The Children’s Day Dialogue is a great platform for South Africans to raise awareness about violence against children
4 December 2023
The Nelson Mandela Children's Fund (NMCF) aims to protect the rights and well-being of children and youth, who are among our society's most vulnerable members. This year, the NMCF wants to recognise past triumphs while tackling lingering issues in policy implementation, funding, and monitoring and evaluation throughout national custodianship of children's rights.
There are purposeful attempts to unravel and identify new solutions to the issue of violence against children, as well as a deliberate examination of the advances made by custodians of child rights and stakeholders from government and business enterprises.
Violence against children occurs in every country in the world, regardless of culture, class, education, money, or ethnic heritage. South Africa (SA) is no different. Violence against children can have lifelong negative health, social, and economic consequences for survivors. These consequences include behavioural problems and risky sexual behaviours; mental and physical health conditions, an increased risk of delinquency, criminal, and violent behaviour; disability from physical injury; reduced health-related quality of life; and impaired capacity of adults to generate income.
The economic cost of violence against children is significant, given its high incidence and numerous detrimental short- and long-term implications. Estimating the economic burden of violence against children is important for a variety of reasons, including raising awareness of the current severity of the problem, assisting policymakers and government officials in prioritising funding and developing preventative services, understanding the issue in the context of other public health concerns, and providing data for economic evaluations of interventions to reduce or prevent violence against children. Estimates of the economic burden have been released for select nations, such as the United States, Australia, and China, but are not available for most, including SA.
The NMCF National Children's Day discourse inspired collaborative action, major conversations, and new solutions. We continue to call on politicians, civil society organisations, companies, communities, the media, and our people to join us in becoming the change agents that our children so desperately need.
The importance of child safety and protection in combating the plague of violence against children cannot be over-emphasised. It is our responsibility as caretakers of their rights, to keep them The NMCF has created a specific Child Safety and Protection Programme for this purpose. This programme works in collaboration with our implementing partners, in both urban and rural communities.
We try to build a protective shield around each child by using indigenous knowledge systems and a paradigm shift towards alternative care for at-risk children. The NMCF, in partnership with its committed implementing partners, accomplished important milestones in enhancing child safety and protection, therefore reducing violence against children in the previous fiscal year.
The Children’s Dialogue is one of the several tools that enable the NMCF to recommit to Nelson Mandela's timeless vision of a SA in which every child, regardless of their situation, may thrive.
