Govt. to harmonise children’s laws with UN convention

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Government says efforts are being made to harmonise children’s laws with the United Nations convention on the rights of the children.

 

Ministry of Home Affairs Deputy Minister Alfridah Kansembe says the convention on the rights of children is not fully domesticated in Zambia.

 

Ms Kansembe said this makes the treaty’s full protection unavailable to children in Zambia.

 

Ms Kansembe said despite government ratifying several conventions and regional treaties a lot more needs to be done to domesticate them into national legislation.

 

The Deputy Minister cited the UN convention on the rights of the child and the soon to be ratified Optional Protocols on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography as being among the treaties that need more awareness and capacity building for them to be effective.

 

She was speaking in Lusaka today at the launch of the UN joint programme on the protection of migrant children from trafficking and exploitation in Zambia.

 

The initiative dubbed “thematic programme on migration and asylum” seeks to review Zambian laws in order to improve protection of children and vulnerable groups from trafficking.

 

And Ms Kansembe said Zambia as a landlocked country faced a lot of challenges in the management of irregular mixed movements among them limited data collection systems.

 

She disclosed that the country currently has more than 1200 asylum seekers and more than 48, 000 refugees registered in Zambia.

 

Meanwhile, UN Resident Coordinator Kanni Wignaraja said Zambia has continued to show great leadership by addressing mixed migration and trafficking issues in the country.

 

She commended government for its efforts saying the enactment of Zambia’s Anti trafficking Act No 11 of 2008 provides a favourable legal basis for combating trafficking.

 

Ms Wignaraja has since called for wider collaboration among countries to ensure protection and increase efforts aimed at prosecuting and preventing the scourge.

 

Speaking at the same function, European Union (EU) Delegation leader Arend BieseBroek disclosed that the EU has pledged more than two million euro’s to the programme.

 

Mr Biesebroak expressed hope that the funds would complement government’s efforts in fighting human trafficking.

 

 

1 COMMENT

  1. This will be a good start to enabling properly implentented child rights and instruments in Zambia. I applaud the move.

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