A Growing Crisis: The Neglect of Children in Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe is facing a troubling crisis that has left many families heartbroken and communities shaken. The neglect of children, who are the future stewards of society, is becoming increasingly evident. Every day, children go missing without a trace, and it seems as though life continues as normal. This situation is heartbreaking for the affected families and poses a serious threat to the stability of society.
Recent cases have highlighted the fragility of childhood in Zimbabwe. The tragedy of Tapiwa Makore remains etched in national memory. In Kuwadzana, three young children—Anopaishe, Anenyasha, and Raymond—disappeared while playing and were later found dead inside a parked vehicle. In Budiriro, an eleven-month-old child was taken by a woman posing as a customer. In Karoi, a little girl vanished while playing outside and was found in a sewage pond. In Bulawayo, a four-month-old baby disappeared after a stranger, introduced through social media, gained her mother’s trust. These incidents have left families grieving and questioning how such tragedies can occur.
The song “We Are the World” by USA for Africa captures the essence of what Zimbabwe needs today. It reminds us that moments like these demand collective action and unity. The lyrics speak of coming together as one, lending a hand to life, and making a better day. This message resonates deeply with the current situation in Zimbabwe, where the need for action is more urgent than ever.
Each disappearance is more than just a statistic; it is a moment that transforms families, unsettles communities, and raises urgent questions about the country’s ability to protect its youngest citizens. While the circumstances surrounding each child’s vulnerability may vary, several underlying factors consistently increase their risks. Poverty, limited access to birth registration, family instability, harmful religious or cultural practices, and gaps within child protection structures all contribute to leaving most children at risk.
According to Unicef, at least 4.8 million children in Zimbabwe are living in poverty. The Ministry of Finance and Economic Development’s Interim Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (2016–2018) estimates that at least thirty-nine percent of children lack a birth record or certificate. Without this basic legal identity, children become more susceptible to exploitation, trafficking, and disappearance, often slipping through system gaps that should protect them.
When a child goes missing, the first few hours are crucial. However, in most cases, the response does not start as quickly as families need. Most parents and caregivers have reported being advised to wait at least 24 hours before opening a missing-child case, a delay that can hinder searches. While the police have an important duty to protect children and lead investigations, the tools, procedures, and coordinated mechanisms necessary for rapid mobilisation are not always immediately available or clearly supported within existing legal frameworks.
In Zimbabwe, the systems responsible for safeguarding missing children span various sectors. These include the police, the Department of Social Development, community leadership structures, child-protection organisations, communication networks, and the laws that regulate how missing-child cases are handled. Each entity plays a crucial role, yet they often face resource limitations, procedural gaps, or limited coordination, which can impact the speed of response.
At the police level, frontline stations, Victim Friendly Units, and CID offices are usually the first points of contact for families. However, most police stations do not have specialised missing children’s units. Manual record-keeping can slow down information flow, and clear, rapid search procedures are still needed to support officers during the crucial early hours of a disappearance.
The social welfare system also aids in early response. The Department of Social Development, district social workers, and Unicef-supported Community Childcare Workers help identify vulnerable children and support families. However, this system faces significant pressure, high caseloads, limited transport, and staffing shortages, which can make co-ordinating with the police more difficult in the first hours after a child goes missing.
Communities remain one of Zimbabwe’s greatest assets. Councillors, village heads, residents’ associations, churches, and neighbourhood watch committees often mobilise rapidly. However, without a national alert mechanism to direct a more coordinated mobilisation, these efforts depend on informal channels such as WhatsApp groups or word-of-mouth messaging and therefore vary across different areas.
Communication and alert systems represent a significant gap. Zimbabwe still lacks a coordinated nationwide missing child alert platform. Consequently, information often spreads slowly or unevenly, hindering the public’s ability to assist with early searches. Civil society organisations such as Childline Zimbabwe, Family Support Trust, and others provide vital support but are frequently involved only after a case has been active for some time, rather than as part of a structured early-response framework.
Data management poses another challenge. Zimbabwe still lacks a central national database for missing children. Instead, cases are recorded at individual police stations, which makes it difficult to identify trends, track progress, or develop long-term prevention strategies.
Finally, the legal and policy frameworks that govern missing child responses require reform to better respond to existing realities. The Missing Persons Act [Chapter 5:14] does not define a missing child nor specify urgent procedures, rapid alerts, or inter-agency coordination. As a result, families often rely on systems that may not activate swiftly enough for the situation.
These gaps highlight a shared opportunity: to strengthen coordination, enhance response tools, and ensure that systems can support families from the very first moment a child is reported missing. Building stronger structures, from frontline policing to community alerts, social-welfare engagement, legal reform, and data management, is essential to guarantee that the initial hours are never lost.
The Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission reports progress since 2016 in aligning child-related laws and policies with the constitution. However, it also notes that full implementation remains incomplete, and the pace of alignment has been slow. This gap is evident in the Missing Persons Act [Chapter 5:14], the country’s key legislation on child disappearances, which was designed for a very different era. The Act concentrates on administrative procedures and long-term absence, rather than offering an urgent, child-centred response when a child is reported missing. Consequently, crucial early hours, when the chances of recovery are highest, are often lost due to bureaucracy and outdated processes. Reforming the legislation to reflect modern realities, particularly by strengthening mechanisms for rapid response and coordination across relevant institutions, would help ensure that cases of missing children are handled with the speed and seriousness they require.
Across Zimbabwe, families, communities, police officers, and social workers all share the same hope whenever a child goes missing that the child will be found quickly and safely. The country already has many of the essential elements needed to protect children—strong neighbourhood networks, committed officers, and dedicated child-protection partners. However, without a unified system to coordinate these efforts, many families still find themselves navigating the search alone within the twenty-four-hour period.
There are practical steps that could make a difference. Removing the 24-hour waiting period would enable families to seek help immediately when they realise a child is missing. Specialised police units could respond more swiftly and with targeted expertise. A nationwide alert system, using SMS, radio, TV, and social media, could mobilise the public within minutes. Additionally, a central registry would prevent cases from falling through the cracks between districts. Most importantly, reforming the Missing Persons Act [Chapter 5:14] to prioritise swift, coordinated action would give each child the best chance of being found and offer families hope that the system is truly working for them. The aim is that these measures, if implemented, can establish a faster, more organised, and more supportive response for families during their most vulnerable moments.
*Last Madzivanyika (LLM, University of the Western Cape; LLB (Honours), University of Zimbabwe) and Tutsirai Hamah (LLB (Honours), University of Zimbabwe) write independently on public interest issues.
