Page 1 of 17
Journal for Studies in Management and Planning
Available at http://internationaljournalofresearch.org/index.php/JSMaP
e-ISSN: 2395-0463
Volume 01 Issue 07
August 2015
Available online: http://internationaljournalofresearch.org/ P a g e | 572
Child Protection Committees (CPCs) and National Action Plan for
Orphans and Vulnerable Children (NAP for OVC) Phase I & II in
rural Zimbabwe: issues yesterday, today and tomorrow.
Muzingili Taruvinga ; Mutale Quegas. Gombarume Molin.
Teaching Assistant: University of Zimbabwe, School of Social Zimbabwe.
. E-mail: taruvingamuzingili@yahoo.com
Project officer for the Binga Child Protection Programme with Christian Care Zimbabwe
Email: quegasmutale@gmail.com
Social Worker: Fairfield Children’s Home Zimbabwe.
Email: molineg68@gmail.com
Abstract
The plight of orphans and other vulnerable
children in Zimbabwe is one that behoves
all stakeholders to come together for a
common purpose to provide protective
measures, care and support for the
children. Thus the study sought to assess
the experience of Child Protection
Committees in the pre and during the
implementation of National Action Plan
for Orphans and Vulnerable Children I
and II in Zimbabwe. Using qualitative
methodology, focus group discussions, in- depth interviews and secondary sources
were used to solicit information from
sample of 20 participants who included;
village heads, health workers, police
officers, and representative of child led
Child Protection. Major concerns revealed
during the study include; inefficiency
communication system, poor coordination,
pilings of unresolved child abuse case and
lack of incentives among others. Each
evolutional phase of Chid Protection
Committees has its unique set of concerns
but these rolled over to the other phases.
Child Protection Committees, who must at
the forefront in implementing child
protection interventions at community
level, are hoping for improvement in the
future in terms of the challenges and
concerns they have. It is the recognition of
their recommendations that can allow the
sustainability of child protection through
addressing their concerns that sometimes
trickle into risk factors in the success of
child protection in rural Zimbabwe. The
study concluded that the success of the
child protection intervention is tied on
vivacious Child Protection Committees
structures.
Key Terms: Child protection Committees;
NAP; OVC; Zimbabwe
Introduction
Zimbabwe long has been sensitive to the
plight of children who recognised the need
for care for OVC and put in place
mechanisms for the protection and care of
these. As far back as 1999, Zimbabwe had
an orphan care policy which sought to
provide guidance in the care and support
of OVC. The National Orphan Care Policy
(NOCP) became the pillar on which other
successive programmes directed toward
child protection have been anchored
(Muchenje 2008, UNICEF, 2012). Putting
children at zenith of national agendas
became mandatory by government by
developing national child sensitive policy
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Journal for Studies in Management and Planning
Available at http://internationaljournalofresearch.org/index.php/JSMaP
e-ISSN: 2395-0463
Volume 01 Issue 07
August 2015
Available online: http://internationaljournalofresearch.org/ P a g e | 573
framework in form of National Action
Plan for Orphans and Other Vulnerable
Children years later.
Child protection refers to all efforts that
can be applied to promote and protect
children’s rights and welfare, and deter
any unfair practices or influences against
children including child labour, neglect,
abandonment, service denial, drug and
alcohol abuse, unfair treatment and any
other forms of abuse and exploitation
(Beckett, 2012; Muchenje, 2008). It is
argued that worldwide, one hundred and
forty eighty million children have lost one
or both parents, and millions more are
vulnerable due to poverty, diseases,
conflict, and diseases. Among other causes
of vulnerability, the rapid acceleration of
the AIDS pandemic affects children’s
health education, living standards, and
emotional well-being in ways the global
community is just beginning to understand
(National AIDS Council, 2004).
Child Protection Committees are locally- based, inter-agency strategic partnerships
responsible for the design, development,
publication, distribution, dissemination,
implementation and evaluation of child
protection policy and practice across the
public, private and wider third sectors in
their locality and in partnerships across
Zimbabwe (Government of Zimbabwe,
2004). Their role, through their respective
local structures and memberships, is to
provide individual and collective
leadership and direction for the
management of child protection services in
a community. Child Protection
Committees at the various levels, provide
the linkages between communities and
children. They facilitate the
implementation of and upholding of
children’s rights within communities.
With such, CPCs were going to be a
salient cog in the implementation of NAP
for OVC as a child sensitive programme in
Zimbabwe. In Zimbabwe the development
of Child Protection Committees passes 3
distinct historical but inseparable phases as
reviewed below.
Overview of Child Protection
Committees and NAP for OVCs in
Zimbabwe
Phase 1: Child Welfare Forums (CWFs)
With continued rise in child protection
concerns in Zimbabwe due to combined
effects of HIV/AIDS which went unabated
together with poor economic performance,
National Orphan Care Policy was born in
1999 in Zimbabwe. UNICEF (2012) notes
that setting up of national orphan care
policy (NOCP) was a move which dawned
new focus in addressing child protection in
Zimbabwe. Contained in this policy, was a
provision which mandated the
development of Child Welfare Forums,
acting as a multi-sectoial avenue to avail
and discuss child protection issues in
Zimbabwe. However, Chakaipa (2010)
observes that at this time little has been
realized on the importance including
children to lead the process for themselves.
The policy (NOCP) provided broad formal
terms of reference (ToR) which included
provision of advisory services to Ministry
of Labour and Social Services on
monitoring the situation of orphans and
their circumstances in the community.
Review shows that after adoption of
national orphan care policy, the Child
Welfare Forums were formalized. Such
operationalisation was mostly as result of
individual effort of certain officers in the
department of social services in some
districts (UNICEF, 2012). Greatest
shortfall of CWFs in Zimbabwe was that
Page 3 of 17
Journal for Studies in Management and Planning
Available at http://internationaljournalofresearch.org/index.php/JSMaP
e-ISSN: 2395-0463
Volume 01 Issue 07
August 2015
Available online: http://internationaljournalofresearch.org/ P a g e | 574
its success in terms of resources was only
hinged on meagre and stumbling national
basket- funds. At this point only peripheral
roles were performed by CWFs of only
identifying beneficiaries from chief’s
granary (Zunde Ramambo) (Muwoni,
2011).
Phase 2: Evolution from CWFs to CPCs
(NAP 1; 2004-2010)
It was until the establishment of NAP for
OVC 1 when the term Child Protection
Committee in 2004 in Zimbabwe
(Government of Zimbabwe, 2010). NAP 1
itself owes much of its origin from United
Nations’ General Assembly on Special
Session on HIV/AIDS which was held in
2001, and which aimed (goals 65, 66 &
67) call for the development of national
policies and strategies to strengthen
government, community and family-based
capacities to provide supportive
environment for children affected by
HIV/AIDS. Demulder (2011) opines that,
despite Zimbabwe has already existing
child protection systems, there was not
properly constituted coordination between
different institutions involved in child
protection issues. At this point of time, a
great stride in paradigm shift took place
where government engaged in active role
to respond effectively to the scourge of
HIV/AIDS crisis, and increasing number
of the children in multiple deprivations.
Among others, Children’s Act (5.06) was
also called into operation for probation
officers to devise strategies and measures
responding to needs of children.
Regardless to lack of straight CPCs
agenda, Zimbabwe development and
adoption a National Action Plan (NAP 1)
for Orphans and Vulnerable Children,
which is premised on the various
commitments to support children,
including the Convention on the Rights of
the Child and the African Charter on the
Rights and Welfare of the Child gave hope
to revival to already dormant CPCs. The
NAP for OVC sought to, among other
things; consolidate the support provided
for children in need of care so that this
support became standardized, systematic
and coordinated. The plan envisioned the
development of a national institutional
capacity to identify all orphans and
vulnerable children throughout the country
(Government of Zimbabwe, 2012).
Through its Programme of Support (PoS),
it emphasized a programme, which has
turned out to be an extremely well- coordinated strategy for supporting
especially disadvantaged children in
Zimbabwe, had two main objectives,
namely: to strengthen community level
organizations providing care and
protection for vulnerable children; and to
put in place a mechanism to ensure
increased and more predictable funding to
organizations assisting these children
(Demulder, 2011).
The most remarkable achievement of the
NAP 1 was realization of importance of
child participation as important aspect of
protection in Zimbabwe was establishment
of Child led Child Protection Committees
in 2008. However, NAP for OVC in one of
its goals aims to “increase child
participation where appropriate in all
issues that concern them from community
to national level, considering their
evolving capacities” (Government of
Zimbabwe, 2010). With increasing need
for coordination and child engagement, in
2008 proposal was developed to support
child led CPCs. In each province of
Zimbabwe, an NGO was identified to
support child led child protection
