Source: 100,000 children fight wildlife crime and stand up for girls’ rights – The Zimbabwean
A 100,000 children – a whole generation– in and around the national parks Gonarezhou in Zimbabwe and Limpopo in Mozambique are being educated through the Peace & Changemaker Generation project, as changemakers who can take a stand against wildlife crime, and for girls’ rights in their communities. The project is a partnership between the World’s Children’s Prize Foundation and Peace Parks Foundation, and is implemented in Zimbabwe by Shamwari Yemwanasikana, Gonarezhou Conservation Trust and Chilojo Club, in cooperation with the Ministry of Education.
This may be the first time that all children in a vast, but defined area are reached in order to contribute in the long-term to increased respect for children’s rights in their communities, and to the protection of wildlife and nature. This is carried out in those communities of Zimbabwe and Mozambique living in or adjacent to the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Conservation Area.
2,000 children will be trained as Peace & Changemaker Generation Ambassadors, together with 700 teachers and school leaders. Parents and local leaders are also educated. These P&CG Ambassadors and teachers will educate all 100 000 children, including at 350 schools, about child rights, the global goals for sustainable development, as well as the consequences of wildlife crime and climate change for their communities.
Further information available at worldschildrensprize.org/media
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Child Rights and wildlife crime
The national parks Gonarezhou in Zimbabwe, and Limpopo in Mozambique, are rich in animal life and biodiversity that are continuously threatened by organized crime, poaching and trafficking of products such as rhino horn and elephant tusks; loss of natural habitat; drought; and climate change. Both ecosystems and animals are endangered. There is not a single rhino left in the area.
Many children here live in deep poverty and face violations of their rights. Girls are especially vulnerable, but boys are also affected. Paulo from Mozambique, now 16, was told to quit school at 13 to become a poacher: “It felt pointless carrying on at school, because there aren’t any jobs here anyway. But I’ve had enough.”
Poaching is not only illegal; it is also very dangerous. Poachers and rangers are getting killed in South Africa and Mozambique. Twelve-year-old Ronaldo from Mozambique lost his father when he was shot to death by park rangers in South Africa.
“It’s wrong to kill animals, they are innocent. I wish my dad had done something different, but he did it because we’re poor”, says Ronaldo.
Girls in the areas are especially vulnerable, and child marriage is common. Blessing, 15, from Zimbabwe was badly affected when her father gave up poaching after the number of park rangers increased.
“It means I can’t go to school anymore, because we cannot afford to pay my school fees. Now I’m afraid that I’ll be married off”, says Blessing, having seen many of her peers, and younger girls, being forced to marry.
“Even though I had to leave school when my dad gave up poaching, I myself want to become a park ranger. Our wild animals are worth more alive than dead”, says Blessing.
Blessing, Paulo, Ronaldo and 100,000 other children in Zimbabwe and Mozambique are now taking part in the Peace & Changemaker Generation, through which they will learn to stand up for their rights and make a change for a better future. In addition, through the World’s Children’s Prize Program, two million children in other countries will learn about the children in Zimbabwe and Mozambique, wildlife and protected areas, and how a new generation of children can make a change for the better.
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