By KEDIBONE MOLAETSI
3 April 2025- The Minister of Social Development, Nokuzola Sisisi Tolashe, who is also a Member of Parliament (MP) said, the government, through her department, takes great pride in co-hosting the landmark gathering, the 2nd Biennial Africa Children’s Summit in collaboration with the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund (Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund).
Tolashe expressed her gratitude to the CEO, the board and management of the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund, for successfully bringing the 2nd Biennial Africa Children’s Summit to South Africa. She said this is part of a series of activities for the Presidency of the Group of 20 (G20), which will culminate in the G20 Leaders’ Summit in November 2025.
“As you are aware, we are presiding over G20 as South Africa for the first time. As such, we seek to use its G20 Presidency to bring the developmental priorities of the African Continent and the Global.
“As social sector cluster, we thought there is no better way to do this and to honour Madiba’s life and legacy than to amplify the collective voice of Africa’s children under the theme: Seen, Heard and Engaged in Education,” she said.
Tolashe further said on an occasion such as this, the words of the first President of the democratic South Africa, President Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela, at the launch of the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund, profoundly resonates with them today as they prepare to host the Africa Children’s Summit. She added that, on that occasion, Mandela said: “There can be no keener revelation of a society’s soul than the way in which it treats its children.”
“It is worth mentioning that it was during the Presidency of Mandela that the South African government ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (commonly known as the CRC), the first legally binding international convention to confirm the human rights of all children across the globe.
“The CRC is a human rights convention that sets out the civil, political, economic, social, health and cultural rights of children. It was the first international convention that the newly-elected democratic government ratified on the 16th June 1996,” said Tolashe.
She said five years later on 7 January 2000, South Africa ratified the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACRWC), a broad regional instrument that sets out rights for children in Africa, commonly known as the African Children’s Charter. Tolashe said since ratifying both the CRC and the African Children’s Charter, and guided by the Constitution, especially Section 28 of the Bill of Rights, South Africa has focused on realising children’s rights and fulfilling our obligations.
“Central to both the CRC and the African Children’s Charter is the principle that governments must always act in the best interests of the child and that every child has the fundamental right to life, survival and development.
“They have the right to protection from violence, abuse or neglect, an education that enables children to fulfil their potential, be raised by, or have a relationship with, both parents, even if they are separated,” she said.
Tolashe said children should be allowed to express their opinions and be listened to, have their privacy protected and their lives not subject to excessive interference. She said the main objectives of the Summit are to promote child-centred dialogue and advocacy, empower children as agents of change, ensure inclusive and equitable participation and provide evidence-based policy recommendations.
“This includes strengthening collaboration across sectors and regions on the continent, reviewing and advancing progress and raising awareness and mobilising for national and regional action.
“Child participation is a fundamental right of children through which their other rights can be realised. The obligations on society through the state to protect, respect and promote the right of children to participate in decisions that affect them are espoused by both the CRC and the African Children’s Charter,” said Tolashe.
The Guardian 