**5. African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of Children**

The shortcomings previously explained of the unregulated ubuntu childcare model precipitated the adoption of the UNCRC by the General Assembly of the United Nations in 1989, signalling the establishment of concrete contemporary measures to address child maltreatment and abuse at the international level [22]. Whilst the UNCRC's requirements appear to be sound in principle, its shortcomings were evident in the lack of holistically embracing and respecting the wealth of Africanism in childcare and support. As such, the ACRWC was adopted by the

#### *The Caregivers' Perspective in Coping with the Challenges Faced by Orphans and Vulnerable… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.101232*

Assembly of the Heads of State and Government of the Organisation of African Unity in July 1990 and was brought into force in November 1999 ([24], p. 1).

Arguably, the adoption of an ACRWC in place of the UNCRC was not meant to change the objectives but appropriate and facilitate the execution of the rights of children in an African context without abrogating its norms and traditions. Put simply, Olowu [24] points out that African member states were of the view that the UNCRC missed the important socio-cultural and economic realities of African experiences in childcare. Thus, in the analysis of these two pieces of legislation, it may be seen that they are complementary, and both seek to provide the framework through which the children's needs are met within the cultural settings.

The main challenge of the ACRWC is that it stipulates those children who are independent subjects and have rights while it simultaneously emphasises the need to include African cultural values and experience in considering issues about the rights of children in Africa [25]. Closely looking into the aspects of upholding the independence of the child's rights and respecting African values and experiences in childcare encounters a conflict of interest between an African caregiver in the rural areas and a contemporary human rights protagonist. In further review of the foregoing statement, the caregivers in the rural communities of Zimbabwe might experience challenges to balance respect for the independence of the child's rights apart from their cultural dictates and experiences in childcare and support.

Ringson [15] in his study on child rights cultural contestations in Zimbabwe found that the traditional and contemporary approaches in childcare within the rural communities contributed to a disconnect within the conscience of the rural communities that always want to espouse their indigenous cultural values in the provision of care and support to their children. Olowu [24] and Pillay [22] posit that instead of the ACRWC explaining the difference in the culturally-based rights and experiences to be upheld by the caregivers in caring for their 'orphans' and 'vulnerable' children, it was left in the provision of child rights which include but are not limited to the right to life, participation, food, identity and shelter. The way these rights are implemented in the perspective of African culture differs from the contemporary western approach. In trying to uphold their culture and tradition as stipulated by the ACRWC, the caregivers encroach and infringe on the rights of children as stipulated by the UNCRC. This article, therefore, examines the caregivers' lived experiences in trying to balance the two contentious clauses of the ACRWC and the UNCRC in providing care and support to 'orphans' and 'vulnerable' children within the Gutu rural community of Zimbabwe.
