Programme
Team A
| DAY | TIME | VENUE | TOWN |
| Saturday 08 April | 1000 hours | Zimbabwe Hall – Highfield | Harare |
| Sunday 09 April | 1100 hours | Kotwa Resource Centre | Kotwa |
| Monday 10 April | 1000 hours | Domboshave Grounds | Marange |
| Tuesday 11 April | 1000 hours | Roman Catholic Church | Ngundu |
Team B
| DAY | TIME | VENUE | TOWN |
| Saturday 08 April | 1030 hours | Zvimba RDC Hall | Murombedzi |
| Sunday 09 April | 1030 hours | Gokwe RDC Hall | Gokwe |
| Monday 10 April | 1000 hours | Small City Hall | Bulawayo |
| Tuesday 11 April | 1030 hours | Maphisa RDC Hall | Maphisa |
All Welcome to Attend the Public Hearings
The purpose of the public hearings is to give all interested members of the public and groups and organisations to attend the hearings and make their views on ending child marriage known to the MPs present.
Reminder on Written Submissions
Written submissions and correspondence concerning child marriage are also welcome and should be addressed to The Clerk of Parliament, marked for the attention of the Portfolio Committees on Women Affairs, Gender and Community Development, Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, Health and Child Care and Thematic Committee on Gender and Development and—
- sent by email – addressed to either clerk@parlzim.gov.zw or bills@parlzim.gov.zw, or
- delivered – if delivering, use the Kwame Nkrumah Avenue entrance to Parliament, between Second and Third Streets, Harare, or
- sent by post – to P.O. Box CY298 Causeway, Harare.
This Series of Public Hearings is of Wide Public Interest
Child marriage is widespread and contributes to an ongoing cycle of intergenerational poverty. Ending child marriage has been an objective of women activists since the Beijing Platform of Action. The objective was endorsed for the whole of Africa by the AU with its Campaign to End Child Marriage in Africa launched in 2014. This campaign was launched in Zimbabwe on 31st July 2015. Veritas has a special interest in the ending of child marriage as it was the organisation took the successful challenge to the legality of child marriages in the Constitutional Court. Veritas took the case in the public interest to give impetus to the campaign to end child marriage. Our team did the research on the legal and socio-economic aspects and relevant international instruments, resulting in the court decision of January 2016 which was a landmark ruling [not just for Zimbabwe but for other jurisdictions]. We also contributed to the final drafting of the SADC Model Law and have issued an e-bulletin on The SADC Model Law and Child Marriage [link] which will be followed by more bulletins on this subject and the legislative and other steps that need to be taken to give full effect to the Constitutional Court’s decision.
To access other relevant documents available on the Veritas website [including the Constitutional Court’s judgment of January 2016 and other papers in the case; the SADC Model Law; a Parliamentary report; and other Veritas e-bulletins on the subject], readers are invited to use this link.
Queries
Queries about the public hearings can be addressed to either the SADC PF SHR Project Coordinator Yeukai N. Chuma on cell 0772979040 or the Public Relations Officer Sibonisiwe Dube-Nkala on (04) 700181 – 8, 252936 – 50 ext. 2008/2310.
Warning
Persons wearing military uniforms, signs of ranks, badges and political regalia will not be allowed access to the public hearings.
Veritas makes every effort to ensure reliable information, but cannot take legal responsibility for information supplied
Post published in: Featured