MUTARE– Commitments made by regional states to protect the rights of children face increasing risk of failure as the old generation of politicians continue to subvert the sustainable development agenda, a natural resource governance lobby group has said.
Green Governance Zimbabwe Trust (GGZT) which piloted a legal vehicle to assist artisanal miners, says the continued engagement of children in mining outside labour laws is a sign of regress.
Frank Mpahlo, GGZT Director urged the government to utilize natural resource revenue to promote child development and curb exploitation of young people in the extractive sector.
He also urged the government to formulate policy response which can facilitate regularisation and formalisation of artisanal miners to ensure adherence to labour laws, human rights and environmental regulations.
“Of late we have seen an upsurge of artisanal gold mining across the country, in response to macro-economic challenges and high levels of unemployment facing the youths.
“While the sector production quantum speak to its potential to spur economic growth reports of exploitative agreements and of course cases of child labour, have become a pressing issue that needs redress.
“Outside of formalisation of that sector, we will continue to witness human rights violations which impact and affect the marginalised groups like women and children,” he said.
Social justice organisation, the Zimbabwe Coalition on Debt and Development (ZIMCODD) also bemoaned how mining revenue serves the interests of multinational corporations and imperialist governments, instead of financing sustainable development of the continent.
In a strongly worded press statement, ZIMCODD said youths in Africa face a bleak future, subverted by selfish interests of an old political elite which are custodians of abundant natural resource wealth.
This it said was a direct result of closed political space for youths, which invariably bear the brunt of the ‘scourge of terrorism and political violence that characterises places like Mozambique, Chad, northern Nigeria, Somalia among other troubled spots of the world.’
“…Unless and until youth in the continent who are the majority as a demography, unite, mobilise, organise and define the Africa they want to see, then it is our honest submission that their destinies and future will continue to be subverted by an old political elite that is currently ruling member States of the AU.
“Neoliberal economic policies that have brought untold suffering on youth through deepening inequality, lack, misery, poverty, and unemployment.
“In most African countries, children and youth have become tools in the hands of political elites. We sadly are witnessing young people being used by politicians to mete out violence during electoral seasons in different parts of the continent.
“We reiterate our call that African countries must at AU and individual country level come up with stricter laws and jail sentences for those political elites that use young people as thugs and mercenaries to settle political differences,” read part of the statement.
ZIMCODD urged young people on the continent to form radical social movements that will challenge the current status quo by confronting structural, cultural, political, economic, and social barriers that hinder their material transformation.
The Day of the African Child is celebrated annually on June 16 since 1991, when it was first initiated by the then Organisation of African Unity (OAU) now African Union (AU) to honour those who participated in the Soweto Uprising in 1976 in South Africa on that day.
The theme selected by the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACERWC) for the celebration of the DAC in 2021 is “30 years after the adoption of the Charter: accelerate the implementation of Agenda 2040 for an Africa fit for children.”
