NEWS

Every year in South Africa 50, 000 children under the age of 5 do not survive.  The high rates of inequality and poverty in South Africa greatly affect children’s survival and life chances. The campaign slogan “Growing up is hard enough. It shouldn’t be a race for Survival.” resonates with all of us. 

Advanced manufacturing, infrastructure productivity, and service exports are often upheld as the means to promote growth in South Africa’s economy. What we seldom think about is how investments in our children, particularly in preventing early experiences of violence, can also lead to significant gross domestic product (GDP) growth.

Ahead of this week’s African Union (AU) pre-summit it has been revealed that out of 75% of girls starting school, only 8% finish in the African continent.

The world is 452 years away from delivering on the promise of ending extreme child poverty, new figures commissioned by Save the Children show.

As parents and children prepare to start or return to school this week, Save the Children South Africa is calling for urgent intervention and investment in early childhood education.

This was revealed in a study by the UBS Optimus Foundation, which further revealed that victims of sexual abuse are 4,9 times more likely to abuse drugs later in life - compared to those who were not sexually abused as children. 

Surely, you already know that the violence crime against children in South Africa is worrying. But then, nobody would have imagined that it cost SA R238 billion just in 2015. It was yesterday that the Gauteng government revealed that violence against children in the country doesn’t only threaten the safety of SA kid but also take away a huge sum of money the country could have used to better the lives its citizens.