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About this edition
Charmaine Smith, Communication manager |
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Welcome to the fifth edition of Child Rights in Focus, produced by the Children’s Institute, University of Cape Town.
We are celebrating Child Protection Month in June, and it is therefore fitting that the lead article in this edition reports on the crucial need to address child survival in South Africa. It is a sad reality that the country has been regressing in this regard, as increasing numbers of children are dying – mainly from preventable diseases and trauma. Not only is the right to survival a basic human right enshrined in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, but South Africa has also accepted the challenge of reaching the Millennium Development Goals. A reduction in infant and child mortality is one of those goals to be achieved by 2015. Action that involves all duty-bearers from government and civil society is hence of the utmost importance.
This edition also features the latest news on other CI projects and products, such as:
- Children sharing their stories on growing up in the time of AIDS, facilitated by the Radio-documentary Project,
- An update on the Children’s Bill progress – the first part of the Bill has now been signed into an Act,
- Fact sheets and an interactive web site that present data on the realisation of children’s socio-economic rights in South Africa, produced by the Children Count – Abantwana Babalulekile Project, and
- Prof. John Pinkerton, a member of the CI’s Board of Advisors, reflects on his experiences after spending a five-month sabbatical with us.
The back page is packed with information on new Children’s Institute products such as Project 28 working papers aimed at defining children’s socio-economic rights; a CD-ROM of radio programmes produced by child participants; and working papers on child survival, and the take-up of grants aimed at children, respectively.
We are pleased to announce that the Institute celebrated its fifth birthday in July. We want to thank each and everyone for their invaluable support during this exciting period – our donors, the executive of the University, the Faculty of Health Sciences, our Board of Advisors and our many networking partners in the policy field, in the government and in civil society organisations and alliances. We look forward to continue working for the realisation of child rights with you in the next five years!
Charmaine Smith
Communication manager
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