Vusumuzi Dube
Over 600 children are under foster care in Zimbabwe as more people are warming up to the concept and are showing interest in taking care of children, a senior government official has said.
Permanent Secretary for Public Service, Labor and Social Welfare Simon Masanga told New Ziana that while the child welfare system in Zimbabwe offers opportunities for vulnerable children to find loving homes, misconceptions and cultural barriers remain obstacles for prospective adoptive and foster parents.
“A growing number of couples are choosing to adopt children, however some face opposition from their communities and extended families who believe adoption could contaminate their ancestry,” he said.
Zimbabwean laws and policies provide a framework for alternative care options like adoption and foster care when a child’s biological family is unable to care for them.
The adoption and foster care system offers two main pathways with both options critical for ensuring vulnerable children have access to a stable, nurturing environment. Foster care provides a temporary placement, while adoption is a permanent arrangement where the adoptive parents and child acquire the same rights and responsibilities as a biological family.
According to Masanga, the government provides support for adoptive and foster families, including a Statutory package of financial assistance for schooling, healthcare, and other needs of foster children.
“Prospective parents also receive training to prepare them for the unique challenges of caring for a child who has experienced trauma or disruption in their family life,” he said.
Masanga said the government is implementing the National Case Management System which provides the framework for intervening on cases of children deemed to be in need of care and protection guided by the best interests of the child.
He said the system is guided by the best interests of the child and builds on traditional cultures of community based care. It identifies kinship care, foster care and adoption as the preferred forms of alternative care when a child’s nuclear family is unable to provide for them.
Yet despite these efforts, Masanga acknowledged that myths and misconceptions around adoption and fostering remain a barrier, particularly in rural areas. “In view of our administrative date, a majority of adoption cases are handled in urban areas, while a few cases are in rural areas.”
In rural areas people could be limited by availability of sufficient resources to cater for additional members in the household. More so in urban areas the practice is more prevalent among middle class households who reside mostly in medium to low density areas.
“There are myths and misconceptions in the African culture which dissuade people from adoption and foster care. Hence the Ministry is seized with awareness raising activities to demystify the barriers,” said Masanga.
“It is widely assumed that adopting or fostering a child of a different totem will cause misfortune. If for example the child dies or is injured in a tragic accident, who do we appeal to if we do not know where they come from or their totems?”
In the Shona culture, adoption only happened within the family structure where families took in orphans of relatives. This ensured that children’s names and totems remained tied to their family, as totems are regarded as important for the performance of cultural rituals like funeral rites.
“While the government has made important strides in strengthening its adoption and foster care system, overcoming deep-seated cultural biases, expanding access to these options in rural areas and providing robust support to adoptive and foster families will be critical to ensure that every vulnerable child in Zimbabwe has a chance to live in a loving home,” said Masanga.
New Ziana
Siphakeme .Mnindwa
