| |
|
|
| |
|
Editorial
Shirley Pendlebury, Director |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
Parliament’s passing of the Children’s Amendment Bill in November 2007 crowns a remarkably sustained and inclusive exercise in public participation. Debates about the content and scope of the Bill have been heated. This is as it should be: without room for reasoned dissent, public deliberation is a sham.
But sustaining an effective deliberative forum is hard work. As the activities of the Children’s Bill Working Group illustrate, it entails persistent collaboration, tough dialogue, and fine-grained attention to detail. Members of the Children’s Institute have played a leading part in the working group. Of course, the role of enabling an informed public is not one that a single organisation could fulfil on its own. What the Children’s Institute has done and what, I believe, it should continue doing, is contribute to the pool of evidence and timely information needed for well-judged advocacy and policy development for improving the quality of life of children in South Africa.
One way in which the Institute keeps the public informed is through the South African Child Gauge – a carefully researched annual snap-shot of facets of children’s situation in South Africa. The South African Child Gauge fulfils its purpose only in so far as its primary users find it useful, accessible and credible. So we are delighted with the largely positive feedback from an independent assessment of the publication undertaken in 2007. (For a summary of findings, see the article Assessment of the South African Child Gauge.)
Children in South Africa are the focus of Children’s Institute work. Yet we have much to learn from, and to add to, international research and advocacy on the conditions that help or hinder children’s flourishing. In 2007 members of the Institute participated in conferences and workshops in Chile and Chicago, Oslo and Oxford, and in Lagos. Each of these events have enhanced our connections with child policy researchers elsewhere and deepened aspects of our own research practice. Participants’ reports in this newsletter give something of the flavour of each event.
Periodically, representatives of the Children’s Institute come together with other members of the International Network of Child Policy Research Centers network to explore common interests. The network functions through a set of collaborative working groups. One group has examined how research practice can be improved to enhance direct impact on policy and practice for children. The result of this collaboration is a prestigious new book – Research for Action: Cross-National Perspectives on Connecting Knowledge, Policy and Practice for Children – with six child welfare case studies from the United Kingdom, Ireland, Israel, South Africa, and the United States. Published by Oxford University Press (2008), the book has been praised as “a major contribution to the field” of “evidence-based policy and practice in the human services”. (See News in Brief for more details about the book.)
To return to home ground, the Children’s Institute is pleased to announce the appointment of two additional South African members to our international Board of Advisors. Prof Thokozile Mayekiso is Executive Dean of Humanities at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University. She is a specialist in community psychology, with an interest in the impact of HIV/AIDS on community life. Nomathemba Mazaleni is the Deputy Director of Management Sciences for Health’s EQUITY Project in South Africa and has extensive experience in primary health care services. Their membership will strengthen the Board’s capacity to promote locally-attuned models of child policy research. We look forward to welcoming them personally at the annual meeting of the Board of Advisors in March.
Sadly, the Children’s Institute has also said goodbye to a number of staff members over the last six months. Kashifa Abrahams, who played an energetic role in research, teaching and advocacy in the Child Health Services Programme since 2004, is now a researcher for the Joint Monitoring Committee on Improvement of Quality of Life and Status of Children, Youth and the Disabled Persons in Parliament, where she can wield her advocacy skills in children’s interests. Wanjirũ Mũkoma, who managed the HIV/AIDS Programme for two years, decided to take time out to explore new career directions. A number of support staff also moved on in the interests of career development – see News in Brief for details.
All those who have moved on to new pursuits go with our very good wishes and appreciation for the many ways in which they contributed to the work of the Institute. We know that, wherever they are, they will remain ambassadors for children and their rights.
|
|
| |
|
|
|
