Monday, 19 December 2011

A child's perspective of COP17

As I walked out of the King Shaka International airport, all I could see was poster after poster advertising for Cop17. For me the thought that came to my mind was that they are doing all of that for us. If they don’t fix the problems now, in 20 years the earth will be a very difficult place to live!
When you drive past the busy streets with the sound of foreigners speaking with strange accents, it makes me feel great that they are here just for us children to secure our future.

At the Durban Convention Centre, you walk inside to see all these items of technology, like solar cars
and hydro-bikes. This gives me hope that working together, we can stop the effects of climate change.

I was privileged to interview Connie Hedegaard, who is the Commissioner for the European Union. She says that she got into climate change when she was appointed as Environmental Minister.

Someone in the ministry asked her, “what do we do about the climate?” She responded by saying, “the more knowledge you get about climate change the more you understand how serious it is, and then it’s hard not to get interested in how we can solve this difficult problem.”

Hedegaard said that “Our efforts now make a huge difference, even what people do in their daily lives.” Some people say “What does it help if I do anything because there are 7 billion people on planet earth?” She added, “If everyone thinks like that one thing is for sure, nothing happens.”

The Commissioner is convinced that if all of us work together to see what we can do that we can change things.

According to NASA Science, if we don’t do something to stop pollution and the consumption of fossil fuels, the average temperature will rise between 2 to 6 degrees by the end of the 21st century.

We need to save our planet starting now!

Article by Asher Pardey, one of the children participating in the Children and the Media programme in South Africa

Friday, 25 November 2011

Conference on the status of children's rights in SADC

From 14 to 16 November 2011 Save the Children, the Pan African Parliament and SADC CNGO hosted a conference on the Status of Children’s Rights in Southern Africa.

The conference was attended by government representatives from 11 SADC countries, the Pan African Parliament Members of Parliament, SADC Parliamentary Forum Members of Parliament, African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, civil society organizations from 12 Southern African countries, academics and consultants.

The conference aimed at increasing the participant’s understanding of instruments and processes in promoting accountability for the realization of children’s rights. There were dialogue sessions to strengthen civil society and government’s capacity to collaborate on advocacy issues around children’s issues.

On the last day a committee was established to take forward the process of establishing a Regional Child Rights Reference Group to undertake advocacy around children’s rights in the region.The terms of reference for the Reference Group were discussed but it was agreed that further discussions at country level have to take place.

The conference also agreed that more issues should be included to the Reference Group's ToRs. The issues include identifying child rights advocacy priorities and resource mobilization, building networks and coalitions for child rights advocacy, establishing collaborative relationships amongst CSOs and governments, the implementation of regional and international instruments and protocols, reporting mechanisms and child participation.

At the end of the conference resolutions were made which will be finalised once country network consultations have taken place. They will be communicated wildly and used as a benchmark. The report on the conference will be available shortly.

Monday, 19 September 2011

Children talk to the EU President in Johannesburg

On 16 September, accompanied by, Herman Van Rompuy, President of the European Council, and the EU Ambassador to South Africa, President Barroso attended a press conference where he was interviewed by child journalists.
The event was opened by Susanne Martin who introduced the EU delegation. 

Timothy Bainbridge, Regional Director of Save the Children Sweden gave a brief background of the EU Save the Children relations. William Bird, Director of Media Monitoring Africa, a Save the Children partner implementing the Children and the Media programme in South Africa, introduced the programme and what MMA does. He also introduced the children who were to share the information and those who were to conduct the interview.
 There were thirteen children who had an interest in sharing information with the EU president. The children talked about why they monitor the media and what they monitor. They explained to the president why it is important to have fair media coverage of children’s issues. They also shared their concerns with the impact of poor reporting. Three children from schools around Johannesburg interviewed Barroso on his understanding of child rights and how they are realised. Jead Stehr , a 13 year old from Saxonworld Primary, asked what the president thinks of children’s rights.
Barroso’s response focussed on the need to protect children and ensure their safety, access to education and to be taken care of. “Children are our future” he said, “we need to take care of them”. The president encouraged children to stay at school and learn. He told them that learning is not easy but to succeed, one needs to be committed to what they are doing. He made an example where he had to learn English. This has made life easier for him as it has improved the way he communicates. It also allows him to meet people.
Hosted by the University of Johannesburg, the event was a success. Talking to the children after the interview, they indicated how relaxed Barroso was and that he seemed to understand children (based on his responses and jokes).  When he came to the room he asked for some children to come and sit next to him. Asking one of the children how he felt about sitting that close, he said, “Yho, I was scared at first but he made me laugh and it was easy to tell him what we do in our school”.

Thursday, 25 August 2011

Children’s Knowledge of Sexuality: Finding New Directions

PRETORIA, SOUTH AFRICA - Children and young people continue to lack accurate and comprehensive knowledge of HIV and how to avoid transmission. There continues to be little, if any, data on younger children’s knowledge of HIV and how to avoid transmission. The silence around sexuality in general and children’s sexuality in particular generates misconceptions, myths and misinformation which contribute to children’s risky sexual practices.

Until recently, implementation efforts have been limited by a tendency to focus HIV prevention and sexual and reproductive health initiatives on children 15 years and older. Younger children are rarely asked their opinion on the information and services they receive. In addition, the difficulties faced by adults in accepting children’s sexuality and the social taboos and attitudes regarding sex, gender, contraception and HIV prevention itself have not been addressed adequately, if at all.

A new report, released here today, seeks to improve the lives of children by strengthening a regional programme promoting comprehensive sexuality information and education that would improve children’s access to knowledge and information about HIV, sexual and reproductive health and information relating to HIV prevention. Save the Children commissioned the HSRC to undertake a pioneering approach to examine the level of accurate and comprehensive knowledge of HIV, how to avoid transmission and understanding of sexuality and access to sexual and reproductive health among children 5-17 years of age. The research showed how vulnerable children between 5 – 8 years old are vulnerable to sexual risks, as   emphasised by their limited knowledge, attitudes and skills in relation to sexual behaviour. They also had only a rudimentary understanding of the concepts of sex, gender and human rights. Most children interviewed in this age range could not describe how pregnancy occurred. As a result, they did not know how pregnancy could be prevented.

The picture with regard to 9-11 year old children was not much better. Only a few understood the meaning of sexuality in relation to the human life cycle, with many misconceptions. Children at this age are at the cusp of puberty but reproductive health was not well understood, with only 51% knowing  how pregnancy occurred,  its impact on their lives (schooling, lack of love by parents, etc.), and  ways to prevent unintended pregnancy (condoms, abstaining from sex, contraceptive pills).

Most children believed that they could not get AIDS, which is likely a function of the absence of formal or informal discussion of HIV transmission. Fifty seven percent could not cite a single way to prevent sexual transmission of HIV (for example, condom use). Neither were they familiar with their own vulnerability to HIV and AIDS, which makes this age cohort especially vulnerable to risky sexual behaviour.

The age group 12 – 17 had a better knowledge of HIV and AIDS and its transmission, which was largely obtained through the school and peers. Girls and boys started to have sex at about the same age (14 years), with some acknowledgement of concurrent partners by both boys and girls.

Vulnerability to risk of sexual transmission in this age group was reinforced by the fact that over half of the parents (52%) were not aware that their child was sexually active. Sexual and reproductive health for children was primarily accessed through local clinics and hospitals, though issues of stigma and the lack of support of parents in assisting children to access services was notable.

While parents had good levels of knowledge and ways to protect against sexual transmission of HIV, the primary communication between parents and children focused essentially on protecting children from abuse and less with information about sexual risk for HIV and AIDS.
The work is important in charting an approach to sexual education showing that much still needs to be done in providing accurate information and education about HIV and AIDS and ways to promote sexual health among children.

[An executive summary of the report, “Regional Baseline Survey to Establish Children’s KABP In Relation to Sexuality and Gender, Access to Sexuality and HIV Information and Sexual and Reproductive Health Services In South Africa”, Arvin Bhana, Karl Pelzer, Refilwe Phaswanamafuya, Monde Makiwane, Adlai Davids, Gladys Mlambo, Shaneel Bachoo, Mohammed Yacoob Vawda is available on http://saf.savethechildren.se/saf. For further information or interviews, contact Arvin Bhana at abhana@hsrc.ac.za]

Wednesday, 15 June 2011

June 16, a day to remember

On the eve of the Day of the African Child, Save the Children acknowledges the significant role children played in bringing about change in South Africa.  “As we observe June 16, we also need to note that there are still major problems facing children and until these are addressed, children will never really benefit from the changes brought by 1976 sacrifice”…. Violence against children 35 years ago was seen as a turning point in the history of this country and yet today children are still experiencing violence, poor education, discrimination and poverty among other things.

Save the Children (SC) and its partners are addressing some of the challenges and are finding ways to make the country a safer place for children to live. Alone they cannot succeed but are urging all South Africans to play a part in ensuring that children are protected from harm.

SC’s child protection work aims to prevent, respond and resolve the abuse, neglect and exploitation and violence experienced in all settings and to strengthen the capacity of a variety of actors to protect children and develop systems and mechanisms that provide meaningful protection for all children in the longer term.

Save the Children’s vision is that of a world in which every child attains the right to survival, protection, development and participation. The organisation’s mission is to inspire breakthroughs in the way the world treats children and to achieve immediate and lasting improvements to their lives. As a key player in this sector, Save the Children works with a number of partners who share the same sentiments.  

Cape Town based RAPCAN (Resources Aimed at the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect) views prevention as the most significant strategy for effective child protection. The Children’s Act 38 of 2005 supports legal expression of a prevention model towards child protection.  The challenge over the next few years is to ensure that the government departments working with children, transform a largely protectionist approach towards a prevention model.
                                                                                                                           
UCARC (Umthatha Child Abuse Resource Centre) argues that all children have a right to be protected and cared for, working together is the only way to achieve this including: parents, caregivers, all community members, community leaders (traditional, political and religious), and all local, district, provincial and national government officials, only then will children develop into healthy adults who will contribute positively to society.

The Centre for Child Law at the University of Pretoria protects South African children by holding duty bearers to account, ensuring that they deliver on their promises to children that have been set out in law and policy. Children’s rights to safety, care, respect and dignity must be matched by fulfilment of their socio-economic rights.

The UN Report on the Study of violence against children (August 2006) states that “No violence against children is justifiable; all violence against children is preventable”. The same in-depth study confirms that such violence exists in every country of the world, cutting across culture, class, education, income and ethnic origin. In every region, in contradiction to human rights obligations and children’s developmental needs, violence against children is socially approved, and is frequently legal and State-authorized.

Save the Children is encouraging all South Africans to respect the rights of children and to ensure that their views and aspirations are heard and respected.

Monday, 30 May 2011

Child Safeguarding Protocol

Save the Children staff Nikiwe, Deidre and Noma, are in the Eastern Cape visiting Umthatha Child Abuse Resource Centre (UCARC) for two days. UCARC actively promotes and advocates for the rights of children including the right to protection.
In the meeting, Deidre introduced and described the Child Safeguarding Protocol as the policies and procedures that Save the Children and its partners are required to apply and monitor to protect children. Non compliance with this protocol can have dire consequences including cancellation of contract with partners.


The protocol applies to a number of people and institutions including the following: Save the Children staff, partner organizations, representatives, donors, journalists. The protocol applies in the work place and at home.
The commitment to the protocol includes: ensuring awareness of the protocol by all affected, preventing risk to children, reporting steps where concerns arise regarding the abuse and exploitation of children and actions to be taken when responding. The protocol encourages the staff of Save the Children, partners and others affected by the protocol to understand the issues and be able to respond.
If partners can adopt the protocol and encourage staff to commit to it, this will strengthen the organizations in addressing problems when they come up.

Wednesday, 25 May 2011

Children participating in media


In February 2011 Save the Children launched a programme called ‘Children and the Media’. The objective of the project is to ensure that children in South Africa and Zambia are empowered to influence duty bearers to fulfill children’s rights taking children’s opinions into account.


This is a three year project funded by the European Commission and Sida. It will be implemented in partnership with Media Monitoring Africa (MMA) based in South Africa and Media Network on Child Rights Development (MNCRD) based in Zambia.
The project will involve at least 600 children in both countries. The main focus of the project will be: 
  • The development of ethical guidelines for reporting on children. Journalists in the two countries will be trained on the use of the tool and at least 25 media houses will be encouraged to adopt the guidelines.
  • Establishment of the Children’s News Agency. Children in both countries will be trained and will operate as child journalists. Articles will be sent to the mainstream media for publishing.
  • Child Media Monitors. Children will monitor the output of the 25 media houses using the ethical guidelines and the journalists who have been trained. The results of the monitoring will be shared with concerned editors.

Save the Children Sweden and SIDA sign an agreement in Windhoek

Save the Children Sweden (SCS) and SIDA recently signed an agreement that will see two civil society organisations in Namibia participate in legislative reform. The focus of the two year project is the Child Care and Protection Bill that is currently under review in Namibia. The project aims at increasing awareness among parliamentarians, the judiciary, government officials as well as children and their caregivers of the Child Care and Protection Act of Namibia with a specific focus on four regions.

Save the Children Sweden will work with two Namibian civil society organisations, Legal Assistance Centre (LAC) and Ombetja Yehinga Organisation (OYO), to implement the project. LAC is a national organisation promoting human rights in Namibia with a focus on information and advice, litigation, education and training, research and law reform and advocacy. SCS will also work with OYO, who delivers a range of programmes using information, education and communication (IEC) resources created by and for young people, including the OYO magazine, OYO Regional and National Drama Tours and OYO DVDs. Save the Children Sweden will provide technical and financial support to these organisations to implement the activities.

The project will first undertake advocacy and awareness raising events in order to promote the passage of the Bill. There will be also training conducted with magistrates to ensure their understanding of the Bill and source their input. The project will also engage with in and out of school children, teachers and caregivers to ensure that these children have the information necessary to claim their rights.
In implementing the project, the partners will not cover all aspects of the very comprehensive Child Care and Protection Act, but rather focus on a number of key provisions in the Act. It is envisaged that the project will yield the following results:
·         The Child Care and Protection Act is passed in Parliament during 2011
·         At least 50 magistrates understand the content of the Child Care and Protection Act and its implications on their duties
·         At least 10,000 children in Khomas, Kunene and Erongo have the information necessary to claim their rights as stipulated in the Child Care and Protection Act
·         LAC and OYO engage with civil society organisations regionally in order to share lessons learnt and best practices

The two year project in Namibia will also provide an opportunity for Save the Children Sweden, OYO and LAC to meet twice a year to assess progress against objectives and results, reflect on lessons learned and good practices and to develop a joint strategy for how to take the project further in 2013 and beyond
Background
As one strategy to address children’s rights in Namibia, the government is strengthening the legal framework for the protection of children by finalizing the Child Care and Protection Bill. The Bill contains a wide range of provisions to protect and promote the well-being of children, including early intervention services, procedures for removing endangered children from the home, foster care, adoption, child trafficking, child headed households and children’s courts. When adopted, the Bill will provide a more comprehensive framework for child protection in Namibia. It is also anticipated that the government will then develop regulations to further define the framework for its implementation.