One out of every 25 babies born in South Africa dies before turning five, with most under-fives facing hunger, neglect and developmental issues, according to the annual Child Gauge report.
Children in this country are in “deep crisis”, and urgent action was vital, said experts, pleading with the government to ensure a concerted and united stance wass taken to tackle the raft of challenges on the issue.
The report, launched last week by the Children’s Institute at the University of Cape Town, said even the best attempts at improvement in later life would probably achieve only partial success, reports TimesLIVE.
Published annually as a monitor of the progress towards realising children’s rights, the report focuses on early childhood development and reflects on progress made in line with the National Integrated Early Childhood Development Policy adopted in 2015, setting an agenda for 2030.
The 2024 report identified various challenges arising since the pandemic, with families and government departments being increasingly pressurised by rising poverty and austerity cuts, threatening the development and survival of children.
The study found that:
• one out of every 25 babies born in SA dies before their fifth birthday;
• more than a third of all children live in households where their basic needs are not met;
• more than a quarter of under-fives are stunted – meaning they are chronically malnourished, and their physical growth and brain development are compromised;
• less than half of the four-and-five-year-olds attending early learning programmes (ELPs) are developmentally on track.
Professor Mark Tomlinson of the Life Course Health Research Institute at Stellenbosch University hailed the report as “a wonderful opportunity to assess the progress that has (or has not) been made over the past 10 years to improve the lives of children in SA”.
On the findings, he said: “The old way of doing things is simply not working for our children. I implore you, President Cyril Ramaphosa, and Basic Education Minister Siviwe Gwarube, to first acknowledge the crisis our children are in and make the critical decision to prioritise them when planning the way forward.”
Zooming in on addressing the challenges faced by these babies and children is a solution to breaking free from cycles of poverty, violence and ill-health, according to the report, and would boost national development.
Professor Linda Richter of Wits University’s DSI-NRF Centre of Excellence in Human Development, who contributed to the study, said that promoting learning even before the age of five was crucial, as “a child’s brain is built only once”.
“From conception to the end of the second or third year is commonly referred to as the first 1 000 days of life. When we talk about early childhood development, we mean really early … during the first 1 000 days.”
The report identified five key interventions, including maternal and child healthcare; nutrition and food security; opportunities for early learning; caring for families in need of support; and identifying and aiding children who need extra care.
It suggested tackling hunger by restoring the value of the child support grant to the food poverty line along with income support for pregnant women, as well as reducing the costs of a basic food basket, and establishing the long-awaited National Food and Nutrition Security Council.
“Creating an enabling environment for early childhood development cannot only happen from the top down; it also needs to be built from the ground up … and will depend on strong leadership and political will at the highest level, coupled with the efforts of local champions who can breathe life into the system.”
Child Gauge 2024 (Open access)
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