Factsheet: What about children without parental care? - ZimFact
Ngoni Mhuruyengwe
May 20, 2024
Zimbabwe’s Cabinet reviewed and approved a National Policy for Children Without Parental Care on May 7, 2024, providing guidelines on the fundamental needs and rights that need to be met for children in this category to reach their full potential.
Millions of children around the world live in institutions, formal or informal orphanages and foster homes, or are otherwise separated from their parents. Children without parental care in institutions, living with relatives or in orphanages find themselves at a higher risk of exploitation, abuse and neglect, and their well-being is often insufficiently monitored.
This factsheet provides key facts from the new Zimbabwe national policy on children without parental care.
The government says the policy aims to create a secure and stable environments for the nurturing of children without parental care, including catering to the unique needs of various vulnerable groups.
The core objective of the policy is to guarantee that all children in alternative care, are taken care of regardless of the specific location, context, or duration of their placement, and that they are able to access and receive essential services. This includes:
The policy seeks to ensure that children in alternative care are able to fully enjoy the rights and protections enshrined in Section 81 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe and part 3 and 4 of the Children’s Act.
Constitution of Zimbabwe section 81 Rights of children (1) Every child, that is to say every boy and girl under the age of eighteen years, has the right—
Veritas
Constitution of Zimbabwe
Children’s Act
FEATURED