3.4. Coordination The Victim Friendly Committee appears to be the only coordinating mechanism that is functioning. It however has its own challenges of resources and some of the members who showed that they are not adequately empowered to know their roles and responsibilities. The absence of coordinating mechanisms results in a justice system clogged with delays. For instance, the police no longer urgently serve custody applications from the courts resulting in cases being postponed on numerous occasions. The Harare Civil Court no longer accepts certificates of service from legal practitioners and all civil applications are now served by the Messenger of Court. This becomes a challenge for most of the litigants who cannot afford the exorbitant fees resulting in children being denied access to justice in civil cases. Some respondents highlighted that the welfare aspect of children has died down as people concentrate more on politics. It was highlighted that delays in most cases is affected by the poor service delivery by the Ministry of Labour and Social Services. Some indicated that the Department of Labour and Social Services was a “dead department”. In all the records perused at Civil court, no record had a probation officers` report and magistrates were resorting to passing judgements without the reports so as not to delay the matter further. 3.5. Lack of other Support Mechanisms Currently there are no vibrant support institutions outside the government departments. Girl Child Network and Simukai, NGOs working in Rusape are also facing financial challenges. The Legal Aid Directorate does not cover Rusape and there is no other institution providing legal aid services to children in that town. The Legal Aid Directorate has offices in Harare and Bulawayo only and these are also affected by resources constraints. They do not have enough human and financial resources as a result they are assisting clients for a fee depending on the means of the person. They assist with the drafting of papers and rarely attend court for legal representation. This defeats the purpose of the Legal Aid Directorate’s mandate of assisting litigants free. Most cases attended to by the Legal Aid Directorate were adult cases. 5