OF LOST CHILDREN

Children without parental care suffer dire consequences They face heavy burden of chronic poverty Institutionalisation should be last resort

Thirty years after the adoption of the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of Children, there has been an alarming low progress in achieving children’s fundamental rights to growing up in a loving family environment.

Child Rights Network for Southern Africa that comprises national networks from Botswana, Angola Madagascar, Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Swaziland, Namibia, Lesotho, Mozambique and South Africa this week expressed concern at the increasing numbers of children without parental care in the member countries. They were commemorating the 30th anniversary of the Charter.

According to Nsanshya Chilupula of UNICEF, research indicates that a substantial number of children who grow up without parental care are often followed by devastating effects, and with Covid-19 it has only become worse.

“We need to come up with solutions that will make Africa a continent fit for all children,” she said, adding that there is need for resilient systems that will help children.

Children without parental care are those that are not in the overnight care of one or both parents. These may also include children who are in institutional care, children in detention, child-headed households, children living on the streets, those in conflict situations, those involved in trafficking and other forms of exploitation, unaccompanied and separated children as well as those of incarcerated parents and primary caregivers.

Regional Influencing, Learning and Engagement Advisor (Africa) and also from the Changing The Way we Care Project, Joseph Muthuri said during the 17th Civil Society Organisation Forum that though it is difficult to get the correct data regarding children without parental care in the world or in Africa, up to 50 to 90 percent of children in institutions have atleast one living parent or family networks, that could care for them.

Muthuri explained that the devastating effects of children who are without parental care include the fact that in institutions there are not adequate resources for the upbringing of children and there is no affection, which is critical for a growing child.

“There are high chances that children without parental care will experience some type of violations, and their growth is hampered by financial and material hardships, Muthuri said, adding that they will be plagued by instability in their family relationships. According to Muthuri, children should be raised in families and communities and that institutionalisation of children should be a last resort. Kgosana Taukobong Kgosimotse of Lesunyane Mafitlhakgosi in Tlokweng who works with SOS Tlokweng Children’s Village concurred. He said that it is vital for children to become part of the community and not to be known only as children from an ‘institution.’

Kgosana Kgosimotse emphasised the need for such children to grow up in a ‘normal family environment, where they will be loved, disciplined and provided for.

According to Mara Cavanagn of the Lumos Foundation there is a significant difference in children who have been raised in families and those who have been institutionalised. She said children deprived of loving parental care can suffer lifelong physical and psychological harm. “Babies in particular fail to develop as they should without oneto-one parental interaction,” she said, adding that children who remain in institutions after the age of six months often face severe developmental delays.

According to Cavanagn, the detrimental impact of institutionalisation hampers the development and wellbeing of children heavily and influences their future life changes and capacity to contribute fully to society. Cavanagn said however, there are still bottlenecks and shortcomings in responding to the problem of children without parental care including programmes that promote child separation and resistance from stakeholders. Another challenge is the closing of institutions before developing family and community based support services necessary to replace them. Other challenges include short- term project life cycles and lack of funding, lack of capacity to manage the change process, fragmented efforts and poor coordination between players, disconnect between grassroots efforts and national level reforms.

“Practice and legislation mismatch and weak enforcement of policies and bottlenecks underestimate the importance of holistic systemic reform,” she said.

The African Union’s Agenda for Children 2040 also recognises that orphans and children without parental care bear a heavy burden of chronic poverty.