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6-24-06, 11:00am
MBABANE, 23 Jun 2006 (IRIN/PLUSNEWS) - Swaziland has finally got around to drawing up legislation focusing on the protection of children's rights.
More than a decade has lapsed since Swaziland ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, but preparing legislation has been complicated by the influence of powerful traditional authorities and a conservative populace that in some instances needs to be convinced children require protection and have needs that must be met.
"This is an inclusive process. MPs have given their input, and we are meeting with traditional structures next. This week, government and child welfare partners are making their suggestions for the legislation," said Pelucy Ntambirweki, acting country representative for the UN Children’s Fund (Unicef).
All the input from the various sectors will be submitted to the attorney general's office for the formal drafting of the legislation, which has yet to be named.
Child rights NGO, Save the Children, based in the capital, Mbabane, is acting as the secretariat for the process, which is financed by Unicef.
The fact that traditional customs still hold sway in the kingdom was illustrated last week, when school principals protested a ban on corporal punishment contained in the proposed legislation.
Nomsa Lukhele-Dlamini, a senior guidance counselor for the Ministry of Education, told IRIN, "We emphasised to the teachers that corporal punishment is no longer the way. It opens a gap between the child and a teacher, parent or elder. We want to close the gap. A child won't open up to anyone who beats them".
Save the Children's Nomzamo Dlamini challenged the basic tenet that corporal punishment is a Swazi custom. She explained that corporal punishment was "introduced for the first time at the missionary schools. Swazis copied it, and now the traditionalists say we have always done it. But Swazis have always thrived through dialogue, and that is what we must return to, including dialogue with our children".
Armstrong Dlamini, a research consultant hired to assess the impact of Swazi customs on children, highlighted the effect of the traditional practice of polygamy on families and suggested social reform.
An increasing number of children come from fragmented homes headed by women, in many instances as a result of a polygamous relationship, which had become an excuse for infidelity, he explained. According to Dlamini, 30 percent of rural and 25 percent of urban households are headed by women.
"Instead of having a social or economic function any more, polygamy is being used by men as an excuse to cheat on their wives, have girlfriends, and walk away from the resulting children. To address the welfare of children, we have to examine belief systems with an eye on reform," he said.
Some Swazi customs, on the other hand, need to be revived and strengthened in an age of limited government resources.
"The extended Swazi family always absorbed its parentless children, and saw to their needs... We can use the Swazi way of looking out for one another to address the great challenge of orphans and vulnerable children," former cabinet minister Stella Lukhele told IRIN.
But with life expectancy for the average Swazi now down to pre-independence level of 39 years due mainly to widespread AIDS fatalities, more orphans can be expected, and the time is now to enact child welfare legislation, said activists.
The new Swaziland constitution defines a child as any person aged under 18, which makes traditional marriages to underage children a violation of a girl child's constitutional rights.
The constitution also forbids child labour, and calls for universal education for Swazi children. Presently, 23 percent of Swazi children do not attend school. The legislation is expected to be tabled before parliament by year end for debate and a vote in 2007.
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