The National Online Child Protection Policy is designed to safeguard children from cyberbullying, online exploitation and other forms of digital harm, while the National Youth Policy focuses on empowerment, innovation and entrepreneurship.
Speaking to Channel Africa on Wednesday, ZANU-PF Director for Information and Publicity Farai Muroiwa Marapira said the government was working to strengthen measures that protect children from harmful online content and digital predators.
Marapira said the rapid growth of technology had created new risks for young people, making stronger safeguards necessary.
According to Marapira, the government is developing laws that will make it easier to identify individuals who violate online child protection regulations and ensure that offences are punishable under the law.
The policy is also expected to encourage wider use of parental controls and restrictions within school networks to limit children’s access to harmful online material.
Marapira said authorities want to create a digital environment that promotes learning, personal development and positive social values.
Responding to concerns that online protection measures could be used to restrict digital freedoms, Marapira said the proposed safeguards are specifically targeted at minors and are intended to protect children rather than monitor adults.
The approval of the National Youth Policy comes as Zimbabwe continues to grapple with youth unemployment, economic hardship and migration pressures.
Marapira said the government views young people as a key national asset and is seeking to connect them more directly to economic opportunities.
The ZANU-PF official argued that traditional measures of employment do not fully reflect the role young people play in sectors such as small-scale mining and entrepreneurship.
Marapira cited the gold mining sector as an example, saying many young Zimbabweans are active in small and medium-scale mining operations that contribute significantly to national gold production.
While acknowledging ongoing challenges facing young people, including unemployment and digital inequality, Marapira described the new policy framework as part of a broader long-term strategy linked to Zimbabwe’s Vision 2030 development agenda.
Marapira said government programmes aimed at youth empowerment have been implemented over several years and that lessons learned from previous initiatives would help improve policy implementation going forward.
–ChannelAfrica–
