MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT INTERACT WITH CHILDREN

By Victor Kanguya and Kanengo Nakamba

It is a rare opportunity for children to step into the National Assembly and present their petitions to their leaders. But for more over 40 children from Lusaka, Chibombo, Kafue and Chongwe, Tuesday 27^th November 2012 was a special day as they walked into the National Assembly to present their concerns and interact with the law markers.  Childfund Zambia with its co-operating partners organised a meeting at which children and the members of Parliament from the Coalition of African Parliamentarians Against HIV/AIDS, CAPAH were present. The meeting was aimed at providing an opportunity for the children and members of Parliament to interact.

Zambia is one of the African countries hardest hit by HIV/AIDS: with about 19 percent of children under 18, mostly orphaned due to the HIV/AIDS epidemic. HIV/AIDS among children has been a growing concern and this has prompted stakeholders such as Childfund to take an active role in combating the problem. The meeting held at parliament was aimed at finding solutions to the problem of HIV/AIDS among children.

 The Coalition of African Parliamentarians Against HIV/AIDS, CAPAH has its membership drawn from all political parties with representation in Parliament. CAPAH Zambia envisions healthy communities with productivity, free from the threat of HIV/AIDS. Taking into consideration its strategic positioning, it is important that the organisation joins hands with other stakeholders in fighting HIV/AIDS among children.

Having been given this rare accordance, the children present at the meeting took the opportunity to share their challenges and experiences. The children through a speech read by a child representative, called on the members of Parliament to further strengthen girl child protection; by putting in place laws that will adequately protect the female child. “The girl child does not feel adequately protected because they are on the wanted list of older men, who are in some cases are infected with HIV/AIDS”.

The children further reiterated their call to the members of Parliament by saying; they are willing to work with the members of Parliament in their communities in HIV/AIDS prevention activities. The children further thanked the members of Parliament for taking their time to meet and interact with them.

The members of Parliament present also called on the children and youth to uphold high moral standards, as the laws they have put in place alone cannot guarantee their safety if they are not cautious.

Childfund Zambia through its Program Director Ms Doras Chirwa also thanked the members of Parliament for their presence. “We are excited to see members of Parliament that are passionate about HIV/AIDS and that have contributed significantly to fighting the pandemic in Zambia”, Ms Chirwa said. Ms Chirwa shared some of Childfund’s core outcomes which are infant and young children to be secure and healthy and children that are confident and educated. She further went on to say, Childfund alone cannot achieve these core outcomes and is looking forward to partnering with other organisations such as CAPAH.

And responding to the children’s presentations, the members of Parliament committed to ensuring that the concerns raised by the children were debated in Parliament. Member of Parliament for Mandevu, Ms Jean Kapata said the Parliamentarians heard the children’s concerns and were happy that some of the issues they are planning to take to Parliament during the next session were highlighted in the children’s presentations.

The HIV/AIDS pandemic should be of growing concern to every well meaning Zambian. The statistics are of great concern and the children called for more sensitisation especially in rural areas. One of the children present at the meeting Cecilia Matenda from Kafue said, “Such events should be extended to rural areas so that children lacking information could be part of them”. “This will give children the confidence to come out in the open and speak out on the issues affecting them”, she said. These calls should be taken seriously as children are the future of any nation. The Children’s News Agency with support from European Union.