Zanzibar’s Children’s Act
Zanzibar’s Children’s Act is a pioneering comprehensive child rights law covering custody, foster parentage, and guardianship, as well as the roles and responsibilities of professionals and institutions in providing services for children, dealing with children in need of care and protection and those in conflict with the law. The Act lays the foundation for a coordinated child-protection system while also implementing a range of obligations under regional and international conventions on the rights of the child. It serves as a promising model both for its drafting process which involved a pioneering community-level child participation process and its provisions which have led to a marked societal change in attitudes towards children and their rights.