, the Ministry of Sport, Youth and Child Development will be responsible for implementing the National Child Council Act which shall enable the establishment of the National Child Council.
Article 4 of the Convention provides that states parties shall do all it can to implement the convention within the available resources and where necessary seek bilateral or multilateral cooperation.
In 2008, government allocated K41,701,221 for the drafting of the National Child Council Act to pave way for the establishment of the Child Council while in 2009 no budgetary allocation has been set aside for legislative drafting. Further, Government has drastically reduced the allocation for the establishment of the Child Council from
K550, 200,000 in 2008 to K30, 598,000 in 2009 representing a 94.4% budgetary cut. One wonders whether K30, 598,000 would be adequate towards the establishment and operationalization of the Child Council. The drastic reduction in funding meant for this very important activity shows lack of expressed commitment to quickly establish the Child Council.
In 2009, government has allocated K24, 795,000 for the monitoring of the implementation of the National Plan of Action on Children. We note that the setting of priorities in funding is crucial if children's rights are to be realized. Further that the NPA on children is still in draft form and not yet approved and that providing funds for monitoring of its implementation should not be a priority.
A Zambian Youth Takes part in III World Congress
It was like a dream come true, I never dreamt of traveling so far to represent my country” said Comfort Mwansa. “All my life I have dreamed of carrying the torch for the youths in my country and it was great to find myself living the dream” she added.
Comfort Mwansa was Zambia's youth representative at the Third World Congress (III) Against Sexual Exploitation of Children and Adolescents which took place from 25-28 November, 2008 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
“ I was asked to make youth recommendations for Africa at the youth conference which was running at the same time as the main congress” noted Comfort.
Many decision makers from all over the
world came together to find ways to stop the exploitation of children and adolescents.
Together they found solutions and committed themselves to taking actions, so that all children and adolescents can realize their rights
to health, safety, protection and freedom from People who attended this meeting included: governments, UN agencies, Non Governmental
Organizations, academia, corporations, children and adolescents.
The World Congresses against the sexual exploitation of children are organized to
draw international attention to the serious issue of sexual exploitation of children and adolescents. These important global events, through their preparatory processes at national, regional and international levels created a worldwide movement against the sexual exploitation of children and adolescents.
World Congresses help governments and the rest of the society to become more responsible in addressing the sexual exploitation of children and adolescents.The first World Congress was held in 1996 in Stockholm, Sweden. For the first time leaders, governments, United Nations agencies, Non Governmental Organizations and young people came together for a global meeting on the sexual exploitation of children.
122 countries agreed to change relevant laws, policies, programmes and practices to stop the commercial sexual exploitation of children and adolescents in all its forms, while protecting the rights of child victims and not further harming them. Governments also committed themselves to actively involve children and adolescents in this process. This commitment is part of what is called the Stockholm Declaration and Agenda for Action (1996).
The World Congress II was then held in Yokohama, Japan in 2001. Governments, United Nations agencies, Non Governmental Organizations and other organisations reviewed what had been done since the first meeting in 1996. In this second meeting, 161 countries committed to the Stockholm Declaration and Agenda for Action. Children and adolescent's voices came out very strongly at the World Congress II and concluded with young people coming up with their own Declaration and the Yokohama Youth Appeal.
The idea behind the third World Congress last year was to get countries to come together to see what has been done to stop the sexual exploitation of children and adolescents since the last meeting in 2001. At the same time the it was important to learn from success stories and look at new challenges. Based on this, countries and organizations were to make new commitments to stop the sexual exploitation of children and adolescents.
The overall purpose of the meeting was to
learn from each other and move forward with a better understanding on the situation of
Sexual Exploitation of Children and Adolescents with more ideas for action on all the five
themes of the World Congress.
The five “THEMES” discussed at the Third World Congress III were:
Existing and New Forms of Sexual Exploitation of Children
Legal Issues relating to Sexual Exploitation
Making Policies work well together across Different Sectors - such as the police and the justice system The Role of Businesses, Banks and Corporations, Governments, Organizations and Groups working together at the International Level (for example: cross border crimes)
“After attending the congress i realised that we have a lot of work to do here in Zambia to stop sexual exploitation of children” said Comfort . “Other countries and governments have gone way ahead of us by putting in place laws to protect their children”.“I also realised that as a youth I have a very important role to play in combating and promoting children’s rights”
.” I also want to raise awareness with other youths and fellow former sexworkers” added Comfort with a big smile on her face. Comfort thanks UNICEF and CHIN for the support provided for her to attend the congress. “when I was asked to end my country presentation using a laptop, I pretended that I found it easier to read my own writing. latter one of friends asked if I knew how to use a computer, because she was so nice to me I was honest and I told her the truth.
Comfort is a former sex worker who has successfully undergone rehabilitation at the Tasintha programme. She has also successfully completed an ICT training. She was motivated to do this training because she was embarrassed at her inability to use a computer at the congress while other youths were able to interact.
Children's
Caucus Kicks off
Children exercise their right to participation
The Children in Need Network , Children's Caucus was finally launched on 7th February 2009. The children were very excited and they expressed a lot of enthusiasm towards the programme.
The children's caucus is aimed at encouraging child and community participation by building a critical mass of young advocates who will engage duty bearers at all levels in the fulfillment of their rights.
The children will act as ambassadors for their communities speaking out on issues on behalf of other children and communities. It will provide children an opportunity to interact with different leaders more significantly with traditional and civic leaders. They will also produce their own print and electronic publications.
Activities planned for the Children's Caucus include: training of the children in media and advocacy skills, children's interaction with traditional leaders, community as well as government leaders, training of children in computer skills, designing of the children's website, production of TV and radio programmes, production of the children's Magazine and designing of IEC materials on various children's rights issues
The children have already been trained in children's rights and have been introduced to basics in ICT were they looked at different websites and opened their own email addresses for enhanced communication.
The project is expected to reach out to disadvantaged children in the community and has already received overwhelming response from CHIN members and stakeholders. The children took over the radio and TV airwaves on 1st March 2008 when they commemorated the International Children's Day of Broadcasting. The children were able to give their thought on the situation of children's rights in Zambia and what should be done to make the country safe for children.
CHIN hosts Civil Society Social Protection
CHIN announces the hosting of the Zambia Social Protection Platform for Civil Society Organisations.
CHIN believes that social protection is an essential tool for poverty alleviation and could play a significant role in achieving national development goals. Zambia is currently pursuing its fifth national development plan which recognises social protection as an effective way to draw poor and vulnerable people out of poverty.
However, while over 60 percent of Zambia's population is poor, statistics show that less than ten percent of the total population are beneficiaries of the social protection programs and schemes.
The world today faces the worst global financial and food crises since the 1970s. In the face of this crisis, Zambia needs to define its priorities and gunner sufficient political will to protect its people from vulnerability and stress caused by abject poverty.
Social protection thus becomes an important tool to help protect its people from economic shocks and risks. A wholesome social protection package can contribute to social economic progress.
However, even in Zambia where social protection packages are not wide berthed, evidence suggests that beneficiaries of social assistance and welfare programs have improved the livelihood of poor people and improve their ability to make informed decisions.
CHIN has fully embraced the idea of hosting the Civil Society Platform for Social Protection and has already created space at its premises to host the Social Protection Project Coordinator. The coordinator will have full support and will be part and parcel of CHIN staff. CHIN already has administrative and accounting systems in place and therefore the coordinator will have no problems settling in and getting the project off the ground. In this regard CHIN will also provide any support that it can to the coordinator to help in the smooth running of activities.
Since CHIN already has decentralized structures at provincial and district level and the social protection programme will follow the same structure to allow for wide participation. This will ensure that the platform has nation wide coverage, recognition and support. The Civil Society platform is expected to work through and build on these existing structures.
The national Civil Society platform was initiated at the CARE Zambia meeting of March 4th and 5th, 2009. Considering that the platform was designed to have national coverage, it was resolved that it should be hosted by a network organisation with existing structures that could support the operations of the platform.
While preliminary work had begun under CHIN, the meeting endorsed CHIN as host for the platform through a vote. CHIN amassed the majority vote and was mandated to host the platform. As immediate steps, CHIN was assigned to put together an interim steering committee based on criteria identified that included 1 women's organisation, one youth organisation, one children's organisation, one HIV/AIDS organisation, one poverty organisation, one organisation for the aged, and an organisation for persons with disabilities.
The interim steering committee is currently composed of CSPR, CHIN, NYCA, NGOCC, SCAZ, and ZNAN. Miss Mutale Wakunuma has since been engaged as Coordinator of the platform.
Customary
law in Zambia - Geneses of customary law in
Zambia and its implications on human rights observance
Zambia has a dual legal system which means customary law is applied alongside statutory law. This is as a result of Zambia's legal history. In 1911 as a British Protectorate Zambia (then Northern Rhodesia), adopted the British common law, principles of equity and legislation, as well as a British legal system.
The colonial regime did not ban the laws of the natives but allowed them to continue applying these laws. Hence a dual court system for natives and common law was developed.
However, natives were also subject to the statutes especially in respect of criminal laws. For example, murder of a native by another native was treated as a crime under the statute and dealt with by the common law courts.
After independence this system continued
with native courts being transformed to local courts.
The post-independence legislation provided for the continued application of
customary law. Generally statutes take
precedence over customary law although this is compromised because certain aspects of life
are allowed to be governed by customary per se even when customary law is discriminatory.
For example, carnal knowledge of a minor is unlawful and a criminal offence under the statute but it is made lawful under customary law by the payment of damages and lobola. Customary law in Zambia is unwritten, and therefore imprecise. It refers to a body of rules, principles, usages and expectations that have their origins in culture and traditions of any given society.
Since it has its root in culture and traditions, it is very dynamic. The vague definition of customary law effectively leaves the content to the local level where there is plurality of customary laws most of which are not codified, thus making it a contentious area.
Scholars have argued that there is 'people's customary law' and 'state customary law' as well as 'official customary law' and living customary law'.
The distinction between state or official law and peoples or living customary law is that the former denotes a static form of customary law while the later denotes a dynamic and flexible form of customary law. Living customary is that which is influenced by daily changes in people's lives such as intertribal marriages and official customary law is influenced by what was or used to be the norm or practice.
Therefore customary law is derived from customs and practices of a people based on their beliefs and values as an ethnic group or society, which constitute their culture. It has provisions for punishment and remedies for transgressions. Culture has great influence on people's lives and literature suggests that Zambia is a culture of men, where girls are raised to be subservient, obedient and submissive to men and not to assert themselves.
Literature shows that there is an indigenous concept of human rights under customary law which is broader than legal or universal human rights. Further, even though women and children are human beings they belong to someone. They are regarded as the property of their husband or father and can thus not be victims of human rights abuse in their own right.
However, under customary law individual rights are enjoyed subject to group rights. Therefore in cases of incest, the good of the greater majority is superior to that of the individual victim. Should the rest of the family not eat because the breadwinner has committed incest with one member of the family? While international human rights law focuses on the individual, customary law focuses on the family. As a result the rights of individuals are subsumed in those of the larger whole that is, the family.
A extract from the
CHIN Customary Law report
Public Welfare
Assistance Scheme (PWAS) - Does it target Children Living with HIV/AIDS?
By Innocent Mulenga
The Public Welfare Assistance Scheme (PWAS) is government's major social safety Net aimed at mitigating the adverse effects of the social economic reforms and other effects such as HIV/AIDS on vulnerable groups.
Among the types of assistance provided under the PWAS are Social Support, Education Cost Scheme and Health Care Cost Scheme administered in conjunction with the Ministry of Health. However, a number of inadequacies on its effectiveness in reaching children living with HIV/AIDS exist. Recently the Policy and Advocacy thematic group of the Children In Need Network (CHIN) conducted a study to examine the effectiveness of the Public Welfare assistance scheme in providing orphans and vulnerable children with basic social services. These are the poor targeting due to stigma, the design of the scheme which excludes children living with HIV/AIDS on the scheme and the expensiveness of antiretroviral formulations meant to treat children.
Children living with HIV/AIDS are highly vulnerable and require special treatment. Worldwide at least 2 million children under the age of 15 are living with HIV/AIDS. Another 1,000 children are newly infected with HIV each day mostly through mother to child transmission of the virus.
Children under the age of 15 account for 14% of both AIDS related deaths and new infections worldwide. But only 6% of the approximately 3 million people now on treatment are children. And only 33% of HIV positive pregnant women are receiving antiretroviral medications that can virtually eliminate mother to child transmission of the virus. Antiretroviral formulated to treat children with AIDS can cost five times as much as adult formulations, and pediatric doses are now widely available. In addition, the expensive and complicated tests required to diagnose pediatric HIV mean that half of HIV infected children die undiagnosed before their second birthday.
The health Cost Scheme exempts identified destitute persons from paying user fees at health centers. However, Children living with HIV/AIDS have not been catered for under this scheme. According to the findings, parents and caregivers of children living with HIV/AIDS do not come out to reveal the status of children due to stigma attached to the pandemic. Most of the Informants stated that the scheme does not cover children living with HIV/AIDS.Despite their vulnerability children have been largely overlooked in the response to HIV. According to UNICEF, less than 10% of children orphaned and made vulnerable by HIV/AIDS receive any public support or services. And just one in seven of the estimated 780,000 children in need of antiretroviral therapy are receiving treatment. We urge the Department of social welfare and Ministry of Health undertake to redesign the PWAS to specifically cater for children living with HIV/AIDS.
The
National Constitution and Children’s Rights - CHIN’s Submission to the NCC on
Children’s Rights
CHIN on 29th January 2009 made a submission to the National Constitution Conference (NCC) with regard to children in Zambia and the need for the constitution to explicitly address critical child rights issues .
CHIN Executive Director Pamela Chisanga who made the submission on behalf of CHIN called on the NCC to make certain that the constitution clearly stipulates the role of the State in ensuring that the child is protected against all forms of discrimination and corporal punishment.
“This is regardless of the child's status or opinions/ beliefs expressed by their parents, legal guardians or family members because all rights apply to all children equally” she added.
On Corporal punishment, it was CHIN's
submission that the constitution needs to provide for abolition of corporal punishment in
all settings, including schools, families, institutions of care and juvenile detention
centers.
The submission pointed out that corporal punishment should be broadened to include mental violence, verbal, emotional and social abuse. This is in line with the recommendations of the UN committee on the Rights of the Child on Zambia's State Party Report.
The report noted that although corporal punishment is outlawed in the school settings, it is still being practiced and accepted in the schools. CHIN also submitted that in accordance with the UNCRC, no child shall be subjected to torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
Neither capital punishment nor life imprisonment without the possibility of release shall be imposed on all children below the age of 18. “Further, the United Nations Secretary General's report on Violence against Children alludes to the fact that many children are routinely exposed to physical, sexual and psychological violence in their home and schools, in care and in justice systems, in places of work and in their communities. All this has devastating consequences for their health and well-being now and in the future, hence the need to address this in all settings” noted Ms Chisanga.
The submission noted that CHIN strongly believes that fulfillment of economic, social and cultural rights within available resources must be a priority. The country must demonstrate its commitment to improving the welfare of children by articulating these rights in its constitution.
Ensuring the survival and development of children must be critically considered in the nation's supreme law. The State's responsibility in rendering appropriate assistance to parents/legal guardians in the performance of their child rearing responsibility must also be explicitly stated. The state must ensure the development of institutions, facilities and services for the care of children.
CHIN also submitted that with regard to the right to a name and nationality, the State's responsibility in re-establishing the child's identity where this is illegally deprived must be articulated in terms of its role in assisting and protecting such children.
Children temporarily or permanently deprived of their family environment or in whose own best interests cannot be allowed to remain in that environment, shall be entitled to special protection and assistance provided by the state such as alternative care, foster placement etc, taking into account the child's ethnic background, religious, cultural and linguistic background. The state's responsibility must be expressly stated and provided for.
Ms Chisanga pointed out that children with special needs also deserve special attention. Provisions for support to such groups of children shall be provided free of charge, taking into consideration the financial resources of the parents/guardians. This support shall be designed to ensure that the disabled child have effective access to and receives education, training, health care services, rehabilitation services, preparation for employment and recreation opportunities in a manner conducive to the child. This would be aimed at assisting the child to achieve the fullest possible social integration and individual development.
The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child in its General Comment 10 on children's rights in juvenile justice notes that many countries face many challenges in the administration of juvenile justice and fail to conform to the standards of the convention. This is particularly in areas of procedural rights, the development and implementation of measures for dealing with children in conflict with the law without resorting to judicial proceedings, and the use of deprivation of liberty only as a measure of last resort. In this instance, CHIN recommends that specific provisions must be made for appropriate diversion programmes as an alternative to incarceration and that a time frame for period and mode of detention clearly stipulated. The UNCRC principles for treatment of children in conflict with the law must be adhered to