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The African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACERWC/the Committee), in collaboration with African Union Member States, partner organizations, children and young people, launched the first of its kind Continental Study on Children Without Parental Care (CWPC) in Africa. The study, conducted from 2020 to 2022, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, covered over 43 countries in the five regions of Africa.
This sixteenth issue of the South African Child Gauge focuses attention on child and adolescent mental health and how early experiences of adversity ripple out across the life course and generations at great cost to individuals and society. It calls on South African society to put children at the centre of all policies in order to protect children from harm, build their capacity to cope with stress and adversity, and provide them with opportunities to thrive.
This 16th annual review of the situation of the country’s children is published by the Children’s Institute (CI…
ABSTRACT
The phenomenon of child headed households (CHH) is a ubiquitous pathological challenge in South Africa that requires strengthened responses. The study was grounded in the qualitative approach and a case study was employed as the research design. The target population for this study were children in child headed households identified in Zola 1, 2, 3 and Zola North, Soweto. The study also included social service professionals and other community structures that were supporting child headed households in the Zola area. In addition, the study included as its population, non-formal…
Abstract:
The increasing number of AIDS orphans has led to an increase in child and youth headed households. Adjusting to the parenting role with no support from their extended family is a source of distress for orphans heading households. This study explored the parenting experiences of orphaned youth heading households in resource constraints environments.
Methods: The participants were purposely selected from Youth-Headed Households (YHHs) located in informal settlements in the City of Tshwane, South Africa. The data analysis was inductive and followed the thematic approach.…
Abstract
Some children display extraordinary strengths in the face of adversity unlike others in similar circumstances. Instead of succumbing to the negative effects of socio-economic adversities, they manage to cope, establishing positive developmental trajectories, which are critical for the achievement of successful outcomes. This qualitative, phenomenological study explores experiences of resilience among OVC benefiting from programmes implemented by Future Families (a non-profit organisation) in the Gauteng Province of South Africa. Five children were purposefully selected, one from…
Abstract
Background
The aim of this study was to assess the feasibility and acceptability of a home‐based intervention—Amagugu Asakhula—to promote nurturing interactions and healthy behaviours with the caregivers of preschool children. Amagugu Asakhula means “treasures that are still growing” and focuses on children's cognitive development, physical activity, screen time, diet and sleep while also promoting the caregiver–child relationship.
Methods
This study took place in a low‐income setting in Cape Town, South Africa. The 6‐week intervention was implemented by…
Abstract
Most recently, the role of grandmothers has been highlighted as significant in the lives of their grandchildren in South Africa. Studies have previously highlighted the contribution the Old Age Grant makes in contexts of poverty, orphanhood and the migrant labour system. Similarly, studies on the Child Support Grant (CSG) have illustrated its contribution to the well-being of children and families in general. However, missing in these examinations has been an understanding of how the CSG is contested in contexts of parental absence due to internal labour migration. Through a…
This chapter from the South African Child Gauge 2018 provides an overview of children living in poverty in South Africa, highlighting those living in households without an employed adult. The chapter also presents figures on children receiving cash grants in South Africa such as the Child Support Grant, the Foster Care Grant, and the Care Dependency Grant for caregivers caring for children with disabilities.
This essay from the South African Child Gauge 2017 critically engages with the 2030 Global Agenda and assesses the potential of the SDGs to transform our world to enable all children – regardless of race, gender, ability, or social background – to not only survive but thrive. In this essay, the examine the following key questions:
- What enables children to thrive?
- What interventions are needed to ensure that all children thrive?
- To what extent do the SDGs promote nurturing care?
- Do the SDGs create an enabling environment…
Abstract
This paper analyses the experiences of adolescents in foster care placement with specific reference to participatory decision making in an indigenous African cultural context in South Africa. The emphasis is on the voices of foster adolescents in an indigenous African cultural context and their experiences of inequality when communicating and expressing opinions. The theoretical framework adopted was Interactional Communication Theory in which individuals interact through the use of symbols to co-create and interpret meaning. This theory incorporates some elements of systems…