Two Zimbabwean Children in Search of Food
The children of Zimbabwe are no strangers to struggle, for they have fallen through the cracks from colonialism, civil war, and now to the long and frightful rule of Mugabe. With the heavy hand of Mugabe has come the political violence that it has become everyday life under his rule. Children are suffering more than anyone in the country, which is torn by political violence, poverty, HIV/AIDS and a heavily lacking infrastructure, all of which is exacerbated by continuous food shortages.
Freedom's are not always as they seem, especially of the press, which is often restricted, including the exclusion of some international media. International human rights organizations report that the government of Zimbabwe has been in violation of numerous basic human rights of its citizens. The right to adequate housing, food, freedom of movement, press and assembly top the list of violations.
The rights of Women are seriously violated in Zimbabwe, leaving children, especially girls, even more disadvantaged. As the country has become an ever increasingly dependent economically, the fight for essential human rights becomes an even more difficult. The fight for issues such as combating sex discrimination, forced marriage, domestic violence against women, and other abuses seems to only increase.
What do you sell when you have nothing left to sell, you have no money, no food, little water, and no prospects of employment? The future looks bleak and so you sell the only thing you have left…your own child! For if you cannot sale one child then how can you feed the others? This is a daily struggle for many in Zimbabwe, and as recent articles have illustrated, Daughters fetch high prices as brides. One man who sold his underage daughter, explained how he came to the decision to sell her:
“The pain of seeing my family go without food and other basic necessities drove me into such a decision. At that age, Miriam should have been in school and, being as intelligent as she is, might have ended up as a doctor or pilot, but poverty has rendered that only a pipedream.”
The biggest problem for women, and inherently for children, is that most are completely unaware of their rights, and thus violations continue with little, to no persecution. Children's rights continue to be violated by the use of child labor, inadequate food and water supplies, housing and access to health care, but they are subsequently re-violated each time their parents rights are violated. The government of Zimbabwe and the international community has failed to protect the children in Zimbabwe, leaving them vulnerable for even more human rights abuses, such as sexual and physical abuse, and making them even more susceptible for illness and disease.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), life expectancy at birth 37 years for men and 34 for women, the lowest figures for any country in the world. With such a short life expectancy, children are doomed from birth, and almost instantly find their futures slipping away.
"The world must differentiate between the politics and the people of Zimbabwe," said UNICEF Executive Director Carol Bellamy, speaking in Johannesburg. "Every day children in Zimbabwe are dying of HIV/AIDS, every day children are becoming infected, orphaned, and forced to leave school to care for sick parents. The global generosity towards tsunami victims was inspiring, but it has dried up for Zimbabwean children who are facing a deadly crisis every day of their lives." (UNICEF -Zimbabwe's Forgotten Children)
HIV/AIDS is main contributing factor to the struggle of children, as over 1.6 million people in the country have the virus, many unable to receive any medical treatment. In an already strained environment, countless children are being left orphans, many of whom end up living on the streets, amid the growing poverty and violence. 'the under-five mortality rate has risen 50% since 1990 (now 1 death for every 8 births), One hundred babies become HIV-positive every day in Zimbabwe, One in five Zimbabwean children are now orphans (1 million from HIV/AIDS), A child dies every 15 minutes due to HIV/AIDS in Zimbabwe, 160,000 children will experience the death of a parent in 2005 (UN).’ The AIDS crisis is only becoming more grave, as the number of orphans spikes as Zimbabwe crises deepens, now leaving over a quarter of a million children parentless.
With Mugabe's government completely unwilling to doing anything to rectify the current political and social situation in the country, the future for Zimbabwe's children continues to look bleak. Unless the international community puts a heavy foot down and steps in to aid the children of Zimbabwe with large scare humanitarian efforts. A well as the UN and international governments must push the Mugabe and his corrupt government for political change and action, otherwise little looks to change. Unfortunately history indicates that international bodies and states, will not act effectively and efficiently on behalf of the children of Zimbabwe, and Mugabe's tight hold over the desperate nation is still strong.
Links:
This is Zimbabwe -blog
US State Department Report on Zimbabwe
Human Rights Watch – Zimbabwe Report
The Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum
WHO Country Health System Fact Sheet 2006 – Zimbabwe
Orphans and Vulnerable Children Due to HIV/AIDS in Sub-Saharan Africa
“The silent cries of the little ones” : Zimbabwe's under-fives cry out for justice
AFRICA: Child Bride Symbolizes Reasons Why MDGs Will be Missed
