Africa seeks ways to address child poverty

from Afriquenligne

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia - Viewing child poverty as the outstanding obstacle to the fulfillment of rights in Africa, the third international policy conference on the African Child started here Monday, seeking to foster collaboration in policy-oriented research and practical action to tackle the issue.

Ethiopian President Girma Woldegiorgis opened the two-day meeting, asserting that family poverty was at the root of child poverty in Africa.

"In order to eradicate child poverty, we have to begin with the family. We must first and foremost attack family poverty," the president said, noting that the scourge locked children into a continuing cycle of deprivation, exploitation and sometimes abuse.

Among children, Woldegiorgis explained, poverty had many faces -- faces of millions of children in urban and rural Africa, children who have lost parents to war, conflict and HIV/AIDS pandemic, those living on the streets and millions of girls who are victims of physical and sexual abuse.

He said poverty affected hard working and responsible parents as well as female-headed households.

Woldegiorgis called for international cooperation in addressing specific problems facing vulnerable children, those who suffer disability or those left to fend for themselves on the streets of African cities.

"Poverty also has a woman's face. We have to campaign for equality and justice for all. We must combat all forms of discrimination, especially those based on gender," he added.

Organised under the umbrella of the Addis Ababa-based African Child Policy Forum (ACPF), the conference is being held on the theme of 'Child Poverty' by engaging policy makers, child rights activists, children's organisations and researchers from within Africa and around the world.

Meanwhile, ACPF International Board of Trustees chairman Salim Ahmed Salim said it was an illusion to think the Millennium Development Goal of halving extreme poverty by 2015 can be achieved without addressing child poverty.

"We have to ensure the survival, protection and development of African children if we are to build an economically dynamic and healthy continent," said Salim, a former Secretary-General of the Organisation of African Unity and currently AU Special Envoy and Chief Mediator for the Inter-Sudanese Peace Talks on Darfur.

In a message read on his behalf to the conference, Salim said investing in the health, education and nutrition of children would not only improve the African children's quality of life but impact on future generations as well.

On the current situation of many children around Africa, Salim said: "What we see is a horrifying reality that is not conducive to the well being and often is damaging to the mental, physical, emotional and overall development.

"This alarming situation calls for urgent action for us to ensure that African children enjoy a dignified childhood and grow into productive and confident citizens," he added.

Though the conference participants are discussing critical issues of endemic poverty among children in Africa, some experts argue the existing knowledge of the issue is limited.