Call for action at child poverty in Africa conference

Young people need to be given a central role in efforts to tackle child poverty in Africa, Deepali Khanna, Plan’s regional director for East and Southern Africa told a major international conference.

Giving the opening address at the Third International Policy Conference of the African Child in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa, Mrs Khanna told African leaders that they must harness young people’s energy and imagination to tackle the continent’s problems.

She said: “Nearly a third of children in Sub-Saharan Africa are underweight. One in six African children dies before the age of five from preventable causes.

“For every 100 boys, only 83 girls are enrolled in primary school and one in three of these does not complete school. 200,000 child slaves are sold every year in Africa. There are an estimated 8,000 girls slaves in west Africa alone.

“Corruption, poor or weak governance, poor infrastructure, conflict, misguided policies, trade injustices, debt burdens, environmental degradation, oil prices, aid ineffectiveness, globalisation and its attendant marginalisation of communities on the fringes; these are all major contributions to the burden on the African child in the 21st century.

“We must establish strategic partnerships and alliances to identify the structures and pressures which continue to place the burden of poverty on the African Child.

“We can not and should not do all this without the full engagement of the children and young people. The enormous resources, energy and innovative ideas resident among the young people should be tapped and put into use.”

The theme of the conference, which took place on May 12-13, was “Child Poverty in Africa”. It was attended by African leaders, policy-makers, academics, representatives of international organisations, NGOs and children themselves.