By BAKANG MOKOTO

4 November 2024- The president of Republic of South Africa (RSA), Cyril Ramaphosa said on Saturday, the country observed National Children’s Day when they take stock of the progress they have made in advancing the rights of South Africa’s children. Ramaphosa said they celebrate this day on the first Saturday of November, which is the month in which the Convention on the Rights of the Child was adopted by the United Nations in 1989.

He further said the Convention was the first international treaty ratified by our newly democratic government in 1994 in recognition of the centrality of children’s rights to our national development. Ramphosa added that the Convention requires all countries to advance the social, economic, political and cultural rights of children.

“The Convention asserts that every child has a right to survival, development, protection, participation, identity, health, education, non-discrimination, privacy and freedom of expression. These rights are also aimed at creating a safe and nurturing environment for all children, allowing them to grow and thrive.

“The adoption of the Convention by the democratic South Africa was a critical step towards addressing the legacy of our past. Colonialism and apartheid ruined the prospects of millions of black children, who were the youngest victims of deprivation, discrimination and exclusion,” he said.

Ramaphosa said by the end of apartheid, the mortality rate for black children was six times higher than that of white children. He said these disparities reflected everywhere else, from living conditions and access to basic services, to access to social care and services, to education.

“Since 1994, we have registered considerable gains in giving effect to the provisions of the Convention, which are mirrored in our constitution. Successive democratic administrations have established laws and policies to develop the potential of South Africa’s children.

“To ensure children’s right to survival, we have implemented free primary health care for children under six, free basic services to poor families and child support grants. The school nutrition programme has made a significant difference in improving the educational and health outcomes for millions of children from indigent families,” said Ramaphosa.

He said to advance the right of children to protection from abuse, neglect and exploitation, they have passed laws outlawing child labour, corporal punishment and child marriages. Ramaphosa said they also have a prescribed minimum sentencing regime for cases involving the sexual abuse of children.

“During the sixth democratic administration, we strengthened the legal regime to expand the definition of sexual offences against children, improve our capacity to combat child trafficking, and introduce more stringent conditions for the registration of sex offenders.

“One of the areas in which we have made the most progress in implementing the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child is in the right to education. As the UN Children’s Fund has noted: “Since 1994 South Africa has made great strides in realising the right to education, rapidly building an efficient, accessible and quality education system for children and adolescents,” he said.

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