Graca Machel tells Zim leaders to respect Constitution process

Machel is known as a champion of women and childrens issues, and after meeting children from different organizations on Tuesday, said the young should not be the ones to pay the price for the countrys economic and political decline.

She had listened to children talking about their personal lives in Zimbabwe and described the experience as emotional and said that the children had spoken to her heart. Machel is quoted as saying: This session was enough and I dont need any more to understand the situation on children in the country.

Machel belongs to a group called The Elders, respected global leaders who were brought together by Nelson Mandela to use their influence to assist in peace building efforts and promote human rights issues.

Our Harare correspondent Simon Muchemwa, who has followed Machels progress in Zimbabwe, said the campaigner addressed journalists at the UNESCO headquarters on Wednesday, and stressed the importance of respecting the constitution in order to protect the rights of children and women.

Machel said she had met with civic society leaders, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara and Vice President John Nkomo separately. She also said that she had hoped to meet with Robert Mugabe, but this was not possible due to Mugabes schedule.

Muchemwa said Machel explained that she had told the leaders she met to allow COPAC to finalise the Constitution making process, because it was fundamental to upholding the rule of law, regardless of whether elections are held next year. She said some progress had been made in the places that she visited, especially hospitals, but added that Zimbabwe still needed much help in development.

Life for children in Zimbabwe has deteriorated greatly under the Mugabe regime. A BBC documentary titled Zimbabwes Forgotten Children, shown earlier this year, chronicled the lives of several poor children in the urban and rural areas. After filming, producer Xoliswa Sithole wrote: Children are now not only living on the streets, they are giving birth on the streets. A second generation of street children is growing up. The system was supposed to take care of its people, but it has failed.

It is not clear whether Machels trip to Zimbabwe was intended to raise awareness only or whether she plans to raise funds for the charities that she visited. But like other SADC leaders, Machel did not openly criticize Mugabe or ZANU PF for any of the abuses that have been widely reported.

She only pointed to the constitution as the fundamental document that would protect the vulnerable if the process is allowed to take its course.