2nd National Conference on Orphans and Other ... - FHI 360

school or any facility) based on the child’s
condition must be rejected. Policy has to
guarantee access to information, education,
training and ECD facilities. The name of the
game here is that children must be equipped
to stand on their own feet.
Psychosocial care and support: Many
children have had traumatic experiences –
some have witnessed murder or death (HIV/
AIDS-related perhaps); some have been
sexually abused or raped; some have been
battered; some have been manhandled by
a police officer; some are street children
beaten by fellow street children over some
point of contestation; some are scared, some
are hungry, some are ill. They all need a
helping hand to stand on their feet again –
psychosocial support, emotional support and
love. Caregivers have to be empowered to
administer that care and to constitute an
effective safety net.
Regarding health-care services (curative
and preventative), we need to close existing
gaps in both the health-care system and the
supply of safe water and sanitation, and we
have to empower rural clinics to serve OVC
caregivers.
Inheritance and guardianship: Issues of
inheritance and guardianship relate to the
security needs of a child, therefore anything
that negatively impacts on guardianship and
inheritance jeopardises the child’s security.
In many African societies there is flexibility,
but it is subject to abuse, thus policy must
close any gaps through which abuse could
enter to the child’s detriment. Policy will
protect the future of children by promoting
the writing of wills, educating the communities
about the importance of clarifying issues
for children before a parent dies and so on.
Child abuse and neglect: Children’s Act
33 of 1960 outlaws these practices in
Namibia; it is an offence to neglect, ill-treat,
abandon or allow a child to be ill-treated.
Every attempt will be made to close all gaps
in the future rules and regulations on child
abuse and neglect. Policy will also target all
possible causal factors for child neglect and
abuse, e.g. substance abuse, unemploy-
ment, poverty, family instability, domestic
violence and deteriorating family values.
The strategic package will include: (a) counselling,
information collection and dissemination,
community projects and rehabilitation
for substance abuse; and (b) support to the
WCPUs.
Child labour: A big problem in the rural
areas and on the commercial farms. (The
Namibia Child Activities Survey of 1999 put
the overall labour force participation rate for
children at 16,3% and the rural proportion
of this at 95,4%.) The positions of the
Namibian Constitution and the CRC on child
labour are clear. <strong>National</strong> policy is: (1) support
the constitutional guidelines on the minimum
age for certain types of work; (2) inform and
force employers to observe all legal provisions
governing child labour; (3) monitor developments
country-wide to enforce compliance;
and (4) ensure that no employer/organisation
pressurises children to work.
Street children: Most street children come
from poverty-stricken and overcrowded
homes. Many other factors can precipitate a
scourge of street children. <strong>National</strong> policy is:
(1) take them off the street and get rid of the
scourge of street children; (2) support and
expand the MWACW Street Children
Programme; (3) rehabilitate and reintegrate
the children into their families; (4) convince
school principals to accept rehabilitated
street children into their schools; (5) fight
stigmatisation of rehabilitated street children;
(6) investigate and target the multiplicity of
factors that predispose children to roaming
and dwelling in the streets; and (7) empower
the households, communities and NGOs to
work together to put an end to the problem.
Children in conflict with the law:
Namibia does not yet have specific legislation
recognising the special problems of children
in conflict with the law; there are no provisions
in the Criminal Procedures Act that
apply specifically to children; we have no
separate criminal court for children; it is not
obligatory for a child to be legally represented;
the Criminal Procedures Act does not
provide for the immediate notification of
18 <strong>2nd</strong> <strong>National</strong> <strong>Conference</strong> on Orphans and Other Vulnerable Children – Windhoek, Namibia, 25-27 June 2002: Full Report