One of the biggest challenges is the continued failure to improve the quality of education. Although the government spends about 6% of GDP on education, the public education system is floundering, literacy and numeracy test scores are low by both African and global standards and a wide gap in schooling quality for black and white learners persists. The South African health system is in distress as well; life expectancy is lower than it should be and infant mortality rates are still high. Finally, corruption and irregular over-payment are also massive strains on the system, totaling about R30 billion a year, an amount which could go a long way if it was spent on alleviating poverty.

The document is realistic and convincing. It touches upon many other challenges such as unemployment, inadequate infrastructure, poor public service, class and racial divisions, myopic view of politicians and weakening state and civil institutions. The good news is that these problems don’t fully negate the progress South Africa has already made and they are not insurmountable as long as they are managed. Now, more than ever, it is important that politicians and citizens work together to fix these social problems to ensure a better future for all South Africans.

To read complete document go to: http://www.npconline.co.za/MediaLib/Downloads/Home/Tabs/Diagnostic/Diagnostic%20Overview.pdf

A new day is dawning in Mozambique.
After nearly many years of civil unrest, the small nation on South Eastern coast of Africa is starting to rebuild. The promise of limitless possibilities beams from the smiles of school children running to new or partially built schools. Unfortunately, these smiles often turn to tears as financial backers of many development projects are failing to meet their commitments. As the global financial crisis strikes panic in the hearts of funding institutions, money initially earmarked to help develop post war Mozambique has all but dried up. In response to the growing number of commissioned development projects losing financial backing, Celio Mondlane of Fundacao Joaquim Chissano and Minister of Education Dr. Zeferino Martins, have turned to social media to encourage wide spread investment in their county’s future as well as showcasing its success stories. Educate Mozambique is the blog platform where anybody can learn about and support education initiatives all over Mozambique. It is essentially a way of crowd sourcing new

Flag of Mozambique

 avenues of funding, empowering individuals with information about ways they can contribute. Now, instead of waiting for a massive check that may never come from a bank that no longer considers “charity” a priority, any number of concerned individuals from anywhere in the world can give a little bit of money or time to make a big difference in the lives of children in Mozambique.

Visit the site learn to more about how you can support Educate Mozambique!

Some of the report’s troubling findings include:

• 64%, or 11.9million, of the country’s 18.6million children live in poverty. Many of them are Aids orphans – about 5.5million people have HIV/Aids in South Africa, more than in any other country

• Only 54% of the HIV-positive children who should be on antiretroviral treatment are receiving it;

• More than 270 babies and their mothers die after birth on average a day, mainly due to HIV/Aids, and the maternal mortality rate has increased by 80% since 1990;

• 582000 children who should be attending high school are not – 28% don’t have the money for fees and 15% because “education is useless”;

• Of 56500 children who were victims of violent crime in 2009-2010, 27417 were raped or molested. Of those, 29% were aged between 0 and 10.

Read the full article below:

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The Times: Young,hungry,helpless

http://www.timeslive.co.za/local/article986417.ece/Young-hungry-helpless

UN,USA

With age, many women dream of retiring and being taken care of by their loved ones, but the challenges they often face make that dream a far-fetched reality.

Due to poverty and illnesses, these women, ‘super grannies,’ not only end up caring for their sick children, but also become primary care givers to their orphaned grand and great grand-children.While the AIDS epidemic continues to plague the area, youth, in particular, are being affected by the deadly disease, leaving their children behind.

To support these families, a group of inspirational grandmothers from Khayelitsha formed, Grandmothers Against Poverty and Aids (GAPA), an organization that offers financial and psychological support to affected families.

According to the site, the project recognises the challenges faced by these grannies. It also celebrates their ”unity” and strength in their communities, as both carers and activists.

Through this project, thousands of grannies have benefited from skills that include parenting, first-aid, and learning income generating activities such as vegetable gardening and handcrafts. The work by these grannies eradicates harsh realities of poverty to orphans and brightens their future.

As well, they share educational messages by singing and dancing at bus stops and handing out condoms to passengers.

Their hard work, dedication, and perseverance has paid off as they are now receiving international recognition. A photo exhibition about the day in the life of these grannies will be installed in Cape Town in May 2011and Washington DC. USA from July to September 2011.

It is said that the exhibition will be the premise of a book about these grannie’s lives, coordinated by South African Journalist Eric Miller and award-winning South African Journalist Jo-Anne Smetherham.

Show your support! To learn more about the project, click here.

Photo: GAPA

Children need to be loved and protected from violence to stop them from becoming perpetrators of violence themselves. Photo: Thetravellinged via Flickr

South Africa was recently shocked by the gang-rape of a school girl by three of her fellow pupils. The girl was drugged and raped while other pupils watched and filmed it on their cellphones. Why are some children in South Africa so violent and what can be done about it?

Some people have spoken about a “culture of violence” in South Africa, but implying that violence is inherently South African is not helpful. The cause of the problem needs to be found and addressed.

South Africa is not the only country that struggles with violent and dysfunctional youth. Safe Families Safe Children, an international group of renowned child rights organisations, including ACER Brasil, The International Children’s Trust, JUCONI Ecuador, JUCONI Mexico, New Life (South Africa) and Railway Children (UK, India and East Africa) “promote access for highly excluded children from violent homes around the world to the support and services they require to recover from their traumatic life experiences and gain sustainable access to their rights”.

In this organisation’s “Manifesto of Change” they site the Adverse Childhood Experiences Study which “found a clear link between the adverse experiences in childhood (including physical, emotional or sexual abuse and living in households with domestic violence) and a range of physical, emotional and social problems, including: heart disease, obesity, depression, alcoholism, sexual promiscuity, substance abuse, teenage pregnancy, rape and poor job performance”.

Children who experience violence in their families feel neglected and excluded from their community. They often end up on the street. Photo: Phil @ Delfryn Design via Flickr

The Manifesto also states that a study in the UK had found that 72% of children who have killed or committed serious, usually violent, crimes, have experienced abuse.

These children do not take active part in their community as they feel neglected or not part of that community. They often end up on the streets as they experience violence, rather than love, from their families.

Safe Families Safe Children believes that action must be taken on three levels to break the cycle of violence.

In the field the internal and external needs of the most excluded children from violent homes should be met. Not only must the violence be stopped and youths be given access to education and health care, but the youths need to be helped to emotionally recover from the trauma of abuse.

Secondly, community stakeholders must be able to recognise and work with the most excluded children from violent homes in the communities.

Thirdly, policies and guidelines should be drawn up that prioritise and address the experiences and emotional needs of these children in government and funding agencies.

New Life believes in working not only with the children, but also their families. However, this is a difficult process. Photo: Thetravellinged via Flickr

The aim is to ensures that vulnerable children are recognised and participate in society and can fulfill their goals in life.

New Life, the South African partner of Safe Families Safe Children,  does not only work with street children, but also tries to engage their families, taking a holistic approach. According to their website, their vision is “to empower out of school/street (most excluded) children and their families, living in violent and poor communities, to combat the problems of poverty, lack of schooling, family violence, substance abuse and HIV/AIDS”.

This is a difficult process as children cannot go back to dysfunctional families without the families first undergoing serious change. Not all families are open to this process. But often institutionalisation does not work for children either and they end up on the streets. How do you think the issue of most excluded children from violent homes should be addressed? Please leave your comment below.

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