BY BRIAN HATYOKA –

THE Livingstone HIV/AIDS Coordinating Adviser (DACA) has called for increased efforts in fighting cases of child marriages and child prostitution.
Stephen Ndebele said child marriages and child prostitution have continued to increase and need concerted efforts to curb.
Mr Ndebele said the social problem was complex and required the efforts of concerned parties such as the Government, traditional leaders, civil society, the police, the media and churches, to combat it effectively.
He was speaking in Livingstone yesterday during a discussion on child marriages and child prostitution organised by the Media Network on Child Rights and Development (MNCRD).
Journalists from the Livingstone Press Club, officials from the Ministry of Community Development, Mother and Child Health, and other representatives of women groups and community based organisations attended the meeting.
“When you look at customary laws, a girl is ready to have sex after reaching puberty level regardless of her age while statutory law states that everyone below the age of 18 is a child and such a person commits defilement when he or she engages in sexual relations.
“So we need to harmonise these laws to mitigate the increasing problem of child marriages and child prostitution,” Mr Ndebele said.
He said some young people were engaging in sex related activities early as statistics indicated that the age group of 16 to 25, were the most infected with HIV and AIDS.
Mr Ndebele urged the media to take an active role in sensitising children against engaging in early marriages and child prostitution.
Tutalike Life Begins coodinator Susiku Mwanangombe called for the empowerment of children to enable them avoid engaging in immoral activities.
Ms Mwanangombe said most children engaged in beer drinking and prostitution because they had no income to sustain themselves.
“Even fees in community schools, where most vulnerable pupils go to, are very expensive and so children end up engaging in immoral activities when they drop out from the schools,” she said.
MNCRD manager Prisca Sikana said her organisation was committed to promoting the rights of children through the media.
Livingstone community development officer Stephen Chikate said most programmes being undertaken by the ministry were aimed at addressing the plight of children.