Destitute children want their own Welfare Fund

Destitute children in Zambia have appealed to the government to establish a national children’s fund to cater for their welfare, ‘The Post’ newspaper reported. The proposal was contained in resolutions made by over 100 vulnerable children from the country’s nine regions who had been holding a two-day special ‘Children’s Summit’ in the capital Lusaka, to discuss their plight and participate in celebrations to mark the Day of the African Child. They urged government to exempt vulnerable children from paying school fees and medical care costs. They also recommended the introduction of tax rebates to families who foster or adopt vulnerable children. The children acknowledged that HIV/AIDS was a major cause for the increasing number of orphans and street kids and implored government to intensify sex education programmes to curb the spread of the disease.