MINISTER WILL CALL ON CHILD WELFARE ORGANISATIONS TO FOCUS ON HIV/AIDS ORPHANS AND CHILD-HEADED FAMILIES

Issued by: Ministry of Social Development

15 October 2001

The Minister of Social Development Dr Zola Skweyiya will today call on all NGOs to render services to the most vulnerable children like HIV / AIDS orphans and child-headed families.

The Minister will address the National General Assembly of the South African National Council for Child Welfare in Wonderboom, Pretoria at 11:00.

"This gathering takes place at a very critical stage in the country's history. A time when the socio-economic challenges facing the country like poverty and HIV / AIDS are threatening the possibility of normal growth and development of our society, particularly children. This situation challenges all of us to work together in partnership to ensure that our services are responsive to the needs of children and also enhance the promotion and protection of their rights," the Minister said.

Dr Skweyiya will address about 200 delegates from all over the country who work with children including NGOs, CBOs and government officials.

He will brief delegates on:

• Government initiatives to transform the child care legislation
• Poverty alleviation programmes aimed at giving impetus to the promotion and protection of the rights of the child.
• Progress made thus far regarding the government's investigation into the development of a comprehensive social security system for the country.

Other issues will be progress made in transforming welfare services to make them compatible with the demands of the new constitution and the country's democratic perspective.

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