Speaking at a visual meeting organized by Child Rights Network for Southern Africa (CRNSA), its Executive member, Zita Hansungule, says there is a need for the African Union Committee of Experts on Child Rights to make full use of its instruments to influence courts decisions on child related cases.

"There is a need for civil society organizations in SADC member states to make use of legal instruments that their governments signed with the Africa Union so that matters of child abuse have got a regional backing and influence courts to arrive at a child friendly decision," she said.

Sharing her experiences for Malawi, Eunice Ndingo, from the Malawi Judiciary is appealing to SADC member states and Civil Society Organizations working in child rights justice to invest more in training investigators and prosecutors.

"Here in Malawi, as lawyers, we largely depend on evidence provided by the victim (child), if they fail to provide evidence it becomes tricky," she said.

Meanwhile Leon Matanda from NGO-Coalition on Child Rights is asking CSO'S to be creative with its child related cases so that courts are convinced.

The CRNSA has also blamed a rise in cases involving children to covid-19 pandemic, saying most of them are now staying idle due to Covid-19 restrictions.

In Botswana, the matter of who is a child has been revisited where now it's at any child who is below eighteen years of age from sixteen years.