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Freedom of expression The purpose of the Child Discussion Forums is to equip journalists to cover children’s rights and create a platform for dialogue on children’s right in Zambia. The articles serve as a basis for which issues in other provision can be discussed and realised once children’s voices start getting the attention of the duty bearers. The Media Network provides children a platform for constructive participation on national issues and lobbying of policymakers and opinion leaders to address children’s issues. The benchmark documents under which this is done are the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) and the African Charter on the Rights of Women and Children (ACRWC), both of which the government of Zambia have ratified. According to Article 12 of the UNCRC, children have the right to express their opinion and their opinions are supposed to be taken seriously by government and other duty bearers. Article 13 goes on to say that children have the freedom of expression and access to information which many media bodies have been calling. In Article 17, it gets down to media access and use where governments are mandated to encourage the media to develop programmes, not only to entertain but appropriate for children’s social, spiritual and moral well being and physical and mental health. To protect them in these rights and freedoms, they also have the right to privacy as espoused in Article 16. These freedoms are supposed to cater for others like health and education which are adequately laid out in the UNCRC and echoed in the ACRWC, including protection against abuse.To achieve this, the Media Network runs programmes based on the following thematic areas: |
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| Child participation | |
This includes the Children’s News Agency (CNA), Children’s Media Monitoring Project (CMMP) and the inclusion of children in all the activities that the Media Network runs. The CNA is engaging children to write their own stories in order to address their rights; the children from community, government and private schools. The articles will be published in the mainstream media and on the Media Network website (www.mncrd.org) and other institutions dealing with children. The CMMP is an initiative by the Media Monitoring Africa (MMA) which identifies children from community, government and private schools to monitor how the mainstream media is covering children and have the comments posted on the website and distributed to the media houses. |
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Gender |
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In Zambia, the number of children that are engaged in various vices have been worrying. Most of these are girls. The girls have also been affected by the HIV and AIDS pandemic which has wrecked havoc in the lives of the children, especially girls who are now heading households or taking care of ailing parents.In child labour situations, the girl-child 76 percent of the 895,246 (2005 Child Labour Survey) are girls. |
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Child protection |
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While advocating for the coverage of the children, it is incumbent upon the media to ensure that they are protected. Identifying a child in an abuse case is unethical and journalists have to take precaution by ensuring that children are protected. Child protection also entails that children are covered from the positive angle. This means that every negative story should be connected to a solution. Under child protection, child labour, child sex work, corporal punishment, emotional and psychosocial abuse and other vices are addressed by coming up with solutions to the status quo. |
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HIV and AIDS and Poverty |
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The devastating effects on HIV and AIDS and poverty have left many families vulnerable, with children being the most affected. HIV and AIDS has claimed a lot of parents, leaving the number of orphans high and exacerbating the levels of poverty. To address these issues, children have to be connected to service providers through innovative and well researched stories that will show various responses being undertaken. This will have a positive effect on the children who dearly need encouragement and sources of assistance. |
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EVENTS: |
(May 18 to 25 - Global Week of Action (GWA), |
June 16 – Day of the African Child, December – International of Children’s Broadcsting) |
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