SIMBAO CALLS FOR CONCERTED EFFORTS TO ADDRESS THE PROBLEM OF CHILDREN WITHOUT PROPER PARENTAL CARE

The Chairperson for the Parliamentary Caucus on Children, Mr Kapembwa Simbao, MP, has bemoaned the rising number of children without proper parental care in Zambia.

Mr Simbao said this at Protea Hotel, Chisamba, on Saturday, 14th November, 2020  during an invitational meeting with the Coalition on Alternative Care in Zambia, a consortium of organisations that include SOS Children’s Village, Families Are Nations, Child Care and Adoption Society of Zambia, Embrace Zambia and the Association of Child Care Givers. The meeting was called for the Consortium to share advocacy knowledge, develop mutual support as they advocate for Government subsidies and many other issues affecting communities.

In his opening remarks, Mr Simbao, MP, alluded to the fact that the PCC takes great interest in the promotion of children’s rights and welfare. He reiterated the need for all stakeholders to ensure that the problem of children growing without proper parental care is tackled sooner than later and ensure that the problem does not spill over to the rural parts of the country.

He assured the meeting that the PCC being one of the largest groupings of MPs within the National Assembly of Zambia, would utilise its voice to lobby for Government support for children’s programmes. He went on to express his appreciation for the Coalition’s continued engagement with PCC in lobbying the Government on various issues that affect children in Zambia.

Meanwhile, speaking at the same event and on behalf of the Coalition on Alternative care in Zambia, Mr Adern Nkandela, National Director of the SOS Children’s Villages Zambia expressed gladness to the Members of Parliament (MPs) for accepting the invitation to attend the meeting. He pointed out that, the engagement between the Coalition on Alternative Care in Zambia and the PCC would strengthen their efforts of lobbying the Government on a number of subsidies that are needed by the Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) to ensure that every child belonged to a family and grew with love, respect and security. He added that the Coalition on Alternative Care in Zambia would  continue to  lobby for  the involvement of Law Makers in order to institutionalise subsidies that would protect children, families, and communities by supporting an entire structural system.

The PCC and the Coalition on Alternative care in Zambia are committed to work together for the progression of children’s rights in Zambia.  The meeting was attended by nine (9) Members of Parliament who are members of the Caucus while the Coalition on Alternative Care in Zambia was represented by twelve (12) Coalition Members.