27 OCTOBER 2014, ADDIS ABABA: Delegates at the Sixth International
Policy Conference on the African Child (IPC), hosted by the African Child
Policy Forum (ACPF), will explore the apparent lack of social protection for
citizens of many African countries and agree ways of accelerating efforts to
improve social security policies across the continent, particularly for
Africa’s children.
According to the International Labor
Organization (ILO), public expenditure on social protection to meet the needs
of children should be 0.4% of total GDP worldwide, or 7.4% of any country’s
total social protection expenditure (excluding healthcare). In Africa, however,
latest figures show that only 0.2% of GDP (or 3% of total social protection
expenditure) is spent on child welfare. Only three African countries – Algeria,
Botswana, and South Africa – meet ILO’s global target of 0.4% of GDP on social
protection to meet the needs of children.
The IPC, which is being held in Addis Ababa,
Ethiopia on 27-28 October, 2014, will bring delegates from across the
continent and beyond, including government representatives, civil society organizations
(CSOs), child rights experts and activists, academics and the media to review
the current state of social protection policies in African countries.
ACPF research shows that 14 African
states have national legislation covering only four of the eight branches of
social protection: sickness, maternity, old age, survivors, invalidity,
child/family allowances, unemployment, and injury. These are: Botswana,
Ethiopia, the Gambia, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sierra Leone,
Sudan, Swaziland, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Lesotho has three social
security areas anchored in national legislation, whilst Malawi has just one.
Of the 48 African countries reviewed, only
three – Algeria, South Africa, and Tunisia – have national legislation covering
aspects of all eight areas of social protection.
Average public social protection expenditure,
including health care, across all African states between 2005 and 2012 was
5.35%. This ranged from as low as 1.31% in Chad to as high as 13.21% in Egypt.
H.E. Joaquim Chissano, President of Mozambique
(1986-2005), Chairperson of the International Board of Trustees of ACPF, stated
that “there can be no doubt that a large majority of African nations have a
long way to go before they achieve parity with the rest of the world in terms
of the level and variety social protection offered to their citizens,”
There is no particular correlation between the
economic wealth of African nations and the proportion of GDP they are spending
on social welfare programmes. Some countries with relatively low GDP per
capita, such as Liberia, Lesotho and Rwanda, for example, spend better on
social protection than others with relatively high GDP per capita, such as
Equatorial Guinea, Botswana and Congo.
“Developing better social protection policies
for children is an investment in the economic fortune of the entire continent.
Africa is set to become one of the most youthful populations of the world in
the near future, with the child population estimated to rise to 861 million by
2050. This growing young population represents a potential productive workforce
to drive economic growth, so the need to ensure they are nurtured, educated,
healthy and protected is becoming a real imperative,” remarked Mr Théophane
Nikyèma, Executive Director, ACPFMr. Nikyema further said that “social
protection provides governments with a powerful tool to tackle both poverty and
vulnerability, while strengthening pro-poor and inclusive economic growth and
development.
H.E. Dr. Graça Machel, founder of the Graça
Machel Trust, confirms that “Social Protection policies are essential if
Africa’s children are to break the vicious cycle of poverty and deprivation
which blights so many young lives, and to enable them to reach their full
potential. Making social protection more sensitive to the needs of children
will benefit not just the child, but also its family, community and national
development as a whole.”
ACPF documents issued at the Conference state
that child-sensitive social protection is inherently a rights-based approach,
premised on the fundamental principles of international and regional child
rights instruments encompassing the rights to: freedom from discrimination;
survival, development and protection; the best interests of the child; and
participation.
H.E. Professor Amsatou Sow Sidibé, Minister,
Advisor of the President in Charge of Human Rights and Peace, Republic of
Senegal said that “Social Protection is not only a basic right but an effective
mechanism for the realisation of other fundamental rights in ensuring the
wellbeing of children in Africa.”
H.E. Professor Sidibe further affirms that
“child deprivation during childhood has a long lasting consequence on cognitive
development and productivity during adulthood with immense implications on
economic growth and development.”
Delegates at the 6th IPC will explore the
strategies available to improve social protection through four specific strands
of discourse:
·
Strengthening the
economic imperative of social protection
·
Developing sustainable
national institutional arrangements for social protection programmes that
benefit children
·
Exploring the
potential for linking formal national-government led social protection
mechanisms with traditional and informal practices frequently seen in African
families and communities
·
Reviewing the role of
CSOs in supporting and strengthening national social protection programmes.
Keynote speakers at the conference will
include H.E. Joaquim Chissano, President of Mozambique (1986-2005), who is
Chairperson of ACPF’s International Board of Trustees; H.E. Prof Amsatou Sow
Sidibe, Minister-Counsellor in charge of Human Rights, Republic of Senegal;
Prof Kirsten Sandberg, Chairperson, UN Committee on the Rights of the Child;
Prof Benyam Dawit Mezmur, Chairperson, African Committee of Experts on the
Rights and Welfare of the Child; and H.E. Dr Graça Machel, Founder of the Graça
Machel Trust.
It is hoped that the outcome of the Sixth IPC
will provide forward momentum for the pan-African movement to achieve more
comprehensive and targeted social protection for all the children of Africa.