95. In addition to this paramount consideration, the court must also consider the following factors: (a) the rights of the child under section 26 of the Law of the Child Act; (b) the age and sex of the child; (c) that it is preferable for a child to be with his parents except if his rights are persistently being abused by his parents; (d) the views of the child, if the views have been independently given; (e) that it is desirable to keep siblings together; (f) the need for continuity in the care and control of the child; and (g) any other matter that the court may consider relevant. 96. On its part, the Law of Marriage Act (the Act) states that the paramount consideration in granting custody of a child should be the welfare of the child. Besides, the court shall have regard to: (a) the wishes of the parents of the child; (b) the wishes of the child, where he or she is of an age to express an independent opinion; and (c) the customs of the community to which the parties belong. 97. In compliance with the provisions of paragraph (2) of Article 25of the Charter both the Law of the Child Act and the Zanzibar Children’s Act give an opportunity to all interested parties to participate in proceedings relating to separation of a child from his or her parents. The interested parties are also allowed to make their views known and are considered by the court in making the order for separation. (d) Family reunification and children deprived of family environment (Article 25.2 (b)) 98. The State Party continues to implement Article 25 of the Children's Charter concerning reunification of children living a different country from that of their parents. The State Party continued to implement the National Refugee Policy (2003), which covers various aspects of the management of refugee matters in Tanzania; and the Refugees Act (1998). This law protects the interest of the child through various provisions. In particular, section 35 of the Refugees Act sets out the right of family reunion and the procedure to be followed to achieve this end. The procedure for reunion is provided in subsection (1) of this section as follows: (1) A recognised refugee resident in Tanzania who wishes to join or to be joined by any member of his family outside or within Tanzania respectively shall make application for a family re-union to the Minister through the UNHCR or the Director who shall submit the application to the Committee which shall recommend to the Minister whether to allow the family re-union or not, provided that such family re-union shall not take place before permission is granted under this section. Failure to abide to this provision shall be an offence under this Act. Under subsection (2) there is an appeal mechanism for a person affected or aggrieved person by the decision of the Minister refusing or granting family re-union, who may file a petition for review to the Minister. 99. In addition, subsection (3) of section 35 of the Refugee Act requires that where there is disunity in the family of a refugee as a result of divorce, separation, death, etc., any member of that family ‘may remain in Tanzania and shall have to apply within a maximum period of 2 years from the time of disunity of the family for the acquisition of the refugee status on his own right or for a legalization of the residence in Tanzania under the Immigration Act 160, failure of which shall be an offence under this Act.’ 100. The State Party has developed the National Costed Plan of Action 2013- 2017 ( NCPA II). The goal of this plan is to establish an MVC response which is government led and community driven, that constitute a multi-sectoral response and commitment which facilitates MVC access to basic social services through increasingly maistreamined and sustainable government systems. Through this plan children deprived of family environment like orphans, street children, neglected children are among the categories of children targeted. (e) Maintenance of the child ( Article 18.3) 101. During the period under report, the State Party has taken appropriate measures with regard to the implementation of the Article 18.3 of the Children's Charter, which requires States Parties ‘to take appropriate measures to secure the recovery of maintenance for the child from the parents or other persons having financial responsibility for the child, both within the State Party and from abroad.’ The State Party has 29