Press Release
Less words, more action required to improve the wellbeing of children in Africa, says the African Report on Child Wellbeing 2016
12 MAY 2017, JOHANNESBURG
The African Child Policy Forum (ACPF), in collaboration with Graça Machel Trust, launched the 4th edition of its flagship report series today in Johannesburg, South Africa. The report entitled “The African Report on Child Wellbeing 2016, Getting It Rights: Bridging the gap between policy and practice” examines efforts being made in various African countries to implement children’s rights and ensure their wellbeing. It reveals that while governments have made significant stride to put appropriate laws and policies, weak enforcement remains a major barrier to enhance children’s protection from abuse and exploitation and ensure their overall wellbeing.
The report finds that government institutions responsible for children’s affairs in a number of African countries have very weak institutional authority and capacity to carry out their responsibilities. It also shows that allocation of inadequate budgets and human resources to these structures further exacerbated the problem and seriously affected their ability to effectively coordinate national programmes benefiting children and achieve better results.
While launching the report, Ms Graça Machel, Founder of the Graça Machel Trust and Chairperson of the International Board of Trustees of the African Child Policy Forum (ACPF) said, “Here in Africa, we are not short of laws and policies, as we have done tremendous work in this regard over the last decades. What we fundamentally lack is implementation, commitment and capacity to translate them into action and improve the situation of women and children. She added, “Despite the visible and pressing challenges we have in effectively implementing laws and policies, there are very limited initiatives to explore and understand the underlying causes and barriers. This report provides a glimpse into these issues and suggests solutions to address the gaps between policy and practice”.
The report makes the case that after nearly three decades of interventions to realise children’s rights, it is unacceptable that two-thirds of children in Africa experience multiple deprivations that are detrimental to their survival and development. It highlights that there are countries where half of children under the age of five are stunted and where access to healthcare and education, especially at a secondary level, is inequitable and of very poor quality. The report identifies these realities as manifestations of institutional and systemic challenges that hinder effective implementation of laws, policies and programmes targeting children.
Mr Theophane Nikyema, Executive Director of the African Child Policy Forum (ACPF) says, “Enhancing effectiveness of implementation efforts requires thorough planning and continuous review of performance of implementing agencies to learn what is working and what is not working. It also requires commitment to take corrective measures to strengthen and support these institutions to improve efficiency and deliver quality services to children”.
As evidenced from the experience of countries that have made relative advances in promotion of child rights, effective implementation rests, among other things, on having functional accountability systems with appropriate mechanisms for monitoring progress and imposing sanctions in times of unsatisfactory performance. “Encouraging efforts are being made to enhance transparency and accountability in Africa”, says Professor Julia Sloth-Nielsen from University of Western Cape. “However, lack of good governance at all levels still lies at the heart of the failure to fulfil human rights obligations including commitments to children and women in the African context”, Professor Sloth-Nielsen underscores.
Ensuring the wellbeing of all children is not an easy task, the report argues. It highlights that such endeavour demands unwavering commitment to change the status quo and transform the way business is done in the public sector, particularly in sectors targeting vulnerable groups such as children and women. “Urgent action is long overdue” says Ms Nomsa Daniels, Chief Executive Officer of the Graça Machel Trust, “Conscious effort needs to be made at all levels to build capacity and improve services to children and mothers, in terms of both quality and outreach, to lift them out of poverty and deprivations”.
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More about the report
The African Report on Child Wellbeing series is one of the flagship publications of the African Child Policy Forum (ACPF) issued biennially with themes focusing on state accountability to children. The 2016 edition, the 4th in the series, is a response to the growing gap between policy promises made and their actual implementation. It provides analyses on public institutions, budgets and operational systems with a focus on children. It seeks to contribute to national and regional efforts towards the full realisation of human rights, including child rights, and to building momentum for the attainment of the SDGs and the African Union’s Agenda 2063. Learn more at: http://africanchild.report/; www.africanchildinfo.net
ABOUT:
The African Child Policy Forum (ACPF)
The African Child Policy Forum (ACPF) is an independent, not-for-profit, pan-African centre of policy research and advocacy on the African child. It was established in 2003 out of concern about the situation of the African child, and the need for us – Africans – to recognise our collective responsibility to ensure the realisation of all rights for all children. The main focus of the organization is the promotion of State Accountability. The major pillars of our work are: knowledge-building; policy advocacy; policy dialogue; and the creation of a stronger collective voice for children in Africa. Learn more at: www.africanchildforum.org
The Graça Machel Trust
The Graça Machel Trust is an advocacy and action organisation that works across the African continent to drive positive change in women’s economic advancement, children’s rights, and governance and leadership. Through our support of local initiatives and by connecting multi-sectoral key stakeholders at the regional, national and sub-national level, we help to catalyse action where it is needed. By using its convening power the Trust seeks to amplify the voices of women and children in Africa; influence governance; and promote women’s contributions and leadership in the economic social and political development of Africa. Learn more at: www.gracamacheltrust.org/new
Contact details for further enquiries
Mr Yehualashet Mekonen
Head, The African Child Observatory Programme,
The African Child Policy Forum (ACPF)
Email: mekonen@africanchildforum.org
Tel: + 251 911 14 38 26 (after 13th May 2017)
Mr Fortune Thembo
Children’s Rights Programme Manager
Graça Machel Trust
Email: fortunet@gracamacheltrust.org
Tel: +27 60 986 7253
Issued jointly by:
Graça Machel Trust
Communications Department
Email: info@gracamacheltrust.org
The African Child Policy Forum (ACPF)
Information Hub Officer
ahmed@africanchildforum.org
The Trust supports and mobilises civil society networks on issues of ending child marriage, ending violence against children, ending female genital mutilation and promoting children’s rights, to carry out advocacy and action across Africa. Special focus is placed on Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania and Zambia where child marriage continues to be a problem largely driven by poverty, gender inequality, harmful traditional practices, conflict, low levels of literacy, limited opportunities for girls and weak or non-existent protective and preventive legal frameworks.
Education is a fundamental right for all children, which is also a vehicle for social, economic and political transformation in communities, countries and the African continent at large. Recent studies indicate a lack of progress in some of the critical commitments aimed at improving education quality, access, retention and achievement, particularly for girls. In most African countries, girls may face barriers to learning, especially when they reach post-primary levels of education. By implementing multi-dimensional approaches to education which includes core education, personal development, life skills and economic competencies, the Trust partners with funding partners, governments, civil societies and the private sector to improve education access.
The Nutrition and Reproductive, Maternal, New-born, Child and Adolescent Health and Nutrition, (RMNCAH+N) of the Children’s Rights and Development Programme aims at promoting the Global Strategy for women, children and adolescents’ health within the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) agenda. The strategy emphasises on the importance of effective country leadership as a common factor across countries making progress in improving the health of women, children and adolescents.
Through its Early Childhood Development (ECD) plan, The Trust will seek to put into action the new science and evidence Report that was presented by Lancet Series on Good and early development – the right of every child. This will be achieved by mobilising like-minded partners to contribute in the new science and evidence to reach all young children with ECD. The Trust’s goal is to be a catalyst for doing things differently, in particular, to rid fragmentation and lack of coordination across ECD sectors. In response to evidence showing the importance of political will in turning the tide against the current poor access and quality of ECD. Even before conception, starting with a mother’s health and social economic conditions, the early years of a child’s life form a fundamental foundation that determines whether a child will survive and thrive optimally.