Programme Director,
Acting Mayor of the Greater Giyani Local Municipality, Cllr N.M Rikhotso,
Speaker of the Greater Giyani Local Municipality, Cllr M Maswanganyi,
Our facilitators,
Our beloved children,
Ladies and gentlemen,
Comrades and friends.
Good morning.
Today marks the International Children’s Day. International Children’s Day is unique because it gives a particular focus to children and their protection. The day was selected at the World Conference for the well-being of Children held in Geneva, Switzerland in 1925. Since then the day has been celebrated in almost all the countries of the world.
The Day and the issues of Children raised during the 1925 Geneva Conference remain important and relevant today as they were those many years in the past.
South African Children remain victims of institutionalised poverty, HIV/AIDS, and physical, emotional and sexual abuse. Studies have shown that the impact of abuse of children tends to cause life-long damage and affects their growth and development into adulthood.
From time immemorial countries and governments have been seized with the challenge of creating an environment under which children grow and thrive without any disruptions – either socio-economic or political.
It was because of the universal concern on the rights and protection of Children that the United Nations General Assembly on 10 December 1959 adopted the Declaration of the Rights of the Child.
The United Nations acknowledged that the Child, “by reason of his physical and mental immaturity, needs special safeguards and care, including appropriate legal protection, before as well as after birth.”
The Declaration of the Rights of the Child lays down ten principles:
1. The right to equality, without distinction on account of race, religion or national origin.
2. The right to special protection for the child’s physical, mental and social development
3. The right to name and a nationality
4. The right to adequate nutrition, housing and medical services.
5. The right to special education, treatment when a child is physically or mentally handicapped.
6. The right to understanding and love by parents and society.
7. The right to recreational activities and free education
8. The right to be among the first to receive relief in all circumstances.
9. The right to protection against all forms of neglect, cruelty and exploitation.
10. The right to be brought up in a spirit of understanding, tolerance, friendship among people, and a universal brotherhood.
Whether nations really care about the rights of children is measured against these principles. How far under democracy and freedom, has South Africa gone in ensuring that the rights of children are upheld and protected?
South Africa is a signatory of the African Union and United Nations protocols pertaining to the rights of children. We are therefore legally bound to live up to the expectations of these protocols.
Children in South Africa live in a society governed by a Constitution that has the highest regard for the rights of children and for the equality and dignity of everyone. Protecting children from violence, exploitation and abuse is not only a basic value, but also an obligation clearly spelt out in Article 28 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa.
Notwithstanding the best efforts of the South African state and organs of civil society to protect children from abuse, neglect and exploitation, it remains a fact that many children remain vulnerable.
South Africa’s long history of socio-politically motivated violence has given way, in many parts of the country, to a high occurrence of criminal violence, with severe consequences for children. The high levels of violence within our schools are particularly worrying.
The challenges of upholding and protecting the rights of children notwithstanding, great strides have been attained since the dawn of freedom and democracy. A solid foundation has been laid at the following levels;
- Constitution
- Policy Formulation
- Structures and Institutions
- Programmes and Projects
What remains to be seen now, is to give concrete expression to all these government initiatives so that the each and every South African child is a beneficiary of all the country has to offer irrespective of race, gender, religion or geography. After all these children are all South Africans and must be treated equally.
Initiatives like today’s workshops in all our five districts are an effort on the part of our government of ensuring that its interventions on the rights of children reach as many citizens as possible.
According to the day’s programme, there will be presentations in the following areas:
- Career Guidance
- Teenage Pregnancy
- Children’s Rights and Responsibilities
- Child Neglect and Exploitation
The issues covered in the programme constitute the core of the challenges confronting our children on a daily basis. I am confident that after the workshop we will go to our respective homes much empowered. Let us not hoard the information we receive here today – let us go back and share this information with as many people as we can reach.
The Congress of South African Students (COSAS) has taught us the slogan – Each One, Teach One. Let us make this slogan our daily affirmation so that we roll back the frontiers of ignorance and backwardness in our communities.
Let me conclude with a quote from our own icon and former president, Dr Nelson Mandela: “Education is the great engine of personal development. It is through education that the daughter of a peasant can become a doctor, that the son of a mineworker can become the head of the mine, that the child of farm workers can become the president of a great nation. It is what we make out of what we have, not what we are given, that separates one person from another.”
It is my honour and pleasure to officially declare the Mopani District Workshop in celebration of the International Children’s Day. I wish you fruitful discussions which will enhance the observance of the Rights of Children.
Let us work together to protect children.
I thank you!
