Address by Dr Tshepo Motsepe at the UNICEF International Council Dinner

A very good evening Ladies and Gentlemen,
Executive Director, Henrietta Furore in absentia,
Regional Director, East and Southern Africa UNICEF, Mr Mohammed Fall,
UNICEF Country Representative, Mr Sanjay Wijesekera,
Unicef International Council members,
Cillian and Siobhan Ryan,
Distinguished Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen, 

I am honoured and delighted to be part of this evening’s UNICEF International Council Gala Dinner and wish to extend a personal welcome to all Council members and other dignitaries who’ve travelled from various parts of the world and our own continent to our beautiful city of Cape Town for this special occasion. In particular I would like to acknowledge long-standing UNICEF partners, Cillian and Siobhan Ryan whose commitment to the children of this country is truly commendable.

Ladies and Gentlemen, this has indeed been a year of milestones.

· On the 20th of November, World Children’s Day, we will mark 30 years of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the CRC.  As you know, this was the first human rights treaty that put children at the center of the global human rights discourse. The CRC was the first to recognize children not as merely young adults or an extension of their parents, but as being entitled on their own fundamental rights as well.

· In April, South Africa commemorated 25 years of freedom and democracy. We owe this freedom and democracy to the solidarity and relentless struggle of South Africa’s oppressed majority, together with the unwavering support of our African compatriots and the broader international community led by the United Nations. These combined efforts have made it possible for us to build a nation united in its diversity; to build an inclusive economy, and lift millions of South Africans out of poverty over the last 25 years.

But there is much work still to be done. Ladies and gentlemen in South Africa today:

· 74% of Grade 4 learners still cannot read for meaning.
· And 1 in 3 children experience violence.

It is against this backdrop and the imperatives of our National Development Plan that our Sixth Administration has included improved education outcomes and improved living conditions into its top priorities for the decade ahead.

Our plans for the coming decade have a dual focus - on our National Development Plan’s Vision 2030 for the transformation of our society, as well as our compliance with and contribution to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.

Our Department of Social Development has for the current financial year allocated R 410 million to the Social Relief of Distress programme to support families who go through undue hardship.

Our investment in education is deepened each year and in the current financial year, the Department of Basic Education will inaugurate - with a first tranche of R 27 million - a new project called the Systemic Improvement of Language and Numeracy in Foundation Phase. It is also pursuing improvements to the foundational skills of literacy and numeracy, especially “Reading with meaning”.

This work will stretch from early childhood development to the end of Grade 6 and will be driven by a reading revolution led by our own President Cyril Ramaphosa.

Our social transformation objectives are the driving force behind our country’s effort to secure domestic and international investment of 100 billion US dollars in the coming five years. And the conduit for achieving our development goals is the principle of partnership and the practice of establishing social compacts around each of our major challenges.

These compacts bring together government, labour, business and community to develop representative and integrated responses to the triple challenge of poverty, unemployment and inequality.

Our reintegration into the international community over the last 25 years has also opened doors to compacts and partnerships with allies and friends across our continent and around the world. Our partnership with UNICEF is an impactful example of what we can achieve when we work together based on the understanding that no single individual, institution or sector holds the answers to all life’s challenges.

The power of partnerships makes meaningful change possible and this evening’s gathering of the International Council is tangible proof of this.

We are particularly grateful for UNICEF’s involvement and support of the implementation of our multi-sectoral National Integrated Early Childhood Development Policy. Implementation of the policy is a collaborative effort by our Departments of Health, Social Development and Basic Education and civil society - including my own organisation The Early Care Foundation which focuses on the capacity building of women working in informal crèches.

In the Early Childhood Development sector, UNICEF partners with the South African Government through technical assistance to strengthen legislative frameworks, systems and programmes, and ensure that all children survive, thrive and develop from the start.

The programme includes a comprehensive focus on the first 1 000 days for mothers and their infants. One of the ways in which we witness how UNICEF is making a difference in South Africa is through its support of a nationally targeted breastfeeding advocacy and media campaign. Breastfeeding plays a significant role in contributing to the optimal health and development of a child, providing each child with the best and healthiest start to life.

This is an issue in which I am actively involved through the South African Civil Society for Women, Adolescents and Children’s Health - SACSOWACH – and one which requires ongoing intervention. A few months ago I was pleased to address a UNICEF-supported initiative on Breastfeeding Week at Kalafong Hospital in Pretoria and it’s encouraging to know that we have support in our efforts to address the concerning statistic that only one-third of infants under six months of age are exclusively breastfed in this country.

Global evidence proves that where breastfeeding is protected, promoted and supported, women are two and a half times more likely to breastfeed. 

If South Africa is to reach the 2025 UN target, our challenge is to support mothers to exclusively breastfeed for at least 6 months, and where possible continue until the child is 2 years old.

We need to become a breastfeeding-friendly nation.

It is also encouraging that the South African government’s efforts such as the MomConnect programme – received UNICEF support when it was established. And the organisation has a hand in our Isibindi Programme of home visits and safe parks that is led by the Department of Social Development.

UNICEF is also providing technical assistance for the monitoring and evaluation of our implementation of regulations relating to foodstuffs for infants and young children and works with us on capacity development in this area. We thank you.

Ladies and gentlemen, the constructive and positive journey of children and young people, in South Africa and around the world, is closely linked to ensuring participation and involvement by young people themselves. It is encouraging to see that this is an increasing focus of the work of UNICEF both in South Africa and globally.

The UNICEF State of the World’s Children Report which was launched last week paints a sobering picture of the work that still needs to be done despite notable advances both globally and in South Africa. In a world with sufficient resources, 1 in 3 children under five should not be malnourished. 149 million children less than 5 years of age suffer should not be suffering from stunting, or are too short for their age.

So yes, Ladies and Gentlemen, we certainly have our work cut out for us.

As I conclude let me congratulate UNICEF on convening the Council meeting for the first time in South Africa. I hope you have been able to witness first-hand the profound transformation we have undergone in the past 25 years and in which you have played a significant role.

As we continue our work to fully realize the Convention on the Rights of the Child, I thank you for being a vocal, active and supportive partner in our collective effort to leave no child behind.