UNICEF South Africa Country Programme and Advocacy processes

1. UNICEF South Africa Country Programme and Advocacy processes

2. Introductory Remarks • Achievements of Social Development sector • Promulgation of Children’s Act no 38 of 2005 • More than 7 million CSG recipients • Establishment of SASSA • The challenges to deal with Poverty, AIDS and Crime • Importance of Parliament’s oversight role • UNICEFs commitment to provide ongoing support and intention to have a full time presence at Parliament COUNTRY PROGRAMME: UNICEF SOUTH AFRICA

3. SA economy is booming, wellbeing indicators are not MMR U5MR e0 Source: MDG Report for South Africa, Stats SA: Gross Domestic Product (P0441); Mid-Year Population Estimates 2005 COUNTRY PROGRAMME: UNICEF SOUTH AFRICA

4. Programme Structure 2002-2006 • Basic Social Services • HIV and AIDS • Social Policy and Local Governance • Communication, External Relations, and Partnerships COUNTRY PROGRAMME: UNICEF SOUTH AFRICA

5. ORPHANS AND VULNERABLE CHILDREN Education & Adolescent Development Health & Nutrition Child Protection Advocacy & Strategic Leveraging Advocacy for Children’s Rights Protection against violence Basic Education ChildSurvival Social Protection / Safety Nets Adolescent development Nutrition Leveraging Funds Early Childhood Development Monitoring for Impact Programme Communication Planning, Monitoring & Evaluation External Relations COUNTRY PROGRAMME: UNICEF SOUTH AFRICA

6. Child Survival and Nutrition COUNTRY PROGRAMME: UNICEF SOUTH AFRICA

7. 60% of all children are ill or are dying from preventable causes namely: diarrhoeal disease (10-15%), respiratory infections (7%), low birth weight (6%) and protein energy malnutrition (5 to 10%). 40% of all illnesses and death are attributable to HIV and AIDS. Morbidity and Mortality Profile of Children in South Africa COUNTRY PROGRAMME: UNICEF SOUTH AFRICA

8. Our response to address this: • Accelerated implementation of community IMCI, • Support health workers to identify and provide care for vulnerable neonates and support family care of these children post-discharge. • Early detection of growth faltering at community level • Implementation and scaling up of the Basic Antenatal Care Package, COUNTRY PROGRAMME: UNICEF SOUTH AFRICA

9. Impact of HIV and AIDS in South Africa • Approximately 5,7 million people infected • 3.3 million women and 104,863 babies infected • 29,5% infection rate among women visiting antenatal clinics • Greatest killer of under 5 children = AIDS (40%) • Almost 300,000 babies born to HIV+ mothers a year • Between 55,000 and 82,000 children in need of ARV, only 5,000 receiving ARV COUNTRY PROGRAMME: UNICEF SOUTH AFRICA

10. 5 Key Strategies • Early diagnosis and testing of infants • Streamlining health systems to maximise staff capacity to treat HIV+ infants • Scaling up PMTCT+ to prevent children from contracting HIV • Targeted infant care • Supporting Safety Net Systems for Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVCs) COUNTRY PROGRAMME: UNICEF SOUTH AFRICA

11. Early diagnosis & testing • Few newborn & older babies are being tested resulting in poor early diagnosis. • Laboratory tests during first 12-18 months of life are expensive, involve complex technology. • Plans for 2006: • Increase the number of infants tested for HIV from 30,000 to at least 120,000. COUNTRY PROGRAMME: UNICEF SOUTH AFRICA

12. Expanding access to ARVs for children • ART accredited treatment sites in all 53 health districts of South Africa, relatively few of these provide care for infants and children • Theoretical and practical training insufficient • Human resource constraints • Plans for 2006: • Double number of children receiving ARVs from 8,500 to 17,000 COUNTRY PROGRAMME: UNICEF SOUTH AFRICA

13. Child protection COUNTRY PROGRAMME: UNICEF SOUTH AFRICA

14. Care and support for OVC • Deaths in 20-45 age group tripled in 10 years • 1.8 million children lost a parent to AIDS, millions more are living in households in which one or more person is ill, dying or deceased. • Child support grant up to age 14 anticipated to reach 11 million South Africans Key results in 2005: • National Plan of Action for OVC 2006 – 2008 • Development of database for OVC -research • Training manuals developed to create safety nets and child care forums for OVC • ECD sites piloted as nodes of care and support for village workers supporting OVC in Nkandla. COUNTRY PROGRAMME: UNICEF SOUTH AFRICA

15. Care and support for OVC We have to ensure that OVC have access to • Education • Health services • Social Grants • Care and support COUNTRY PROGRAMME: UNICEF SOUTH AFRICA

16. National: Policies & legislation Provincial: Budget allocations and services Municipalities: Plans and programmes for Children Communities: Child Care Forums Families: Training and Care Children – orphaned and vulnerable

17. Plans for 2006 • Support implementation of National Action Plan • Complete establishment of OVC database • Complete pilot study of ECD sites as nodes of care and support • Scaling up of child care forums and safety networks • Develop and finalise national primary caregiver training programme COUNTRY PROGRAMME: UNICEF SOUTH AFRICA

18. Violence against women and children • Latest SAPS Crime Statistics 2004/2005: • More than 360,000 women and children murdered, raped, assaulted, sexually molested or abused • 40% of 55,114 rapes were against children • 47.7% (4,829) of all indecent assault cases were children. • 31,607 children victims of common assault • 24,189 children victims of assault to commit grievous bodily harm • Most rapes still go unreported COUNTRY PROGRAMME: UNICEF SOUTH AFRICA

19. Plans for 2006 • Drafting legal discussion paper on trafficking in preparation for draft bill • Costing of National Policy Framework and Strategy for the Prevention and Management of Child Abuse and Neglect and use it to advocate for resource allocation • Study on violence against children under 12 years • Situation analysis of children living in streets, in residential care, without rights and trafficked children. • Develop community-based systems to report and monitor child protection abuses • Roll out child protection models in 3 municipalities • Train 3,000 health workers, social workers & police on prevention & management of child abuse • Scale up services through Thuthuzela Care Centres COUNTRY PROGRAMME: UNICEF SOUTH AFRICA

20. Education and Adolescent Development COUNTRY PROGRAMME: UNICEF SOUTH AFRICA

21. Situation of children • Primary net enrolment ratio (7 – 13 years) increased from 88% in 1996 to 96% in 2004 • Fundamental challenge – provision of quality education • 1 million children out of school • School retention: only 65% reach Grade 5 • Only 16 % (Birth to 5 years) have access to formal ECD • Violence and insecurity major concern COUNTRY PROGRAMME: UNICEF SOUTH AFRICA

22. Early Childhood Development • Key results for 2005: • Support GoSA in development of operations plan for implementing Integrated Plan on ECD • Technical advise on development of paper for operationalisation of Plan to create 15,300 ECD learnerships • Planned for 2006: • Development & finalisation of national primary caregiver training programme for babies & young children • Development of models of care for children under 5 and their caregivers • Development of ECD centres as nodes of care and support for OVC COUNTRY PROGRAMME: UNICEF SOUTH AFRICA

23. A Child-friendly school: • safe and protective environment for children • healthy spaces to learn and grow • access to clean water & sanitation • gender sensitive • strong links to the surrounding communities, and • outreach services for orphans and other vulnerable children. COUNTRY PROGRAMME: UNICEF SOUTH AFRICA

24. A Child-friendly school: • Provision of quality education for all children means • Quality School buildings, structures and equipment • Quality Teachers and teaching practices • Quality Management and governance practices • Supporting the establishment of an independent national M&E unit COUNTRY PROGRAMME: UNICEF SOUTH AFRICA

25. Adolescent Development • Key results 2005: • Capacity development on youth leadership continued for youth, educators, school governing bodies, traditional leaders & community members • Fatherhood project and reduction of gender-based violence • 80 Educators in Eastern Cape & KZN trained on creative facilitation & participation for lifeskills education • Planned for 2006: • Strengthening implementation & evaluation of lifeskills programmes for adolescents – national & provincial COUNTRY PROGRAMME: UNICEF SOUTH AFRICA

26. Social Policy and Local Governance COUNTRY PROGRAMME: UNICEF SOUTH AFRICA

27. Situation of children • More than 11 million children live in poverty – yet annually in some departments millions are returned unspent • Comprehensive policies & legislation: weak implementation & management result in poor service delivery • SPLG aims to strengthen Government’s ability to plan, budget and put systems in place to provide more equitable, effective and efficient services, with focus on the most vulnerable children and women. COUNTRY PROGRAMME: UNICEF SOUTH AFRICA

28. Social Policy and Local Governance • Key results 2005: • Technical support in finalising Children’s Bill and National Child Abuse Strategy • Technical support in finalising Support 2 local municipalities to develop and implement Local Plans of Action for Children (LPA) • On line birth registration project taken over by GovSA rolled out to 68 hospitals • Conceptual framework developed for Stats SA for stronger monitoring systems for birth registration. COUNTRY PROGRAMME: UNICEF SOUTH AFRICA

29. THE CHALLENGE TO PARLIAMENT IN ADVOCACY AND ACTION FOR CHILDREN COUNTRY PROGRAMME: UNICEF SOUTH AFRICA

30. Advocacy and action • Liaising with the Justice Portfolio Committee to fast-track the finalization of the Child Justice Bill and Sexual Offences Bill • Oversee allocations for services to children and related spending patterns • A national system of identifying and tracking orphans and vulnerable children at local, district and provincial levels • Advocate for the increased of access of children, particularly 3 and 4 year-olds, to formal ECD by targeting for example the EPWP sources • Extending the child support grant to children aged 14-18 years COUNTRY PROGRAMME: UNICEF SOUTH AFRICA

31. Advocacy and action Review Social Assistance Act Finalise Sexual Offences Bill Finalise Child Justice Bill Finalise Children’s Amendment Bill Advocacy for Children in Parliament Advocacy Document to support the oversight responsibilities of parliamentarians Analyzing State of Nation and Budget Speeches to advocate for children COUNTRY PROGRAMME: UNICEF SOUTH AFRICA

32. Plans for 2007 • Plan to establish office in Cape Town by January 2007 • Want to be of support to SD Portfolio Committee – Members will have to indicate areas where support is required • Resource leveraging: study to analyse use of government funds for children at national, provincial & local levels - recommendations for annual budget prioritisation and planning COUNTRY PROGRAMME: UNICEF SOUTH AFRICA

33. Thank you COUNTRY PROGRAMME: UNICEF SOUTH AFRICA