Childrens Amendment Bill

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Childrens Amendment Bill Presentation to
the Portfolio Committee on Social Development
12 September 2007
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PRESENTATION OUTLINE

• Introduction The Status of Children
• Dplg Mandate in Relation to Childrens Service
  Delivery
• Service Delivery Successes Benefitting Children
• Other dplg Areas for Mainstreaming
• State of Readiness Current Status
• Challenges
• Proposed solutions to challenges
• Conclusion

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INTRODUCTION STATUS OF CHILDREN

• Children (0 14 years) constitute 32 of
  population
• 3 in 5 of South African children live in poor
  households
• Fewer than 20 of pre-school aged children
  benefit from any type of programme
• Children in 33 of households are exposed to
  domestic violence

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DPLG MANDATE IN RELATION TO CHILDRENS BILL

• Early Childhood Development Provinces and
  Municipalities are responsible for Early
  Childhood Development.
• Children in need of care and protection
  Municipalities are required to make provision
  for indigent debtors including child- headed
  households. (Ward Committees an enabling
  structure)
• Child Youth Care and Drop-in Centres
  Municipalities have responsibilities and
  coordinating role in terms of provision of child
  care facilities.
• Inter-sectoral Implementation of Childrens
  legislation dplg is responsible for
  facilitating intergovernmental relations IGR
  Framework is in place.

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SERVICE DELIVERY SUCCESSESBENEFITTING CHILDREN

• Access to water - 86 households
• Sanitation 73
• Electricity 73
• Housing - 2 350 000 houses built

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POLICY AND LEGISLATION

• The dplgs response to the Bill is guided by the
  following policies of pieces of legislation
  amongst others-
• The Constitution of South Africa (Act 108 of
  1996)
• The Municipal Systems Act No 32 of 2000
• Traditional Leadership and Governance Framework
  Act, No. 41 of 2003
• Indigent Policy

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INTERNATIONAL, REGIONAL AND NATIONAL INSTRUMENTS
ON CHILDREN

• UN Convention on the Rights of the Child
• African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of
  the Child
• Child Care Act (1983)
• Films and Publications Act (1996) protects
  children from exploitation (e.g. using children
  in pornography)
• Childrens Amendment Bill

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PROGRAMME MAINSTREAMING

• The dplg is involved in the mainstreaming of the
  Childrens issues within the following
  programmes
• Integrated Sustainable Rural Development and
  Urban Renewal Programmes (ISRDP and URP)
• Local Economic Development (LED)
• Municipal Infrastructure Grant (MIG)
• Project Consolidate

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DPLG RESPONSE

• Established Equity and Development Chief
  Directorate to support Provinces and
  Municipalities to address issues pertaining to
  designated groups
• The E D unit facilitates the
  mainstreaming of equity issues and issues of
  designated groups into provincial and municipal
  policies, plans, programmes and budgets to
  ensure that the two spheres of government are
  geared towards addressing the special needs of
  these groups
• Dplg is serving as lead department in the
  16/365 Days of Activism for No Violence against
  Women and Children Campaign

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STATE OF READINESS

• THE DPLG
• In the process of restructuring and strengthening
  capacity of Equity and Development unit to
  address service delivery to children by
  municipalities
• SALGA
• SALGA represents municipalities on the National
  Council on the Rights of the Child
• Has undertaken capacity building in all provinces
  on Childrens rights and mainstreaming in
  partnership with Office on the Rights of the
  Child (ORC)
• PROVINCES AND MUNICIPALITIES
• Focal persons have been appointed in some
  provinces
• IDPs of some municipalities reflect service
  delivery targeted at children
• Provincial DLGs are represented in the Provincial
  IDC together with SALGA

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CHALLENGES

• dplg role is largely advisory and guidance
  cannot enforce implementation
• Inadequate capacity of provinces and
  municipalities
• Focus is on events-driven implementation
• Limited communication on available resources
  and targeted
• programmes on children
• Inexplicit reporting regarding the
  prioritization of children
• Lack of monitoring and evaluation mechanisms
  reflective of focused interventions for
  children
• Limited documentation and sharing of best
  practice on interventions addressing the needs
  of children

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PROPOSED SOLUTIONS TO CHALLENGES

• Expediting the restructuring of E D to enhance
  dplg response
• Strengthening partnerships to support work on
  Childrens Rights Service delivery in provinces
  and municipalities through IDPs
• Collaborating with and coordinating key
  role-players to support provinces and
  municipalities to implement their
  responsibilities pertaining to children
• Encouraging the development and implementation of
  impact-focused and sustainable programmes
  addressing childrens needs
• Facilitating the development of monitoring,
  evaluation and reporting systems that address
  childrens issues
• Promoting the mainstreaming of issues pertaining
  to children in policies, plans, programmes and
  budgets of provinces and municipalities
• Facilitating mechanisms for knowledge and
  best-practice sharing

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CONCLUSION

• All children, including those with disabilities,
  exist in the space of Local Government.
  Therefore, the dplg should be in the forefront
  of targeted childrens interventions.
• Childrens programmes and interventions should be
  part of and be at the centre of service delivery
  across all spheres of government and programmes.
• Municipal and provincial planning tools (the IDPs
  and PGDSs) should reflect programmes addressing
  childrens needs.
• Mainstreaming should be promoted as a strategy
  for addressing childrens issues in all sectors
  and spheres of government.

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CONCLUSION
The pain of every change is soon forgotten when
the fruits of that change are realised. Anthony
Hopkins THANK YOU!