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The Department of Social Development and other government departments will today (5 December, 2001) at 11:00, begin a two-day (2) workshop to finalise the development of a comprehensive child protection strategy at the Collosseum Hotel, Pretoria.

Government Departments that are involved in the workshop include the Departments of Justice, Safety and Security, Correctional Services, Education, Labour, Health, the National Department of Public Prosecutions, Office on the Rights of the Child in the Presidency.

"This is a very significant workshop, especially in the light of the increasing barbaric acts and violence perpetrated against children - including the rape of five and nine moths old babies. We need to urgently arrest the moral decay of our society. Through this workshop, we want to ensure that we review current policies and legislation relating to children, with a view to developing a comprehensive programme of protecting children from violence and abuse. We want a programme that will not only promote and protect the rights of the child but also enhance the capacity of the government and society to deal effectively with the violations thereof, " said the Director-General, Ms Angela Bester.

The workshop will discuss the report and of the government task team that recently visited baby Tshepang's family to look at the case and what support systems are required to assist victims, families and communities that have been traumatised by heinous acts like the rape of minors.

Some of the areas that the workshop will look at are :

* Policy and legislation on children
* Service provision including prevention
* Training and capacity building
* Information dissemination

The workshop will also look at ways of enhancing the objectives goals of the envisaged Summit on Moral Regeneration which has been called by the Deputy President, Mr Jacob Zuma.

Enquiries : Mbulelo Musi, cell: 083 602 5795

Issued by the Ministry of Social Development, 5 December 2001