Conclusion: Transformative Social Policy—Reimagining Children’s Rights in Zimbabwe’s Climate Crisis
摘要
This chapter concludes the book Climate Change and Children’s Rights in Zimbabwe: Towards Social-Policy-Based Interventions. The book highlights that Zimbabwe’s escalating climate crisis has exposed the inadequacy of conventional social policy approaches in protecting children’s rights. This concluding chapter posits that addressing climate-induced vulnerabilities affecting children requires a paradigm shift towards a transformative social policy (TSP) framework that tackles structural inequalities rather than merely managing symptoms. Drawing on secondary evidence, the study demonstrates how climate disruptions intersect with existing socio-economic vulnerabilities to create serious disadvantages for children. The chapter examines how post-pandemic recovery processes and evolving development paradigms beyond the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have created opportunities for more radical policy interventions. Through the TSP lens, it explores how redistributive, participatory, and rights-based approaches can build systemic resilience while advancing children’s well-being. Key findings indicate that protecting children’s rights in climate contexts requires institutional transformation beyond technical fixes, encompassing governance mechanisms that redistribute resources, recognise children as political actors, and address structural determinants of vulnerability. The chapter positions children as active agents in climate adaptation processes, arguing that their protection requires restructuring policy architectures to address the root causes of vulnerability and inequality.