By MICHELO  HIMAAMBO –
ON June 16, 1976, about 10,000 black school pupils marched for more than half a mile in Soweto,
South Africa, to protest against the poor quality of their education and demanded the right to be taught in their own language.
Later, the hundreds of young pupils were shot, of which Hector Pieterson became the most famous.
More than a hundred people were killed in the following two weeks of protests that followed the shootings, and more than a thousand were injured.
In honour of those who participated in what became known as the Soweto Uprising in 1976, June 16, became an annual memorial which is commemorated as the Day of the African Child and is celebrated internationally.
Since 1991, the Day of the African Child has been celebrated on June 16, every year.
It was first initiated by the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), the predecessor to the African Union (AU).
Last year, the AU chose ‘Child Marriage’ as the Day of the African Child theme for 2015.
Every year, 15 million girls under the age of 18, become brides in Africa.
An average of 40,000 girls everyday do not make it into school and the lack of access to education increase chances of forced marriages.
This year, Zambian girls and boys in Kafue gathered to commemorate the Day of the African Child which was hosted by World Vision Zambia.
Kafue District Commissioner (DC) Ngoni Moyo was on hand to state the Government position on the plight of most children.
Mr Moyo said the Government was harmonising the customary and statutory laws on issues such as the definition of a child in order to stop and help prevent child marriages.
“Statistics indicate that 31 per cent of girls in Zambia are married off by the age of 18. Marriage has a negative effect on health, rights and education of the child,” Mr Moyo said.
He said Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) number five implemented from 2015 to 2030 states that by 2030, all forms of discrimination against all women and girls everywhere should end and all practices like early (unwanted) pregnancies and child marriages should be eliminated.
“According to the Health Survey of 2013 and 2014, gender based violence is defined as any act that results or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to a human being,”he said.
He said that in addition to ratifying a number of international and regional conventions on women’s rights, Zambia has implemented the Anti -Gender Based Violence and Domestic Violence Act of 2011 and the National Gender Policy of 2014.
“The commemoration comes at the time when governments all over the world are thinking about the Sustainable Development Goals which will be implemented from 2015 to 2030 in order to transform our world,” Mr Moyo said.
The DC said Government values the strong partnership it has with non-governmental organisations (NGOs), like World Vision Zambia, in promoting the welfare of children.
He urged NGOs to continue spearheading the fight against child marriages and women’s rights in order to achieve the 2030 sustainable developments goals.
World Vision Zambia Chipapa Greenfield Programme Acting Team leader Euphrasia Nzima said the NGO will continue to work with the people in the community in order to make Zambia a better place for the development of a child.
Ms Nzima said since 2012 when the project in Chipapa began, World Vision Zambia has developed a good working relationship with the community.
“We have community volunteers who help us to check the well-being of children in the community and they bring reports to make sure that the children are really safe,” Ms Nzima said.
World Vision Zambia previously handed over bicycles in schools for those children who cover long distances.
The bicycles were meant to encourage school children to continue with their education.
School pupils from eleven different schools entertained invited guests with song, dance, drama performances and reciting of poems.
In some of the plays and the poetry, the school children expressed anger about the prevalence of early marriages.
They lamented that girls who were forced into early marriages are denied the opportunity to get educated and to such girls, living in an early marriage is like being in a prison.
Claudia Mukungwana, a Chipongwe Primary School pupil said she and her fellow schoolmates were happy to be part of the celebrations to mark the Day of the African Child.
“On behalf of my fellow pupils, I would like to thank everyone for the support you have given us as children in the Ministry of General Education,” she said.
Hetty Denen Primary School pupil Daisy Haninga said the biggest challenge girls faced in the community is the threat of being married off early due to high poverty levels in the area.
Daisy said children are forced into early marriages so that they are no longer the responsibility of parents and also for them to be able to earn their parents extra money for use by the family.
“Secondly,  illiteracy levels are very high in our community due to the fact that some of our parents do not understand the importance and value of education for us the girls,” Daisy said.
She urged the Government to sensitise parents, guardians and other stakeholders as some parents deliberately refuse to support their children academically. It is such parents who often opt to send their daughters into early marriages.
Daisy said child labour is yet another challenge for some children who are made to do work that is meant for adults.
She lamented that some children where even sent to do odd jobs in order to be paid some money.
Word Vision Zambia encouraged communities to set up child marriage-free zones and called on the Government to adopt and enforce the legal age of marriage in order to protect children in accordance with the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
One way child marriage can be prevented, is by encouraging countries especially in Africa, to set up an emergency fund for education to help children return to the classroom during and after conflicts and disasters.
Education can change the world and can transform one’s future.
But what matters most is training, teaching and mentoring young people so they can be active creators of the future they want.
Rather than sit back and watch millions of children languish in poverty without an education, parents, guardians and communities should sit up and use the Day of the African Child to urge governments around Africa to prioritise education.