undertakes labour inspections on farms and other sectors and there are instances where perpetrators have been taken to court and fined or imprisoned. Child labour is high in tobacco farms and the Committee noted that the fines imposed on perpetrators are very small to send deterrence message. vi. 7.9. Harmful practices: The Committee notes that FGM is not carried out as cultural practice in the State Party; however, child marriage happens to be a challenge. Poverty has been identified as one of the push factors for child marriage. The Ministry of Gender has developed a national strategy on ending child marriage and perpetrators of child marriage are prosecuted. Emerging/Current issues Following the Cyclone Idai disaster, the Committee recognizes that various services have been damaged including schools and health centers. 347 persons are missing and 400 were buried, however, the Committee was not provided with data on the number of children who have lost their lives or those missing. The Government is putting efforts to provide multi-sectoral support including school material thorough the civil protection unit. An inter-agency committee is established to provide various services including psychosocial support. With the support of development partners, health services are provided in temporal facilities. vii. Actions points Considering the above-mentioned findings, the Committee recommends that the State Party undertakes the following measures: a. Submit its periodic report to the Committee on the status of the implementation of the provisions of the African Children’s Charter as soon as possible; b. Ensure that there is proper coordination mechanism among organs that work on children’s rights and welfare; and to this end consider one of the following options: i. Establishing a separate Ministry which deal with protection and promotion of children’s rights including the mandate to coordinate the work among other ministries and organs of the Government in relation to children’s rights issues; ii. Consider removing the National Plan of Action for Children from its current host, the Ministry of Health and Child Care, and place it under the Ministry of Public Services, Labour, and Social Welfare; or iii. Taking the National Plan of Action for Children back to the Office of the President where it used seat. 12