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Date : 11/07/2004
Source: Ministry of Social Development
Title: J Benjamin: World Population Day


KEYNOTE ADDRESS BY DR JEAN BENJAMIN, DEPUTY MINISTER OF SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AT COMMEMORATION OF WORLD POPULATION DAY, Mpumalanga, 11 July 2004

Chairperson,
Honourable Acting MEC of Mpumalanga,
Representative from the Mayor's Office,
Resident coordinator of the United Population Fund,
Mr George Nsiah,
Honourable Chief Hlungu Richard Nkosi,
Representatives of the Government and academic institutions,
Members of the various Faith Based
Organisations, NGOs and CBOs,
Ladies and gentlemen,
Parents and beloved youth and children of Mpumalanga.

Today South Africa joins the international community in commemorating World Population Day. As we do so, we also reflect on the first decade of the International Conference on Population and Development's Programme of Action, which was adopted by 179 countries in Cairo in 1994. This year was also designated to be the International Year of the Family by the United Nations. And most importantly, we are celebrating ten years of freedom in our own country.

Today has been set aside worldwide to celebrate our achievements in investing in our people. Equally important, all people and their governments should take time to reflect on the remaining challenges to achieve lasting sustainable human development.

Chairperson, over the past decade the global community and our own government has worked tirelessly to entrench human rights in our policies, programmes and services, and in the conduct of those who are responsible for rendering such services. These rights are translated into the strategies of our national population policy, and realised through improved social development, education and health services, to name a few.

Ladies and gentlemen, it is important to note the important role that South Africa plays in bringing countries of the region together, to forge partnerships and collaborations in constituting forums that look into the problems facing the region.

This partnership extends beyond regional cooperation and penetrates Africa as a whole, as well as the international communities in a broader context. In terms of population and development initiatives we can proudly commend ourselves as government, and as a nation, for having taken the leading role in establishing this kind of relationships and have certainly accomplished most of the objectives we have set ourselves to achieve.

We are gathered here today in Nelspruit, Mbombela district, to commemorate this special World Population Day. It is important therefore to first reflect on some of the development initiatives that have been brought to this community, especially from the government side.

Chairperson, since 1994 government has invested more than R100 million in various projects in Mbombela municipality. This money went mostly towards building houses, releasing of land for an integrated rural housing program combined with agricultural and economic development, water supply, renovation of Ka-Nyamazane Stadium, construction of a bus route, and the list goes on.

The Census of 2001 reflects some of the developmental achievements made here in Msogwaba. It might not always be so visible but if we look back we can see how far we have come:

* Just eight years back in 1996, 5% of the people here in Msogwaba had access to a cell phone or a telephone in their homes compared to 37% in 2001
* In 1996 only 27% of the households had access to electricity, provided by an authority and that has increased to 72% in 2001
* In 2001, 95% of the households in Msogwaba had access to piped water compared to 85% in 1996.

Chairperson, in general Mpumalanga can pride itself in many ways because it has a wealth of information gathered through surveys done in the area and also databases created for various development indicators. For example, a database of orphans in the area was developed by the Bureau of Market Research and Mpumalanga Department of Social Services. This information is indispensable to plan departmental interventions, guide the distribution of resources, identify priority areas for campaigns, budget allocations, and ultimately understand the needs of orphans in Mpumalanga within the ambit of improving their socio-economic conditions and promoting their human rights.

Chairperson, the development of the people of Msogwaba is also illustrated in levels of access to education:

26% of the adults who are 20 years or older never received any formal schooling, but the young people today have much better opportunities, and 90% of the young people here in Msogwaba are accessing formal education. To the children gathered here today, I just want to say, make the most of these available opportunities.

Chairperson, what is important is that we should not loose hope. Hope covers the human soul with dignity. We should strengthen the Local Economic Development, Integrated Development Plans and other developmental and poverty alleviation initiatives. Well coordinated, supported, capacitated and participation in developmental initiatives will ensure that our people, including children and youth of today will experience a better life.

One important aspect that is worth noting at this juncture chairperson, relates to families in South Africa. The government acknowledges the diversity of families in our country, and edge that, despite the challenges they face in life, should raise their children properly and encourage them to adhere to the norms and standards of society, and more importantly encourage them to go to school.

Chairperson, South Africa participated in the International Conference on Population and Development in 1994, and endorsed its Programme of Action. The Programme of Action includes three very important objectives in relation to families, and also three objectives relating to youth and children. With regard to families, The objectives are, firstly, to develop policies and laws that better support the family, contribute to its stability and take into account its plurality of forms, particularly the growing number of single parent households, secondly, to establish social security measures that address the social, cultural and economic factors behind the increasing costs of child-rearing, and thirdly to promote equality of opportunity for family members, especially the rights of women and children in the family.

With regard to children chairperson, the Programme of Action seeks, firstly to promote their health, well-being and potential, including their rights. Secondly, countries agreed to work towards meeting the special needs of adolescents and youth, including social support, employment and access to social services. Thirdly, it encourages children and youth to increase their potential through education and by avoiding unplanned pregnancies.

While the government and other stakeholders are ensuring the abovementioned objectives Chairperson, it is up to the youth and children to exercise their rights in a proper manner and also the parents to help them do so. For example, the Child Support Grant is meant to help the parent or caregiver to buy food for the beneficiary, and not to pay school fees with that money. The Constitution provides for free education for those who cannot afford to pay. Children have the right to access education irrespective of their parent's financial position.

Chairperson, youth and children are central in the strategies of South Africa's population policy. The policy proposes strategies that aim to reduce violence against children, and promotes responsible and healthy reproductive and sexual behaviour among adolescents and the youth to reduce the incidence of high-risk teenage pregnancies, abortion and sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV/AIDS. This is to be achieved through the provision of life skills, sexuality and gender-sensitivity education, user-friendly health services and opportunities for engaging in social and community life. Moreover youth should exercise their rights by not allowing themselves into coerced sex, and while having the advantage of using condoms in consent sex, I would strongly edge the youth, especially the girl child, to abstain totally from sexual relationships.

Chairperson, another pressing issue relating to youth and child behaviour, is the easy access to drugs. Our youth are abusing drugs to an extent that it affects their mental ability. Some go as far as killing one another because they take excessive drugs. The abuse of drugs leads to decrease in life expectancy, which goes as far as indulging in unprotected sex and ultimately, contracting HIV/AIDS. It is the duty of a child to refrain from using drugs, engage in recreational activities that will always improve the quality of your life. Parents and teachers should also play an active role in identifying the perpetrators of this crime and bring them to the law, and also reinforce security programmes at schools to also prevent incidence of violence in schools.

Chairperson, the issue of human trafficking should not be left unearthed. There are speculations that there are organisations that are dealing with this scourge, promising that they will give young people jobs if they consent to be migrated to certain areas, especially Gauteng. Wake up boys and girls, there is nothing like getting a job in Gauteng or in the Western Cape. The worst that always happens to this young people is to be sold to agencies that deal with pornography and prostitution. Do not allow yourselves to be abused in that manner. The best medicine is to go school, get education and compete in the market for suitable jobs.

Parents, the issue of child labour is equally disturbing. It is commonly believed that child labour is rife in South Africa. Children should not be expected to perform work that is inappropriate for his/her age (like a child under the age of 18 years). Parents, give your children time to develop, to go to school and thereafter assume jobs that are suitable for them.

The journey that started ten years ago with the International Conference on Population and Development was clearly ground-breaking. South Africa now has to take active steps to secure the promises made then and, above all, make sure that strategies integrate those that are most marginalised in youth and especially the girl child.

Chairperson, South Africa has a very young population, with particular social and developmental needs. More than a quarter of our population is between ten and twenty years old. This group represents the largest single age cohorts in the country. This means that over the next decade, a million children will enter secondary education every year. A million young people will leave school every year, seeking tertiary education and employment. A million young people reach adolescence every year, and many of them will become sexually active, and be exposed to the risks of teenage pregnancies and HIV infection. This young people must be provided with the right information, have access to good primary health care with mindful health workers, so that they should not die prematurely but reach adulthood with many years awaiting them.

Chairperson, several impressive gains in youth development in general has been recorded in the past decade. One outstanding achievement was the improved education levels of young South Africans. For example, between 1996 and 2001 the number of youths who completed matric increased by more than a million, and those with a higher qualification increased by 66% to surpass the one million mark.

South Africa's country report on the first ten years of the implementation of the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development also highlights several other challenges to overcome in achieving the objectives of the programme. These include:

* Health and reproductive health services to the youth, particularly young women;
* High levels of teenage pregnancy;
* Improved awareness of HIV/AIDS, and care and support to young people affected by the epidemic;
* Targeting youth in poverty alleviation programmes;
* Safety and security, in schools as well as in communities and at home.

Chairperson, clearly, we have made good progress towards eliminating educational backlogs and inequalities amongst young South Africans. The challenge now is to develop a holistic partnership through which to address the social and economic needs of young people. The building block for such a partnership has to be the youth themselves. We should agree to cooperate to achieve the full economic and social integration of youth and children in our society. Failure to do so will result in social disintegration - gangsterism, drug abuse, sexual and other forms of violence against children and young women, teenage pregnancies, etc. We should agree on an objective to integrate children and youth into our society, to ensure that they enjoy the rights that our constitution enshrines, and that they enjoy the benefits of being young South Africans in the twenty-first century.

Situating youth development and in particular girl's development at the centre of national development programme remains very critical. This will be done as economic growth and development is accelerated, including black empowerment, expanding social grants, engage health challenges facing the people at large, and to fight crime and corruption in South Africa.

Therefore, chairperson, I urge parents to subscribe to the following:

* To raise their children properly and encourage them to adhere to the norms and standards of society
* To encourage their children to go to school
* Not to abuse their children
* Not to encourage child labour in their communities.

Msogwaba's 26% of the adults who are 20 years or older should attend adult basic education and be able to read and write. The 10% of young people that have no access to formal schooling should be encouraged to participate in formal schooling.

To the youth of Msogwaba I say:

* Obey your parents and go to school
* Do not do drugs
* Abstain from sexual relations, and if you practice casual sex, wear protective measures
* To you young girls, avoid teenage pregnancy and also go to school.

To the children of Msogwaba, I am saying to you again, make use of the available opportunities and resources available in your community. Go to school and become respectable and educated adults.

Chairperson, all groups in communities need to be actively involved in creating and shaping their own future, regarding all aspects of their lives, that is why we are celebrating 10 years of democracy and 10 years of people centred development.

I thank you

For more information contact: Mbulelo Musi
Tel: (012) 312 7654
Cell: 082 904 3395
Fax: (012) 312 7943
E-mail: Mbulelo.Musi@socdev.gov.za
Website: http://www.socdev.gov.za
Issued by: Ministry of Social Development
11 July 2004

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