Children’s Legal Clinic

Children are prioritized as one of the most vulnerable groups in society, in need of special protection. This has been made evident through Swaziland’s ratification of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and the inclusion of a dedicated children’s rights section in the final Constitution. As such when they are placed at risk of abuse or actually abused, whether physically, sexually or psychologically, certain obligations are brought to bear on the State through its various functionaries.

There needs to be laws that form a protective mantel around children to ensure that where they are at risk of abuse or abused, there are sufficient mechanisms to protect them. However, these mechanisms need to be enforced and thus various state officials, such as the police and courts needs to have specific duties and obligations to ensure that children are adequately protected when in need of such protection and care. Equally important, the children themselves and their mothers need to be informed and equipped to claim and enforce their rights at various levels.

Save the Children Swaziland has, thus, piloted the Children’s Legal Clinic with assistance from UNISWA. The program was part of the Continual Legal Education course for the 5th-year law students at the University. It was designed to provide legal assistance to indigent women and children throughout the country. The unit handles and advises children and women on such cases as maintenance, claims for monetary relief, custody, domestic violence and paternity, to mention a few.

The students worked in pairs with clients brought to them by Save the Children. It has been a very successful project to date and it is proposed that this becomes a normal part of the UNISWA calendar but working from August – October of each year, and that this will lead to cases being attended to within a reasonable period. More than the actual assistance rendered to the children and women, this change in the mind-set of legal professionals is the greatest impact envisaged by the Children’s Legal Clinic.

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