Zimbabwe is implementing structured reforms to shift from institutional care to family-based care for children without parental support.
Speaking at a regional conference on family-based care, Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare deputy minister Mercy Dinha said the country has approximately 7.1 million children, including 562,872 orphans.
About 4,500 are in residential care and 660 in formal foster care, while over 95% of children without parental care are supported within extended families — demonstrating the strength of traditional African kinship systems.
Dinha noted that Zimbabwe’s alternative care system is grounded in Section 81 of the Constitution, which guarantees every child the right to family or parental care.
The Children’s Act further recognises the family as the primary environment for a child’s wellbeing.
“Residential childcare institutions are expected to provide only temporary care while family reunification efforts are pursued,” she said.
The National Policy for the Care and Protection of Children Without Parental Care prioritises family and community-based care over institutionalisation.
Through a joint initiative with SOS Children’s Villages, children previously in institutional care are being successfully reintegrated into kinship and foster care.
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New admissions into institutions have been largely reduced to the most deserving cases.
Programmes providing parenting support, counselling, foster care grants, and education assistance are helping prevent unnecessary family separation.
Dinha said investing in family-based care makes economic sense, as it is more cost-effective than institutional care, delivers better developmental outcomes for children, and reduces long-term dependence on state support systems.
