President Sata child rights defender’

AMONG child rights activists, President Sata will be remembered as a defender and champion of children’s rights.
His countless engagements with children from all walks of lives are evident following the different interactions he and First Lady Christine Kaseba had with them at State House.
In an interview, Media Network for Child Rights and Development (MNCRD) project manager Prisca Sikana said the late President recognised children as citizens of the land.
Ms Sikana said during his three-year tenure, President Sata paid attention to children by ensuring they had access to basic needs such as education and good health.
She said “this was demonstrated through adding mother and child health issues to Ministry of Community Development and putting together the Ministry of Gender and Child Development. Children issues were moved from Youth and Sport where we as child rights activists believed it was overshadowed”.
Ms Sikana added that the introduction of a new realistic curriculum which was promised for many years also became a reality for the Zambian child.
In a separate interview, Advocacy for Juvenile Justice executive director Josephat Njobvu said the late President was a pro-poor person who looked into the plight of children from all walks of life.
Mr Njobvu said during the three years Mr Sata served as President, the country saw a number of legal reforms which included those that looked into the plight of juvenile justice.
He said “juvenile justice legal reforms were incorporated into the current laws of the land”.