Local debt and development advocacy group, the Zimbabwe Coalition on Debt and Development (ZIMCODD) says child labour and drug abuse are threatening the best conditions for human capital development in the country.
In a statement, the group said the exclusion of youth from developmental processes also threatens the Government’s vision of an upper middle income society.
“Zimbabwe`s stated ambition of becoming an upper-middle income society will never materialize if youths who are supposed to be the drivers of the vision are excluded from national developmental discourse and human capital development processes. Child labor has continued to grow in Zimbabwe despite a myriad of legal, regulatory, and institutional frameworks against the same.
“Allegations have been levelled against emerging sugarcane farmers in Chiredzi over the use of child labor in sugar cane plantations. On the 26th of April, the Parliamentary Thematic Committee on Human Rights made a visit to Chiredzi, Mkwasine and discovered that approximately 300 children are working in sugar cane fields.
“The local department of Social Welfare has been accused of giving a blind eye to this act of gross human rights that has proliferated unchecked. It is believed that the increase in child labor has been fueled by a rise in child marriage. Children in child headed households have themselves been waylaid into early child marriages for lack of care and support,” said ZIMCODD
A rapid survey conducted by the advocacy group in Mkwasine discovered that, many children see marriage as an escape route out of poverty.
“Ironically, rather than the marriage institution to provide safe sanctuary for children, child marriage has become a haven of child vending, child labor, poverty, misery, and unhappiness. The normalization of children working as vendors, field workers and other informal occupations is a clear manifestation of government’s failure to provide effective child protection services. Within the broader context of a lack of public care and support, young people are increasingly resorting to drugs in order to cope with tough socio-economic challenges,” said the advocacy group
ZIMCODD says according to the Zimbabwe National Drug Master Plan (2021-2025), many youths see drugs as a sanctuary to the social and economic challenges they are encountering.
The Zimbabwe National Drug Master Plan states that, alcohol and drug abuse have undermined human capital development and they account for over 70% of mental health problems in the country.
