News / Press Release
ZUPA calls for Public Roebuck Inquiry on Children Sexual Abuse
07 Jan 2012 at 14:56hrs | Views
We, the people of Zimbabwe, having suffered due to lack of employment opportunities and perceived lack of capacity, willingness or commitment by Government to assist millions of ordinary citizens to get jobs or skills to get jobs
Recent reports on allegations of sexual abuse on both girls and boys in institutions and communities in Zimbabwe including a report that a significant percentage of those raped have tested positive for HIV/AIDS is a worry to any parent or guardian. ZUPA has been alarmed by allegations that Peter Roebuck, a philanthropist who was paying school fees for some 42 or so young Zimbabwean boys or men sexually and or physically abused them at his home in South Africa.
The Zimbabwe Department of Social Services under the Ministry of Labour and Social Services has recently been given assistance by the UN Agencies and donor communities to undertake work on Residential Care Standards, Inter Country Standard Operating Procedures for Children on the Move with the Government of South Africa the DSS Caregivers Manual and a review of the Multi Sectoral Protocol on Child Sexual Abuse.
This work and its results or use remain largely unknown therefore not effective, accessible or useful to those that matter the most, the children at risk and their parents or guardians.
ZUPA has made a deliberate decision to highlight the right of the child because Zimbabwe is failing to uphold the articles of the Convention on the Right of the Child which became law in Zimbabwe on 11th October 1990, more 21 years ago.
ZUPA believes that CRC must be as familiar to all the children and parents in Zimbabwe as the book of Genesis in the Bible would be familiar to a priest. We also take the serious view that it should not have taken 21 years for the DSS to develop efficient care standards and protocols on Child Sexual Abuse.
The case of the late Roebuck is a glaring example of the failures of the system that must protect the child in Zimbabwe. Allegations that the former cricketer and commentator physically and sexually abused the young boys that he recruited from the orphanages in Zimbabwe for more than a decade (since 1999) need urgent investigations by both the DSS in Zimbabwe and South Africa. Was South Africa complicit in allowing abuse of these young boys to happen on their soil?
ZUPA believes that the Roebuck case may be a reflection of bigger failures putting more children at risk. We therefore urge the Ministry of Labour and Social Services to urgently set up a commission of inquiry with terms of reference including a thorough investigation of all the orphanages and boding schools in Zimbabwe. The work may sound huge, but such is what may be needed to safeguard the children of Zimbabwe.
In our moral view, we should not compromise or half bake solutions. Thorough and competent commissioners must be urgently appointed to do a public inquiry whose results must be made public save for the data protection laws protecting the child victims.
We appeal to those running the Consolidated Appeals programme fund ZIM-12/P-HR-RL/45037 on Child Protection which is pledging USD5.5 Million to consider funding this urgent inquiry and protective measures.
ZUPA would not hesitate to be a partner in the implementation of the recommended action plans or indeed to second experienced social workers to be part of the commission of inquiry.
The Roebuck case and the nature of the allegations are just an invitation to Zimbabwe and Zimbabweans to investigate the factors that lead our children to be at risk. If the words of Roebuck's first known recruit and "victim", Psychology Maziwisa are to believed, he like most was a victim of the failure by the state to protect him, his siblings and many others from poverty and what he calls "the bigger picture", a guarantee for a future. The young men who allegedly fell prey to Roebuck were desperate for school fees and welfare support.
Peter Roebuck's motives may never be known now after he is reported to have killed himself on the 12th November 2011 in Cape Town, South Africa when police were poised to arrest the 55-year old on charges of indecently assaulting a 26-year-old male, Zimbabwean university student Itai Gondo. Allegations are now that he abused the boys and young men for whom he was paying school fees.
That is why ZUPA is now leading a national campaign to ensure that all children in Zimbabwe whose parents cannot afford school fees have their fees paid for in full by the Basic Education Assistance Module (BEAM). We are in the process of engaging the Ministries of Labour and Social Services and Education, Sports, Arts and Culture. We have reminded them of their legal obligation to ensure that Zimbabwe is not in breach of Articles 26 and 28 of the UN Convention on the Right of the Child (CRC) which has been law in Zimbabwe since 11th October 1990. These articles direct that no child should pay school fees.
The BEAM is a facility introduced in 2001 to ensure that every child in Zimbabwe has access to education. USD45 million was provided by donor nations to the BEAM program in part and therefore all the Government has to do is ensure that no child whose parents or guardians are members of ZUPA is denied access to the facility.
We have told the responsible ministries that our members are demanding a public audit as to whose children and which children have benefitted from the BEAM programme and an explanation given as to why some children in some regions who met the criteria were denied access to the facility.
ZUPA has further advised the Government that excluding poor children from the BEAM program was in breach of the CRC which is law in Zimbabwe. We therefore will asked the Government to cancel the school fees debts owed for unpaid school fees since 2001 because it is clear that these unemployed Zimbabweans cannot pay and should not have been paying if the BEAM program was administered fairly and for the benefit of all deserving.
Lastly we have urged maturity and honesty in resolving this issue and asked the responsible ministries to announce to the nation what the position of government is on the BEAM access issue to minimise distress to parents and guardians and their children as well as giving clear guidance to school headmasters and bursars. ZUPA does not want to be forced into taking legal action on behalf of the children who are being denied access to BEAM.
In a year of maturity, we remain hopeful that the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare will commission a Roebuck inquiry into abuse of children in institutions and together with the Ministry of Education, Sports, Arts and Culture undertake to ensure that every child in Zimbabwe whose parents are unemployed has access to the BEAM facility and have their school fees paid for in full.
Download: ZUPA Profile D
Download: Roebuck Public Inquiry need
The Zimbabwe Department of Social Services under the Ministry of Labour and Social Services has recently been given assistance by the UN Agencies and donor communities to undertake work on Residential Care Standards, Inter Country Standard Operating Procedures for Children on the Move with the Government of South Africa the DSS Caregivers Manual and a review of the Multi Sectoral Protocol on Child Sexual Abuse.
This work and its results or use remain largely unknown therefore not effective, accessible or useful to those that matter the most, the children at risk and their parents or guardians.
ZUPA has made a deliberate decision to highlight the right of the child because Zimbabwe is failing to uphold the articles of the Convention on the Right of the Child which became law in Zimbabwe on 11th October 1990, more 21 years ago.
ZUPA believes that CRC must be as familiar to all the children and parents in Zimbabwe as the book of Genesis in the Bible would be familiar to a priest. We also take the serious view that it should not have taken 21 years for the DSS to develop efficient care standards and protocols on Child Sexual Abuse.
The case of the late Roebuck is a glaring example of the failures of the system that must protect the child in Zimbabwe. Allegations that the former cricketer and commentator physically and sexually abused the young boys that he recruited from the orphanages in Zimbabwe for more than a decade (since 1999) need urgent investigations by both the DSS in Zimbabwe and South Africa. Was South Africa complicit in allowing abuse of these young boys to happen on their soil?
ZUPA believes that the Roebuck case may be a reflection of bigger failures putting more children at risk. We therefore urge the Ministry of Labour and Social Services to urgently set up a commission of inquiry with terms of reference including a thorough investigation of all the orphanages and boding schools in Zimbabwe. The work may sound huge, but such is what may be needed to safeguard the children of Zimbabwe.
In our moral view, we should not compromise or half bake solutions. Thorough and competent commissioners must be urgently appointed to do a public inquiry whose results must be made public save for the data protection laws protecting the child victims.
We appeal to those running the Consolidated Appeals programme fund ZIM-12/P-HR-RL/45037 on Child Protection which is pledging USD5.5 Million to consider funding this urgent inquiry and protective measures.
ZUPA would not hesitate to be a partner in the implementation of the recommended action plans or indeed to second experienced social workers to be part of the commission of inquiry.
Peter Roebuck's motives may never be known now after he is reported to have killed himself on the 12th November 2011 in Cape Town, South Africa when police were poised to arrest the 55-year old on charges of indecently assaulting a 26-year-old male, Zimbabwean university student Itai Gondo. Allegations are now that he abused the boys and young men for whom he was paying school fees.
That is why ZUPA is now leading a national campaign to ensure that all children in Zimbabwe whose parents cannot afford school fees have their fees paid for in full by the Basic Education Assistance Module (BEAM). We are in the process of engaging the Ministries of Labour and Social Services and Education, Sports, Arts and Culture. We have reminded them of their legal obligation to ensure that Zimbabwe is not in breach of Articles 26 and 28 of the UN Convention on the Right of the Child (CRC) which has been law in Zimbabwe since 11th October 1990. These articles direct that no child should pay school fees.
The BEAM is a facility introduced in 2001 to ensure that every child in Zimbabwe has access to education. USD45 million was provided by donor nations to the BEAM program in part and therefore all the Government has to do is ensure that no child whose parents or guardians are members of ZUPA is denied access to the facility.
We have told the responsible ministries that our members are demanding a public audit as to whose children and which children have benefitted from the BEAM programme and an explanation given as to why some children in some regions who met the criteria were denied access to the facility.
ZUPA has further advised the Government that excluding poor children from the BEAM program was in breach of the CRC which is law in Zimbabwe. We therefore will asked the Government to cancel the school fees debts owed for unpaid school fees since 2001 because it is clear that these unemployed Zimbabweans cannot pay and should not have been paying if the BEAM program was administered fairly and for the benefit of all deserving.
Lastly we have urged maturity and honesty in resolving this issue and asked the responsible ministries to announce to the nation what the position of government is on the BEAM access issue to minimise distress to parents and guardians and their children as well as giving clear guidance to school headmasters and bursars. ZUPA does not want to be forced into taking legal action on behalf of the children who are being denied access to BEAM.
In a year of maturity, we remain hopeful that the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare will commission a Roebuck inquiry into abuse of children in institutions and together with the Ministry of Education, Sports, Arts and Culture undertake to ensure that every child in Zimbabwe whose parents are unemployed has access to the BEAM facility and have their school fees paid for in full.
Download: ZUPA Profile D
Download: Roebuck Public Inquiry need
Source - ZUPA
