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31 May 2007

The celebration of national Child Protection Week reminds us of the importance of nurturing and cherishing our children because without them we have no future. This year's theme for national Child Protection Week is: "Renewing our pledge in a national partnership to end violence against children and tackle child poverty." The purpose of Child Protection Week is to raise awareness and mobilise the whole country around protecting children against poverty and vulnerability.

According to the United Nations (UN) a child is anyone who is under the age of 18 years. The province of KwaZulu-Natal has more children than any other province in South Africa. Of the over nine million people in the province, more than four million are under the age of 18. In other words, the majority of the country's future adults and potential leaders will come from this province. It is for this reason that, as a province that cares for all our people including our children, we are doing all we can to protect our children from any kind of abuse.

As part of our efforts to ensure our children are protected and cared for, as the KwaZulu-Natal Office of the Premier, we wish to reiterate our commitment to the importance of the province's children by accelerating government's service delivery and alleviating poverty. As Premier of the province, together with my wife Zama, we join the world in commemorating International Children's Day. This province cares for our children, and parents have a responsibility to help our children in upholding good moral values as they grow.

We will continue to highlight the need to strengthen collaboration in order to address social ills such as child neglect, abuse and exploitation as well as substance abuse and other circumstances that perpetuate child vulnerability. We are mindful of the condition of many of Africa's children. We are alarmed at the continual violations of the rights of children in Africa, especially girls, due to child labour, trafficking and sexual exploitation, armed conflict and the recruitment of child soldiers.

Therefore we promise to protect ourselves and our children from the spread of the HIV-virus, and work for HIV and AIDS-free new generation. In KwaZulu-Natal we call on our children to become activists in the development of a new spirituality and morality which places us at the centre of the fight against crime. Our children must therefore be part of the popular front against crime which teaches them not to buy or sell stolen goods.

Education provides our children with the greatest opportunity to shape their future. This means getting an education which responds to the demands of the globalising economy while rooted in the local conditions. In this regard we celebrate the many strides we have taken as a province in education, healthcare, child grants and growing the economy; important steps towards ensuring a better future for the child.

For this battle for the protection of our children to be won, we want to encourage local initiatives and community action, increase support to non-governmental organisations and continue our partnerships with the community and faith based organisations and business. We also welcome the Children's Amendment Bill which covers mainly the provincial services to children and which is currently being debated in the National Council of Provinces.

Enquiries:
Logan Maistry
Spokesperson to Premier Ndebele
Cell: 083 644 4050

Issued by: Office of the Premier, KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Government
31 May 2007
Source: KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Government (http://www.kwazulunatal.gov.za)