What is the draft constitution promising for children in Zambia

The Media Network on Child Rights and Development hosted a discussion forum looking at the Draft Constitution and its provisions for children today, 5 June. The event was held at the Taj Pamodzi Hotel in Lusaka and was attended by various players including children.

The different speakers presented their views on the provisions of the draft constitution, identified gaps,  proposed amendments in some areas and identified new issues that have been omitted. The speaker from the Human Rights Commission of Zambia noted that Article 55 of the draft constitution (which looks at children) falls short in a number of areas. He pointed out that it proposes that education should be free but there are user fees for pupils – that is not free. He emphasized that education must be easily accessible to children and proper infrastructure must be in place. There are health facilities but there is a need for services dedicated to children above five years. These could be allocated within existing facilities.

The draft constitution talks about the abolishment of corporal punishment. The feeling was that this needs to be strengthened by other clauses within the constitution and legislation e.g. how is assault dealt with. There was a concern with the clause that talks about the protection of children who come in contact with the law. The current situation is that children stay in prison with their mothers who committed offenses. The welfare of these children is not provided for under laws guiding prisons. The recommendation was that these children should not be exposed to these environments beyond 48 hours.

At the moment Zambia is in the process of amending its legislation regarding refugees which leans towards repatriation of people most of which have been staying in Zambia for over 60 years in the case of one man. Most refugees do not have access to many services as they are not citizens. The current draft constitution is silent on the rights of refugee children. It does not make any pronouncements about their protection or rights. A recommendation was made that children born before the draft constitution is effective or those who are already in the country on refugee status should be made residents if they so wish and or should have full access to all services like any other child in the country.

 There were also concerns raised about the ‘age girls can marry’. The majority of the participants felt that the constitution should encourage children to stay at school. Some people felt that when certain things are discussed and legislation developed, customary law is not taken into consideration. In rural areas children are married off at a young age and that is considered normal. Its good to have a progressive constitution, but the state needs to find ways of enforcing the law and make sure that society at large implements its provisions. The general view was that the draft constitution makes provisions for the protection of children. There are however concerns that this is too general and not substantiated e.g. it notes that children on the streets are entitled to state protection (while it should be addressing that they should not be in the streets I the first place).

It was pointed out that there are a number of international conventions and protocols that Zambia is party to. The government needs to find a way of domesticating the tools that are available like the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) and the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACRWC). Some of the children felt that there has been no involvement of children in the review of the constitution. They felt that the draft constitution should be available in local languages not just English. The provisions on children should be linked to the UNCRC and the ACRWC. They pointed out that the protection of children is very vague especially the re-entry into school of girls who got pregnant. The protection of children from harmful content is not mentioned in the document. It is actually silent on asking the media to provide content for children.

MNCRD is planning more similar events on various issues affecting children.

SADC Regional Child Rights Reference Group meeting

The Regional Child Rights Reference Group (CRRG) is having its planning meeting in Pretoria on 31 May and 1 June 2012. Participants for the meeting are drawn from Angola, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Swaziland, Tanzania, South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Mauritius, Mozambique, Malawi, Madagascar and Lesotho. The objectives of the meeting are:

1. To develop the CRRG governance structure and mode of operations.
2. Develop advocacy and implementation plan for year 1. i.e. roll out of SADC minimum package of basic services for children
3. To discuss how to take forward the resolutions made in November 2011 during the Child Rights Conference.

The first day of the meeting is looking at the role of the CRRG. It is also to understand what is happening at country level. The discussions are very engaging and participation is high. In order for the network to function properly a number of questions were raised. These also helped in understanding the scope of its work. Some of the issues discussed and raiuse include: What networks exist, what is their status, the differences across countries and what is the understanding of ‘making a change in the children’s lives’? What is contained in the policy, budgets and operations of countries in relation to children? Who is involved in the process? Are the available resources accessible to those who implement programmes on the ground? What do we understand about minimum package?

The issue of child participation was discussed at length. The concern was: How do we ensure meaningful participation of children. Questions were asked: What is child participation? Does having children in a meeting constitute participation? How do we ensure that children are involved at local level? How do we solicit children’s views, voices and opinions? Is it easier to have children participate at national level so that their input is considered at regional level? Do we need parallel sessions for children?

The following resolutions were agreed to after amendments made during the plenary discussion of the 2011 conference:

   

1. Recognising that children’s rights will be realised by the active participation and contributions of all stakeholders, the conference resolves that civil society will collaborate and continuously engage with children and government and other regional & continental bodies, including but not limited to, SADC Secretariat, SADC Parliamentary Forum, African Union, the United Nations and the private sector.
2. Further noting the imperative of child participation in matters that affect them, the conference resolves to involve children in the regional child rights reference group, support their own initiatives and ensure that their views and voices are heard and considered.
3. The conference resolves to call upon governments in the region to do everything within their means and powers to support the realisation of child rights, particularly promoting the full implementation of the SADC Minimum Package of Basic Services for Children, African Charter on the Rights & Welfare of the Child and the UNCRC and its protocols.
4. Mindful of the need to monitor progress towards the realisation of children’s rights, the conference resolves that civil society and governments should work together in ensuring that country progress and monitoring reports are submitted to regional and international treaty bodies and recommendations are acted upon.
5. In order to implement conference outcomes and promote the co-ordination of children’s activities in the Southern African region, the conference established an interim civil society regional child rights reference group whose interim secretariat shall be Save the Children working with the SADC Council of NGOs.
6. The conference resolves that delegates will return home and consult with relevant stakeholders working with children in order to identify a representative to serve on the civil society Child Rights Reference Group and to ensure the involvement of these stakeholders in meaningful activity to advance child rights.
7. The conference acknowledges that in order to fulfill due process, focal people have been nominated from each country in order to take forward the process of establishing a regional child rights reference group.

Save the Children South Africa supports Government’s call to work together to protect children by investing in them

On Sunday the 27^th of May, President Jacob Zuma launched Child Protection Week in Galeshewe Kimberley and called on Government, Civil Society and Business to work together to protect children. Twelve million children out of a child population of 18 million are living in poverty in South Africa. This together with the high prevalence of HIV and AIDS, alarming incidences of violence against children and enduring levels of inequity make too many South African children vulnerable to abuse, neglect and exploitation. “This is unacceptable” says Neven Hendricks, Chairperson of the Board of Save the Children South Africa. “Every child in South Africa has the right to develop to their full potential and must be protected against all forms of abuse, hunger and illness. Save the Children welcomes the call to work together with Government and other partners to protect children. I also urge us all not only to commit to the protection of our children but also to invest them. They are after all our greatest resource.” Social protection for children can be achieved by making sure all vulnerable children receive social security and can access social services to make sure children are free from hunger and violence. Investing in children takes this further by linking social security to adequate nutrition and healthcare and helping children to access a quality education.

The Child Support Grant is the most comprehensive poverty alleviation programme that has been embarked on in recent years by the State in South Africa. Research has demonstrated the positive link between grant access and the well being of the child as measured by improved nutrition, school attendance and access to health. Save the Children congratulates the Government of South Africa for reaching 10.3 million vulnerable children with the Child Support Grant. However two million or 17% of eligible children are not reached this is largely due to a lack of documentation such as birth certificates for children and identity documents for caregivers The Child Support Grant is the foundation to social security but must be part of a comprehensive package that will be able to protect poor children and their families together with social service interventions, particularly focusing on the restoration of the family and access to quality health and education. Additionally, the issue of violence against children must be addressed. Violence against children in schools and communities poses a real threat to their development and denies children the protection they deserve and the opportunity to fulfil their potential. This is unacceptable.

During this Child Protection week Save the Children in South Africa takes this opportunity to reassure the Government of its commitment to support them in their continuing efforts to fulfill the rights of all children in this country.

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For more information please contact:

Karen Allan, Advocacy and Communications Advisor, Save the Children UK

Call: +27 (0)12 430 7775

Email: kallan@savethechildren.org.za

SOUTH AFRICA DROPS IN WORLD RANKING AS BEST PLACE TO BE A MOTHER

ACCORDING TO A NEW REPORT FROM SAVE THE CHILDREN

JOHANNESBURG Save the Children’s thirteenth State of the World’s Mothers report states that South Africa has slipped quite dramatically from a ranking of 19 in 2011 to a ranking of 33 in 2012, on a listing of about 80 less developed countries around the world[i] – showing that South Africa is no longer such a good place to become a mother. The ranking looks at factors such as mother’s health, education and economic status, as well as critical child indicators such as health and nutrition. The report also shows that Niger is the worst place to be a mother in the world, replacing Afghanistan for the first time in two years. Norway comes in at first place.

The slip in rankings for South Africa is largely due to its slipping performance relative to other countries on a number of indicators[ii]:  

The Good News

• Women hold 41 percent of parliamentary seats- the 5th highest share in the world
•  60 % of women are using a modern method of contraception.
•  90% of births are attended by skilled health personnel.
• South Africa does a good job of getting children into primary and secondary school, with gross enrollment ratios of 102 and 94, respectively.
• Girls can expect to receive 12 years of formal education.

The Bad News

• A girl can expect to live, on average, only to 54 years old – that’s the 5th lowest female life expectancy amongst the less developed countries. In fact, this is on par with or worse than many of the least developed countries in the world.
• Tragically, 1 woman in 100 will die from a pregnancy-related cause.
• At 57 under-5 deaths per 1,000 live births, 1 child in 18 will not live to see his/her fifth birthday
• Nearly 1 child in 10 (9%) is underweight for age.
• Nearly 10% (9%) of the population lacks access to safe drinking water
• Women earn only 60 cents for every dollar earned by men

The slip in ranking calls for a host of measures to improve the range of indicators listed under ‘the bad news ’ including better quality of obstetric care, prevention of mother to child transmission of HIV and treatment of women with HIV, newborn care and exclusive breastfeeding, and combating under-nutrition and anemia for mothers.

New research for the State of the World’s Mothers Report, Save the Children found that the simple measure of supporting mums to breastfeed could save up to one million children's lives a year, globally. Only 8% of South African mums breastfeed – this is amongst the lowest rates in the world, and almost the same as Somalia at 9%. Dr. Joy Lawn of Save the Children says, ‘If the government and non-state actors had to together push a single strategy that would rapidly improve South Africa’s child mortality, we would recommend ensuring that, along with PMTCT strategies, babies are breastfed exclusively up to 6 months of age.’ Save the Children also advocates that breastfeeding counseling skills are a core part of health workers’ roles, especially at the community level. Several African countries have recently increased the percentage of babies exclusively breastfeeding to 6 months – for example in Ghana this is now at 63%, eight times higher than in South Africa.

Save the Children is working in South Africa to ensure that infants are exclusively breastfed, even when the mother is infected with HIV. “South Africa now has a great government policy on the Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission of HIV that promotes breastfeeding,” says Dr. Joy Lawn of Save the Children, but infected mothers continue to believe that they should not breastfeed for fear that they will pass on the infection to their babies. “With the right treatment of antiretroviral (ARVs) breastfeeding is safe – and recommended because it protects the baby from a host of other infections, especially in areas where due to a lack of access to sanitation and clean water, for instance, the risk of diarrhea and other diseases is high.” Children not properly breastfed are also at risk of being short for their age (stunting), which is about 18-24% in South Africa despite relatively high income levels.

South Africa has the potential and the opportunity to do better for our mothers and children. On this mothers’ day, we need focus on going in the right direction, not slipping further.

Individuals wanting to join EVERY ONE, Save the Children’s Newborn and Child Survival campaign, can visit www.savethechildren.net and sign our petition to help world leaders commit to saving children's lives. This website will also host the charity’s live interactive video conference discussing Motherhood on the 8^th of May with high-profile Global Mothers.

For more information, a full copy of the State of the World’s Mothers’ report and interviews, please contact Ms. Lesego Mongale from INZALO COMMUNICATIONS on Tel: +27 11 646 9992; Fax: +27 11 646 9938; Cell: +27 73 266 6025.

ENDS

Notes to the Editors

·         One in 4 (24%) children under age 5 are stunted which is a high enough percentage to be a public health concern. Thus, South Africa is home to over 1 million stunted children, i.e. an estimated 1.2 million. This is related to both HIV/AIDS and to undernutrition and both need to be tackled urgently. 

·         South Africa is identified as a country which is underperforming relative to their national wealth[iii].  Although the country’s stunting rate is lower than that found in some other countries in sub-Saharan Africa, including its regional neighbours[iv], it is much higher than that found in countries with a similar level of national wealth i.e. relative to its income peers like Bulgaria & Montenegro, both under 10%, and Romania, 13%[v].

·         The poorest South African children tend to have the poorest dietary quality, and the wealthiest children are almost three times as likely to consume meat, milk and other high quality foods, as the poorest children.

·         Although 61% of South African infants are put to the breast within one hour of birth ( i.e."good" coverage, according to WHO performance thresholds), only 8% of mothers are exclusively breastfeeding for the first six months, less than half (49%) of all infants are introduced to complementary foods on time and less than 1 in 3 (31%) infants are still receiving any breast milk at 2 years of age. This is similar to Somalia (9%). The only African countries with lower rates are Chad, Cote D’Ivoire and Gabon.

·         South Africa’s high infant, child and maternal mortality is to AIDS, in addition to birth complications and newborn conditions, as well as malnutrition, etc. In fact, there are 5.2 million people living with AIDS – which is 10% of the population.

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[i] The State of the World’s Mothers report compares three tiers of countries: Tier 1 are 43 more developed countries, Tier 2 are 81 less developed countries, of which South Africa is a part, and Tier 3 are forty least developed countries. [i]  We acknowledge that eachcountry has different development contexts.

[ii] Country performance on indicators for 2011 and 2012 are available on request, for comparison.

[iii] See page 20 of the State of the World’s Mothers Report 2012.

[iv]  E.g. 58% in Burundi, 39% Lesotho, 32% in Zimbabwe, 31% Botswana, 30% Namibia.

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Media monitoring training for children

A two day workshop on media monitoring is taking place on 16 and 17 April at Pelican Park Primary in Grassy Park, Cape Town. The workshop is attended by grade seven pupils from the school. The focus of the training is twofold: The first part looks at human rights, children rights and how they relate to the media. It also introduces the project to the children. The second part is about how news media work, how media can either promote or violate children’s rights in the way they report stories on children and how to do media monitoring.

In one of the exercises, children were asked to identify in pictures what they think are key problems facing children in South Africa. Issues that came up from group presentations include: substance abuse – children introduced to alcohol and drugs by other children and by parents, physical abuse, child neglect, teen pregnancy, child prostitution, rape, HIV AIDS, poverty, homelessness, children not heard, verbal and emotional abuse. They also identified what rights are affected by the problems. These were: the right to safety and protection, freedom of speech, right to shelter, health and access to education or school.

This activity is part of the Children and the Media programme which is implemented in South Africa and Zambia. In South Africa children in Cape Town and Johannesburg participate in the programme. The media monitoring is done by primary school children. Mrs Dudley, a teacher at the school, indicated that the children who participated in the programme in 2011 improved in their writing skills, their confidence levels had improved and also the way they communicate has changed. She noted that some of the new children in the 2012 group showed interest after interacting with the 2011 group.

The aim of the programme is to empower the media to utilise a rights-based approach towards reporting on stories involving children which will contribute towards the media’s positive portrayal of children. Assisting and encouraging media to provide spaces and support for children to express themselves and communicate their opinions through initiatives such as media monitoring of children in the news and how they are portrayed and these activities are carried out by children, adults and the civil society. The project also aims to build the media’s skills on children’s rights and reporting on children, through workshops, use of reporting guidelines and ongoing media monitoring.

The outcome of this project is that: Southern Africa society increasingly responsive to children’s rights. The main result for this area is an improvement in the coverage of children’s issues by the mainstream media. The number of articles posted on children, the quality of the articles, the voices of the children in the media and monitoring reports shared with the media on the quality of the reporting will be indicators. The programme is funded by the European Union.

Day of the African Child: 16 June 2012

The theme for the 2012 Day of the African Child (DAC) is: “The Rights of Children with Disabilities: the duty to protect, respect, promote and fulfil’. This theme is in recognition of the fact that children with disabilities continue to be marginalised and they face difficulties in accessing education, health and other social services as well as being able to enjoy their rights. The African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACRWC) Article 13 addresses the rights of children with disabilities. The UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities (UNCRPD) can also be accessed at: http://www.un.org/disabilities/

Save the Children will coordinate Day of the African Child events in the region. For more information, please contact the Save the Children Offices in your country, or Ms Nikiwe Kaunda at: nikiwek@saf.savethechildren.se

Launch of 'A life free of hunger' report

 

Today Save the Children launched its report ‘A life free of hunger: tackling child malnutrition’ at a media briefing in Johannesburg. This is part of the Everyone Campaign and the report was launched simultaneously in three continents.

The report analyses the causes of malnutrition focusing on chronic malnutrition and stunting in children. It identifies solutions that are proven to be effective which include direct and indirect intervention.

Mixael de Kock, Chair of the Johannesburg Press Club, opened the event stressing the importance of looking after children and making sure that the current situation does not continue. All the speakers agreed that there is a need for a partnership between governments and civil society in dealing with malnutrition.

In his presentation, David Sanders of Save the Children indicated that child grants play an important role in curbing the situation. A study conducted in South Africa has proved that recipients of grants have more access to quality foods than those not receiving grants. He also noted that the proposed National Health Insurance in South Africa will not work unless the health system is working (public health system in rural areas, community clinics and small hospitals). He also argued that there is a need to invest in competent people for the right positions and ensure that proper management systems are in place. He commended the work of community workers and that they do not get enough support from the state (nurses and local facilities).  

He added that there is a need to deploy district specialist teams and improve the school health programmes. There are plans for school nurses to visit schools on a regular basis. Save the Children is exploring ways of assisting in this regard. He concluded his presentation by noting that 18% stunting is too high for a middle income country like South Africa. 

There was input from Scott McNiven of USAIDS talked about food aid quality, Osten Chulu of UNDP looked at the challenges of meeting the MDGs by 2015 while Richard Young of the EU looked at the inequities and the relationship to hunger and malnutrition. Chantell Witten, the Nutrition specialist at UNICEF noted that the nutritional challenges differ from community to community and are also affected by geographic location of those affected. She stressed that the problem is not always that people do not have access to food, but the quality of food they have access to. She said that nutrition is an imperative, we can’t do without it. She informed the audience that packages of care for new born babies are available in some provinces and KZN has taken it on board.

A child journalist from Parktown Girls High asked if genetically modified foods have any nutritional value and if it is wise to promote them as an alternative. Witten advised that those with micro nutrients would be best and she would support them. There was also a discussion on the integrated feeding programme at South African schools as it does not meet the nutritional requirements of the students. Nutrition is taught in schools and but school feeding does not focus on nutrition but is there to ensure that kids manage the day.

The keynote address was given by Lynn Moeng, the Director of Nutrition from the South African Government. In her speech she said that people affected by malnutrition are not consulted when developing strategies. She asked the following questions: Are we targeting the right people? Are we investing in the right strategies? Are policies aimed at addressing malnutrition correct? Who should be investing in the first 1000 days of a child’s life? What should government do to ensure mothers breast feed for the first six months?

Moeng acknowledged that various government departments should be involved in nutrition issues not just one. She stressed the need to hear from children what needs to be done differently. She pointed out that when dealing with nutrition and hunger, people must understand that causes are different and not the same in each environment and should be treated accordingly. It depends on the areas where people live e.g. an alcoholic parent, where parents are overweight, where both parents earn an income. Its not only the poor who struggle with poor nutrition. She said that everyone needs to play a role – governments, families, establishments and business. She concluded by stating that she feels ashamed as an adult to be told by children that we should feed them. This was after she was handed a petition signed in thumbprints by hundreds of children.