Statement: Day of the African Child: 16 June 2020

In 1991, the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the then Organisation of African Union (OAU) instituted the Day of the African Child (DAC) for the first time in memory of the 16 June 1976 student uprising in Soweto, South Africa. During that time, students marched in protest against the poor quality of education they received and demanded to be taught in their own languages.

Since then, the OAU and its successor, the African Union, have used the DAC to remember these children, to celebrate children across Africa as well as to inspire reflection and action towards addressing the many challenges that children in Africa face every day.

Today, UNICEF Zimbabwe joins the whole continent in celebrating the Day of the African Child under thistheme for 2020 – “Access to Child-Friendly Justice in Africa”.

Across the world, children encounter justice systems in various ways including as victims and witnesses, or as parties to a justice process, such as in custody arrangements. A child friendly justice system recognizes children who come into conflict with the law as victims. It considers the fact that children lack the maturity of adults (morally and cognitively, physically and emotionally). It recognizes the vulnerability of children to experimentation, victimization, and to becoming involved in crime and that the problems experienced in childhood or adolescence can have life‐long implications.

A large proportion of children coming into conflict with the law are themselves victims of neglect, exploitation, and social and economic hardship. These children need and have a right to proper care, guidance, protection and the opportunity of social reintegration – needs on which a child friendly justice system should be based.

UNICEF strives to achieve “Access to Child-Friendly Justice in Africa” and across the world. Indeed, in Zimbabwe, UNICEF has a long-standing partnership with Government, in particular the Ministry of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, working on legal reform, legal representation of children and pre-trial diversion.

For child offenders (particularly first-time offenders), diversion is an important strategy in many criminal justice systems around the world and was introduced in the Zimbabwe system as an innovation in 2013 and was taken over and launched by the government in 2019. Diverting young people from the formal legal system may create better opportunities to identify any family, behavioural and health problems contributing to the offending behaviour. It helps to address the causes of unacceptable conduct and not merely the consequences of it. Since its inception, the Pre-trial diversion has benefited thousands of children in Zimbabwe.

UNICEF has also supported the legislative agenda and provided technical input to various pieces of legislation for children including the Children’s Amendment Bill, the Marriages Bill and the Child Justice Bill.

UNICEF has also been working closely with the Judicial Services Commission for the implementation and expansion of the Victim-Friendly System to ensure the protection and active participation of vulnerable survivors and witnesses of sexual crimes in the criminal justice system.

The support provided has enabled accelerated access to justice for child witnesses, survivors and offenders of crimes, including access to legal aid and establishment of victim-friendly police units and victim friendly courts (VFC) where, through child-friendly court procedures and capacity development of the judiciary, children are prepared and enabled to provide testimony in a safe and protected environments.

Despite these achievements, a lot more needs to be done for children in contact and in conflict with the law, particularly during pandemics such as COVID-19. UNICEF continues to advocate with the  Government of Zimbabwe to only use the detention of children as a last resort in any case, to institute a moratorium on new children entering detention facilities; release all children who can be safely released from detention depending on the category of crimes; protect the health and well-being of any child who must remain in detention; and consider more alternatives to detention. Focus must shift to rehabilitation of juvenile offenders, giving them a second chance in life and making sure they avoid having a criminal record at an early age.