UNDIKAMBIRE PROJECT LEADS IN CHILD JUSTICE

UNDIKUMBIRE Project (UP) Zambia, a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) concerned with Child Justice has become a source of information and an active advocate seeking to address the plight of children in desperate need for legal assistance and information,’’ Undikumbukire Project (UP) Zambia Executive Director Sara Larios has said.

Ms Larios said her organisation was committed to serving children and vulnerable people who were at risk of being forgotten such as those who had been in prison waiting judgements, confirmation of sentences, or even transportation. Some of the children had been waiting for up to four years.

Ms Larios said this during a series of interactions in Kitwe after the launch of the ‘Child Justice Helpline’ Short Code 2046 at Pamo Lodge in Kitwe.

She said Undikumbire Project Zambia had so far encountered children who were desperate for legal assistance and information but did not know where to start from because there was no information to assist them.

“Children, whose cases had been filed into a wrong cabinet are living with a sense of abandonment.

Their parents, overwhelmed by a system they do understand gave up on their children, feeling, clueless on how to understand the situation in which their child was caught

“UP Zambia will continues to be a listening ear for those children and families. We have become a source of information and an active advocate seeking to solve the problems these children have encountered,’’ Ms Larios said

Ms Larios said since UP Zambia was founded in 2014, it had become more involved in Child Justice across the country and had seen the justice system adopt many important child-friendly policies

“From recognising that for Children, detention should be the last resort, to introducing the diversion framework that sets out a process to deal with children who have committed simple offences outside of the formal court process, to the new Childrens’ Code Act. It has been an exciting time to be a stakeholder in Zambia’s Child Justice System,’’ she said

And District Commissioner (DC) Lawrence Mwanza said the Child Justice Helpline would act as a link between the communities, families and the children who come in conflict with the law