THE Council of Social Workers has called for the amendment of the Children’s Act in order to strengthen it so that it effectively deals with issues affecting children.
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Speaking at an AMH Conversations dinner on child labour on Tuesday, chairperson of the Council of Social Workers Phillip Bohwasi said the current law was silent on child protection.
“The Children’s Act should be looked into and have the children protected at all times. We need to focus more on the policy as the Children’s Act is not being implemented,” he said.
“It needs to be updated so that it is active and it is high time we took it seriously and protect the children.”
Bohwasi said child labour was one of the many forms of ill-treatment and exploitation facing children.
“Children are still in the formative stage, they should be assisted and not work for themselves,” Bohwasi said.
Coalition against Child Labour in Zimbabwe (CACLAZ) representative Raymond Majongwe said child labour does not take away the vicious cycle of poverty.
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“Don’t take the child anywhere other than school, that is what they are supposed to be doing,” Majongwe said adding: “because we will have a scenario where the youth that does not value education that makes no reference to the impact of education to their lives. We are short-circuiting. Let us be clear motivating the parents. The children should go to school and once we achieve that, then we will have a prosperous Zimbabwe and prosperous Africa.”
AMH Conversations raise awareness about different issues and to get policymakers engaged with the social issues.
The Tuesday event was also attended by Youth, Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment deputy minister Mathias Tongofa, Netherlands Ambassador to Zimbabwe Gera Sneller and Brazilian Ambassador to Zimbabwe Marcia Maro DaSilva, among other guests.
