We call on the nation to get behind the new strategy and campaign for children

Cabinet has approved the National Strategy to Accelerate Action for Children and we have all been called on to get involved and support accelerated action for children and teenagers. The Strategy, also called the NSAAC, outlines ten priorities to substantially improve child and adolescent well-being. Cabinet’s approval of the NSAAC is a significant moment for the children of the nation. It follows shortly after the G20 and specifically the G20 Social Summit during which children handed over the Civil Society Declaration. This declaration affirms the significance of mainstreaming, sustaining and resourcing investment in children’s rights and wellbeing to achieve the G20 goals of solidarity, equality and sustainability. It also provides the in-country mechanism to implement the Global Leaders Network (GLN) on the Promotion of Woman’s, Newborn, Child and Adolescents’ wellbeing which President Ramaphosa chairs.

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These priorities provide a clear framework for strengthening existing programmes across government departments, but also require all of society to work together to accelerate action. The strategy goes even further to detail ten interventions needed to spur this acceleration.

‘Hold My Hand’ is a national campaign in support of the NSAAC, developed with children and teenagers and supported by Government Communication and Information Services (GCIS) and civil society partners, to mobilise all of society.

It calls on all of us to acknowledge that if every child born today, tomorrow and the next had enough love, food, safety and brain power, South Africa’s growth and development trajectory would be substantially boosted. Over the next decade, it would lead to safer, healthier communities and a stronger economy, and would begin to break intergenerational cycles of inequality and poverty.

The transformative power of children must now be fully harnessed, both because the Constitution requires it of us to realise children’s rights and because our future as a nation depends on it. The Presidential support for children’s participation and active engagement at the G20 Social Summit, where they submitted their own carefully crafted declaration, shows how this commitment can play out at all levels of government and across society.  

Hold My Hand will engage with children and teenagers, their parents and caregivers, teachers and other professionals and leaders across society. Working together, it will strengthen child-focused public communication, design strategies to fill programme gaps and build collaboration between government, civil society and the private sector.

The critical areas of accelerated action include strategies to reduce low birth weight and nutritional stunting, stronger engagement with young parents to improve early language development and learning, intensified focus on alcohol harm reduction, early screening to detect problems with hearing and vision, and stronger engagement with teenagers to build their sense of identity, agency and connectedness.  

To the extent that these strategies require public oversight and resourcing, they will all be subject to government’s regulatory policy and budget review processes. At the same time, there is recognition that both the private sector and civil society are also significant role-players in the design and implementation of these strategies, and government will work to support and enhance their efforts.  

In response to the clear call from children and teenagers, Hold My Hand will provide new channels for engagement between them and leaders at all levels of society.      

This call is captured in the words of 18-year-old Bontle Motatsa, who states that “we, the children and adolescents of South Africa deserve a seat at the table, in those seats with institutional leverage, a voice on our own destiny. So, we implore you to capitalise on our presence, passion and potential. Together, we can create a future that is brighter, more just, more equitable for all. Together we can create a South Africa where peace and prosperity for all is a reality and not just rhetoric.” In 2024, Bontle Motatsa was elected by children to represent them at the Children’s Sector Consultation specifically to discuss the NSAAC.

All of us are encouraged to heed this call. Find Cabinet meeting media briefing here.