African child welfare gives UN hope
The spread of state welfare for children around Africa has the potential to make a major dent in global poverty, the UN said on Wednesday.
Children account for the majority of those around the world in extreme poverty, living on less than $1.90 a day, with half of them in Africa.
Globally, about a third of children are covered by social protection programmes, but this ranges from 88% in Europe and Central Asia to 16% in Africa, according to a new study by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and Unicef.
“The evidence shows clearly that social protection benefits, and cash transfers in particular, have a positive impact on poverty, food security,” it reads.
Cash on its own is not a magic bullet and should be part of broader policies, supported by other benefits such as school meals, according to the study.
In sub-Saharan Africa, 40 out of 48 countries have some form of cash transfer programme, but most pay too little and overall only 13.1% of children receive them. “They aren’t all huge programmes but it’s been a real growth in the region and it’s moving very, very quickly,” said David Stewart, Unicef’s head of child poverty.
Children up to the age of 14 make up 42.9% of the population of sub-Saharan Africa, where public spending on child welfare amounts to only 0.7% of GDP, compared with 2.5% in Europe.
Several African countries are to discuss expanding their coverage at a conference in Geneva this week, Stewart said.
Isabel Ortiz, head of social protection at the ILO, said SA is making enormous progress, while Ghana is reallocating fuel subsidies towards child benefits and Zambia is increasing tax on mining, showing some of the options available if governments are willing.