Raising a child requires a multifaceted approach

AS WE BEGIN the month of April, South Africa hosts the second African Children's Summit, which runs from April 4 to 7 in Parktown, Johannesburg.

- DR SHEETAL BHOOLA

The intended outcome of the summit is to improve the development and strategy for the well-being of children from a holistic perspective. This can only be achieved through accurate documentation of children's voices addressing concerns related to their health, education, and safety in Africa. But central to each fact of well-being is parental or adult care and children's rights.

Children's Rights in South Africa is primarily driven by The Nelson Mandela Children's Fund and they have taken to the lead in the summit. The fund has a holistic focus as well and zooms in on four areas of children's development, namely health, safety, and empowerment and leadership. The summit promises to be fruitful in addressing the concerns that children have in relation to their holistic well-being. The well-being of children also depends on the well being of a society and its development.

The spread of the deadly HIV virus, as well as the global Covid-19 pandemic has contributed significantly to the increasing number of child-headed households. The children who have been left to fend for themselves in these instances and those that live with ageing grandparents have huge responsibilities, which can include the need for them to care for their aged grandparents, even though this scenario is a result of poverty and dire socio-economic circumstances, the impact is that the child have a different perspective and attitude to life, flawed by the ills he or she has experienced.