Children from at least 50 African countries are advocating for their rights to be recognised and prioritised by leaders from across the continent.
Gathered in Johannesburg for the second Africa Children’s Summit (AFS), a child-led conference, under the theme “Seen, Head and Engaged”, the children said they wanted to be equal participants during discussions about them.
Through a collaboration between the Department of Social Development (DSD) and the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund (NMSF), the hybrid event, held from 4 to 7 April, was attended by child activists and leaders from South Africa, Lesotho, Kenya, Zambia, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Ghana, and many more.
“We come from the same continent, and we must work collaboratively to ensure that we are speaking one voice when it comes to African rights. So, it is very critical that we come as one, discuss issues as African leaders, and then see our way forward,” said the President of the Nelson Mandela Children’s Parliament, Dikgang Morudu.
The inaugural AFS was held in Nairobi, Kenya in 2021 and Morudu said that South Africa hosting the second summit showed some commitment to the advancement of children’s rights, but more could be done to get organisations like the African Union (AU) involved in funding the programme to ensure that more children have access.
He added that the AU should invite children to speak on issues that affect them since children make up a large number of the African population.
Children’s safety, access to education, health, climate change and the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in schools were some of the issues that the children deliberated on in their break-away sessions, with Morudu expressing that such engagements should not only happen through government programmes.
Children’s safety
According to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), up to 370 million or 1 in 8 girls and women were victims of sexual violence and abuse globally.
Out of these, 22% (79 million) of girls and women who experienced sexual violence were from Sub-Saharan Africa, making it the highest global rate.
Morudu further spoke about the safety concerns amongst South African children as the country often wakes up to headlines about children being abused, killed and raped in their homes, schools and churches.
“We have reached the point of saying that we are tired of the violence on children because our leaders are only good at speaking, but nothing gets done. Programmes for the safety of children should be taken to local communities because this is where the violence happens. Our leaders should listen to us more,” he added.
The Minister of Social Development, Nokuzola Tolashe said the government was mandated by the South African Constitution to protect children and ensure that their safety is prioritised.
She further highlighted that the recent cases of violence against children, especially at schools called on all spheres of society to ensure that children are safe, with homes and families being the main protectors of children.
“We are working together with the Department of Basic Education (DBE) to deal with the challenges of violence at schools. We are in a very awkward space now as a country because gender-based violence and femicide is rising by the moment now, not by the day,” said Tolashe.
She added that socio-economic issues like the high youth unemployment and drug abuse added to the challenges that contributed to the high rates of violence against women and children.
“The Department of Social Development is having these programs beyond children, dealing with other people who sometimes are perpetrators. Even children who sometimes are in conflict with law. We are hard at work in making sure that our country deals with the scourge once and for all,” said the minister.
Africa leaders must listen
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the NMCF, Dr Linda Ncube-Nkomo, said the fund had programmes that are meant to address hunger and violence against children.
Through these programmes, it is envisioned that South Africa, and the rest of the continent will be a safer country that enables children to thrive.
“We want the children to be able to say at the end of this summit, Dear African leaders, as children of the continent, this is what we are asking of you to do. Our rights as children should be protected and voices should be heard,” said Ncube-Nkomo.
She added that it was time for African leaders to listen to children’s voices and include them in the policy making decisions to avoid a continent where the youth is disgruntled with being excluded.
The outcome statement from the summit is going to be presented by representatives from the ACS to the Africa Committee of Experts on Children’s Rights (ACECR) and Welfare in Maseru this week.