By Graça Machel, Chair, International Board of Trustees, African Child Policy Forum
We find ourselves at the crossroads of a very opportune time for Africa. The continent has the fastest growing population in the world. The stark reality of this demographic trend is that now, more than ever, it is of critical importance to invest in children today so we create a more prosperous and stable tomorrow for all. The rapidly increasing child and youth population is predicted to reach 750 million by 2030, and one billion by 2050. The continent’s rapid growing youth population has provided us all with a unique window to either bring about a full turn around to the challenges that plague Africa or leave us in complete disarray because of our inability to respond to unprecedented humanitarian challenges that will come alongside this growth.
In simpler words, if we fail to make out of this opportunity a demographic dividend and not burden then the continent could be home to a billion angry, under-fed, under-educated and under-employed young people. Even though our youth have the potential to transform Africa – if neglected, they could exacerbate poverty and inequality whilst threatening peace, security and prosperity.
As such African governments need to urgently commit themselves to massive long-term investment in nutrition, health and quality education for children and young people if they are to avoid significant damage to the continent’s long-term economic and social development. Children depend on governments for their wellbeing, freedom, dignity, protection, access to services and the fulfilment of their potential. The state is the single most important force for ensuring children’s rights and wellbeing. Moreover, in conflict ridden countries governments are amongst the key stakeholders responsible for creating child friendly spaces to help support and protect children. Furthermore, the objective of these safe spaces is to restore a sense of normality and continuity to children whose lives have been disrupted. During such dire times, governments and international agencies, in conjunction with civil society and the private sector, must work together to provide children with opportunities to develop, play, learn, and strengthen resiliency either after a crisis or during a protracted emergency in a safe, child friendly, and stimulating environment.
The latest edition of The African Report on Child Wellbeing 2018: Progress in the Child-Friendliness of African governments by African Child Policy Forum (ACPF) whose board I chair, reveals a deeply worrying lack of progress on children’s nutrition, education, gender discrimination, law reform and budgets. The ACPF’s Child-Friendliness Index, which ranks 52 African governments according to progress towards realizing the rights and wellbeing of children, shows some African governments take the issue seriously – but many do not.
We should applaud those governments in the ‘most child-friendly’ category, including Mauritius, Algeria, Tunisia, South Africa, Cabo Verde, Egypt, Namibia, Seychelles, Swaziland, Morocco and Lesotho. More concerning are those countries languishing at the bottom of the table in the ‘least child-friendly’ group – South Sudan, Central African Republic, Chad, Cameroon, Zambia, Liberia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Guinea and Eritrea. Then there are those which were relatively well placed a decade ago but which have slipped down the table, including Zambia, Uganda and Cameroon. What is remarkable is that the index shows GDP and national wealth are not necessarily related to a child-friendliness, as several of the very poorest African countries performed relatively well.
The report acknowledges some improvements in recent years. Africa’s children are generally healthier, live longer, are better schooled, and can aspire to a better life than those before. Governments are gradually becoming more child-friendly, with better protection from abuse and exploitation, improved laws and policies, and more money being spent on children than ever before. The continent’s child laws, policies and institutions are generally well developed and established, if poorly enforced and implemented.
However, this modest progress cannot hide the challenge that remains. Undernutrition is the biggest problem – more than 30 percent of under-fives are stunted, and the actual number of stunted children in Africa has risen from 50.4 million to 58.5 million over the last 15 years. Two in every five African children leave primary school without learning how to read, write or do simple arithmetic, and many teachers fail to reach minimum standards. Such poor quality of education threatens Africa’s ability to compete in an increasingly technology-driven global economy.
African girls are still severely undervalued and lack enjoyment of their full human rights across the continent–from Cape Town to Cairo. They are treated unequally under laws which discriminate, for example, on minimum ages for marriage, with 1 in 4 girls getting married before the age of eighteen, and sexual consent, which shockingly sees more than 1 in 3 women (36.6%) in Africa report having experienced physical, and/or sexual partner violence. Horrifyingly, six African countries have no legal protection for women against domestic violence! More than half of all girls have no access to secondary school education, whilst conflicts and crises increase their risk of being trafficked or suffering sexual and gender-based violence. Budgets for children and young people remain unacceptably low in far too many countries, with spending on child-targeted social protection averaging less than five percent of GDP. Annual losses of around US$65 billion from corruption and illicit financial flows could instead provide families and children with much-needed health care, education and social protection.
Africa is at a critical inflection point, on which the current social and economic wellbeing of its people and the future development of the continent, waits with baited breath. The African Report on Child Wellbeing 2018 sets out six areas for radical, transformative action which go beyond the conventional box-ticking approach to child rights:
- African governments must combat child undernutrition;
- enhance the quality of education for all ages;
- embed respect for the human dignity of the child in all policies and programmes;
- tackle rising unemployment and inequality;
- ensure that no child – especially the poorest and vulnerable – is left behind; and
- massively increase the amount spent on children, whilst ensuring budgets are managed transparently and efficiently.
If all this were to be achieved the results from the changing age structure, youth dividend, would drive and generation exceptional economic growth. This youth dividend would see us having the world’s largest working force which if adequately tapped into could be the key to us realizing many of Africa’s development goals. As Nelson Mandela so famously said, ‘History will judge us by the difference we make in the everyday lives of children’. Let us ensure that we do right by our children as they are our beacon of hope in this journey of achieving all that we aspire for our great continent, Africa!
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Email: martin@funnelweb.org. | Call: +44(0)779 544 3607 | Skype: martin.atkin
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.