4.4. Celebration of the Day of the African Child (DAC) in Zimbabwe As part of the Mission, on 15 June 2019, the Committee was invited by the Government of Zimbabwe to observe the celebration of the Day of the African Child (DAC) in the Country. The Committee notes with great appreciation that the DAC celebrations include a live seating of the Child Parliament; in the presence of the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe, H.E. Emmerson Mnangagwa as well as Ministers of sectors that work on children’s rights and welfare. The Committee also noted with appreciation that the strong structures within the child parliament are a replica of the structure of the Government of Zimbabwe. In addition the Committee has also observed that all children are represented in the Children’s Parliament; including representation from all districts as well as children with various forms of disabilities. The key note speech was delivered by the Child President and the Parliament debated on the theme of the DAC for 2019, i.e. Humanitarian Action in Africa: Children’s Rights First and other issues that are pertinent to children. Following the debates of the Child Parliamentarians, the Ministers of various sectors responded to the issues raised by the children. While addressing the Child Parliament and the President of Zimbabwe, the Child President highlighted that due to the cyclone Idai, in Chimanimani139 schools were destroyed, 90,847 students were affected and hence schools are experiencing shortage of teaching materials, reduced school numbers of staff members, infrastructure that need massive repairs, as well as low attendance rates. Considering the theme for the DAC in 2019, the Child President requested the celebration of DAC in Chimanimani in solidarity with those who have been affected by the natural disaster. In addition he raised the issue of children’s right to life and survival; observing that 1 out of 15 children die before the age of five;1 in 4 children live in extreme poverty; 27% are stunted; 24% have no access to improved water; only 35% have access to proper sanitation; 52.6% of primary schools have no access to electricity; only 32% of children under five are registered at birth; and a third of teenage girls are married before they attain majority. During the debate, children also raised issues including age of statutory rape being limited to 12 years, fluctuation of power and lack of electricity that is affecting education, the increasing number of out of schools children which has reached 21% due to lack of access to transportation to schools, early pregnancy, child marriage, sexual exploitation, child labour, discrimination against children with disabilities, and lack of school feeding programs, limited provision of sanitary pads for girls, inaccessibility of school facilities and materials by children with disabilities, unavailability of bridges at rivers which keeps children out of schools during the rainy season, lack of computers in schools for ICT education, inability of the education system to nurture talents and sports, lack of prosecution of perpetrators of child marriage, lack of sign language interpretation in basic services, and destruction of recreational activities which is leading to drug abuse. Moreover, the children accentuated the need to prioritize children in budget allocation by the State Party; protect and care for children on the street; and promote and support child parliament so that it can undertake effective action at community level. 4