JUNIOR Councillors and Parliamentarians urged the government to include children in making decisions so that they can weigh in on issues that impact their lives at a Child Friendly National Budget Initiative Sensitisation workshop held by the National Association of Non-Governmental Organisations (NANGO) in Harare last week.
Vimbai Marufu
Mvurwi Junior Mayor Kudakwashe Chimanga said child participation in decision making, especially for the national budget, holds tremendous value as they are the ones who can clearly outline their problems and needs.
“We are the ones who experience these problems so we know better, the government ministers should also take seriously our contributions, in particular the national budget”, said Chimanga.
More than a decade ago NANGO implemented a child focused project-child friendly national budget initiative to promote the prioritisation of child-related issues in local and national budgets.
Its main objective is to contribute to the general understanding of, and support for children’s rights by advocating for generous funding towards children’s welfare by lobbying policymakers to formulate child friendly budgets.
Speaking at the same event , Save The Children technical manager, Godwin Kudzotsa cited a lot of laws governing the rights of children that include the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child and said, however, some of these rights were not being fully met.
“The reality of children is not something you can touch, especially those from the rural areas who lack education yet we are part and parcel of the UNCRC, ACRWC that states that every child has a right to education,” said Godwin Kudzotsa.
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He added that the priorities of a country are seen in their national budget, but sadly, only little has been set aside for children.
Kudzotsa said child participation is important as children are able to identify their concerns and it helps to develop innovative solutions to their problems and programmes.
Child participation is the process of sharing decisions which affect one’s life and the life of the community in which one lives (Roger Hart).
Kudzotsa said children are aware of their problems and circumstances and want opportunities to express them.
Article 12 of the UNCRC states “You have the right to give your opinion and for adults to listen and take it seriously”.
