Provision of child protection services in Zimbabwe: review of the human rights perspective

Abstract

The article reviews child protection services in Zimbabwe and its interface with the changing social and economic environment. Within the qualitative research design, the study deployed the documentary analysis and the interview of six key informants only, which created an epistemological front for knowledge production. The study was guided by the Human Rights Perspective and established that the Child Protection Services in Zimbabwe have been marred with a plethora of socioeconomic encounters which stretch from policy inconsistency, corruption, brain drain, lack of operational research, lack of capacity of Department of Social Development and the COVID-19 pandemic. Many of these issues are global concerns. Drawing from Human Rights Perspective, the study concludes that the socioeconomic challenges associated with child protection services in Zimbabwe demonstrate the violation of children’s as enshrined in provisions of Convention on the Rights of the Child. The research concludes by arguing for provision of more investment towards child service programmes in Zimbabwe. The study respectfully recommends that key stakeholders can improve this state of affairs by promoting child rights.