Child rights information network

UNICEF’s mission is to advocate for the protection of children’s rights; to help meet their basic needs and to help them reach their full potential. This convention is a universally agreed set of non-negotiable standards and obligations. These are minimum rights and freedoms that should be respected by governments. They’re founded on respect for the dignity & worth of each individual, regardless of race, colour, gender, religion, origins, wealth or birth status; therefore apply to every human.

In many cases young women are married to much older men while her parents and village elders support it. The young women are then forced to leave school and any hope for an education to become housewives and bearers of children. While technically illegal for minors to marry in Zimbabwe under the Domestic Violence Act, the problem continues to grow since members of the sect are complicit and secretive. Most marriages are arrange to be between older men and young underage girls and in some cases men even take on multiple wives that are all underage. The ongoing ordeal has forced Zimbabwean authorities to step up efforts to stop the practice that has forced thousands of girls in the Marange, Odzi and Buhera districts of Manicaland to drop out of school.

A coalition called Justice for Children which is based out of Turkey is trying to change the way children are prosecuted for terrorism. Under the current law young men and women are being tried and sentenced for up to 20 years for acts of terrorism while they are actually just taking part in different protests around the country. A Lawyer for the coalition said: “The Law on the Protection of the Child and Children’s Rights agreements clearly need to be imposed on the Anti-Terrorism Law…The scope of the law must exclude children under the age of 18.” This is a growing problem in Turkey and needs to get resolved quickly.