SAVE the Children Zambia says journalists play a pivotal role in protecting the rights of children by ensuring awareness is raised as enshrined in the Children’s Code Act number 12 of 2022.
Save the Children Zambia Technical specialist on child protection Katongo Mwanza said engaging the journalists is critical considering that the media plays a critical role as advocates in ensuring that duty bearers remain accountable to the obligations provided for in the Children’s Code Act.
“The journalists are also critical in highlighting some of the challenges affecting the children. They also have a duty of amplifying the voice of children through meaningful engagement and participation,’’ Mr Mwanza said.
He said some of the concerns on the Child Act by the journalists is that there has not been a lot of work done in terms of raising awareness on key provisions.
“For journalists, there has not been much done in terms of engaging them to understand what is contained there. They also need to advocate for implementation and enforcement of the Act,’’ he said.
He appealed to the journalists that recently attended a one day training on the provisions of the Children’s Code Act number 12 of 2022 to up their gave in terms of speaking to the Act and highlight some of the key things provided therein.
Mr Mwanza said the journalists are also expected to help his Organisation, Women in Law in Southern Africa (WLSA). Network on Ending Child Marriage in Zambia, Sweden Sverige and all stakeholders to engage with the Government and other State Actors to ensure that they are meeting their obligations and supporting the efforts to enforce and implement the Act.
WILSA,Save the Children, Network on Ending Child Marriages in Zambia and Sweden Sverige recently trained journalists on the provisions of Children’s Code Act and the importance of the child protection laws.
The training was aimed at enhancing journalists’ understanding of how to report on child-related issues in a way that respects the dignity, safety, and privacy of children.
Asked on what factors could have led to high levels of incest and rape in the country, Mr Mwanza said the culture of silence among some care givers.
He said some caregivers refuse to report the cases of abuse involving the children for fear of losing privileges or support that they get from the culprits.
“ We have also not done much educating the children in terms of where they can report and be able to identify the challenges that come with being abused,’’ he said.
Mr Mwanza observed that ashough Zambia has very good laws in some of the children, the country has a challenge in implementing the same laws that favour the children.
He said one of the challenges by the law enforcement bodies is that enforcement of this kind of law requires financial and human resources due to lack of investment in the area.
“ We need to ensure that we have adequate workforce, financial resources to enable us to invest more in prevention as opposed to being reactive as we are seeing now, “he said.
He said it is cardinal to help the survivors of abuse to effectively recover from the traumatic events of defilement or any Act of sexual abuse or exploitation.
