Umsobomvo Youth Fund Development Programmes: briefing & UNICEF briefing on Quality of Life & Status of Children in South Africa
Meeting Summary
A summary of this committee meeting is not yet available.
Meeting report
JOINT MONITORING
COMMITTEE ON IMPROVEMENT OF QUALITY OF LIFE AND STATUS OF CHILDREN, YOUTH AND
DISABLED PERSONS
22 September 2006
UMSOBOMVO YOUTH FUND DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMMES: BRIEFING & UNICEF BRIEFING ON
QUALITY OF LIFE AND STATUS OF CHILDREN IN SOUTH AFRICA
Chairperson: Ms
W Newhoudt-Druchen (ANC)
Documents handed out:
Umsobomvo Youth
Fund Delivery Channels and Products
Presentation by Umsobomvo Youth Fund – Part 1 & 2
UNICEF South Africa
Country Programme
UNICEF document: In a Child’s Best Interests…Parliamentarians, You Can Make a
Difference – Part 1
& 2
SUMMARY
Umsobomvo Youth Fund reported that it had been in existence for five years, had
now established itself strongly, and was able to reach more young people
through 130 access points. It still did not have a strong presence in deep
rural areas, but was increasingly well known and respected. The Youth Fund’s
objective was to provide better
opportunity for employment for young people in South Africa. It focused also on
HIV/AIDS, low levels of employment, creating opportunities, including micro
finance and training in work skills. There remained a worrying trend of
graduates who could not find employment over the past few years, and the Youth
Fund were putting interventions in place. It funded services for young
entrepreneurs, had helped create a call centre, and was discussing a corporate
partnership. The targets for 2008-10 were tabled. Greater support was planned,
together with partnership with the Department of Labour. Questions raised by
members included the voucher system, the number of people with disabilities
attending the programmes, and the loan mechanisms and repayment history.
Further questions were asked on the Youth Advisory Centres, methods to address
“brain drain”, the Fund’s targets, the unemployment ratios, the effectiveness
of its efforts, and the relationships with the SETAs.
UNICEF reported on the life and status of children in South Africa. It
commented favourably upon the many excellent efforts made by various government
departments, stating that children had secured rights and better prospects.
Health, crime and HIV/AIDS posed challenges that UNICEF and the government had
to tackle together. The five key areas of the programmes between 2007 and 2010
were outlined. UNICEF outlined its efforts to work with Parliament, the South
African Government and the Committee to comprehensively address issues
pertaining to the rights of the child. It was noted that violence towards
children and child-rape still remained very high and AIDS orphans were
increasing in number, with dire ramifications. South Africa had the most
children on social service grants in the history of the world. It was also
noted that preventable diseases, not HIV/AIDS, are the leading causes of death
in children. There was a challenge in the shortage of staff and skilled
workers. Education was another issue requiring urgent attention. There had been
many improvements in social policy and local government but any policies must
extend the life and opportunities of vulnerable people. Questions were asked on
education of young mothers, particularly in regard to preventable disease,
trafficking, the Office of the Rights of the Child, and improved models for
care-givers and child protection. Concern was expressed over orphans and the
possible solutions, as well as the needs for more health workers. The new
strains of TB were discussed and clarified. The possibility of creating a
Department for Children was discussed.
MINUTES
Briefing by Umsobomvo Youth Fund
Mr Malose Kekana, CEO of Umsobomvo Youth Fund (UYF), stated that UYF had
been in existence for five years and his report would focus on these last five
years and plans for the future. UYF had now established itself strongly, and
was able to take its mandate and create strategies that had clear links to
government policies. It was able to reach more young people, and had more
policies and systems and had achieved international recognition, as well as
being approved for accreditation for ISO 9001:2000. UYF had established a
strong brand. There were over 130 access points around the country already, with
a target of 200. It still did not have a strong presence in deep rural areas,
but was increasingly well known and respected.
UYF’s main objective was to provide better opportunity for employment for young
people in South Africa, especially rural youth and women, including those from
disadvantaged backgrounds and those who had been in conflict with the law.
HIV/AIDS was a further focus.50% of South African youth were unemployed. This
was partially due to the low-level of education, and partially to the low
levels of employment in some areas as others with skills remained unemployed. Umsobomvo
focused on creating opportunities at the right stage of development, matched to
available income generators. It might therefore provide micro finance, instead
of training in a particular work skill, to assist in reaching sustainable
livelihoods.
Mr Kekana noted the worrying trend of graduates who could not find employment
over the past few years. UYF were trying to place interventions in the correct
target market, create opportunities with finance and practical training
solutions, including CV writing, driving skills and computer skills. Such
programmes were run in six provinces, targeting youth in grades 10 to 12, as
well as the unemployed and those in institutions of higher education. It was
working closely with Education and other government bodies, had put funding
into projects such as the Youth Service Programme, and would participate in a
new Indian programme leading to 4,000 jobs for young people. UYF was also investigating
programmes that would require medicine and law students to do community service
before graduating. It participated in the “Big Brothers, Big Sisters” programme
running in five provinces, which aimed at an integrative approach, as well as a
system to aid youth with disabilities. There were no specific statistics on the
number of youth with disabilities in UYF funded programmes.
UYF had also funded services for young entrepreneurs and had helped create
Youth Internet Portals, a call centre that employed a number of previously
unemployed youth, and was discussing a corporate partnership that would assist
skills development and training in programmes such as School to Work. UYF had
to date trained over 52 000 young people and supported over 11 000 people have
been supported with access to loans. It had begun to target parastatals to
request assistance and other projects already included Nestle, MTN and Dions.
All projects were aimed at moving people from the second to the first economy.
UYF was the biggest lender of funding to the youth, and although it did not yet
help all deserving people, it was trying to establish a presence.
Mr Kekana tabled the targets for 2008-2010. Greater support was planned, and
UYF aimed to partner with the Department of Labour and offer services from the
Department’s existing offices.
Discussion
The Chairperson asked how access to the voucher system worked.
Mr Kekana replied that 300 accredited consultants had been asked to provide
their services to UYF participants. Consultants had agreed to teach skills such
as creating business plans, how to make tender submissions, give advice on
stock in stores, administration and legal aspects. A young applicant would have
his or her needs assessed at a youth centre and would, if there were a genuine
case, receive a voucher redeemable at the consultants. An upfront payment of
R200 was required from the young person, who then received a grant of between
R800 to R6000. Presently this voucher system was the only electronic system operational
in the world.
Mr A Madella (ANC) asked how it was possible to assess the number of people
with disabilities who had been through the UYF programmes.
Mr Kekana replied that 1% of UYF participants had been disabled, and there was
a problem in creating access to UYF for disabled people, but a solution was
being investigated.
Mr Madella asked what UYF could do to assist young people who often had no
access to commercial loans or who might have poor or no credit references.
Mr Kekana replied that UYF did loan funds, and only a few loans had been
written off, most often because of a death in the family. Young women were more
likely to repay loans. If a person had been blacklisted, UYF would investigate
the circumstances, and then teach improved financial management before it
extended credit. Any outstanding debt had to be paid to teach better financial
management. Most funding was based on ability.
Mr Madella commented on the Youth Advisory Centres, which he was pleased to see
existed, but he was worried that there was no rollout of services, and enquired
about a timeframe for rollout. He noted that in Bellville the Youth Advisory
Centre serviced around 800 000 people.
Ms E Ngaleka (ANC) said that UYF centres should ideally serve a 100 kilometres
radius but in the Northern Cape, they were often as much as 400 kilometres
apart.
Mr Kekana reiterated that there were no service providers in deep rural areas.
The local municipalities were assisting in terms of rolling out services and
products, but some offices did not have all the specific services owing to
limited resources, but would have to transfer requests to a bigger office. He
asked that MPs become involved in identifying areas for new offices. UYF had
started a youth development centre in the Northern Cape to give advice, funded
jointly by Province and ABSA.
Ms Ngaleka questioned some of the statistics in the report for the Northern
Cape.
Mr Kekana replied that in the past, UYF had relied on services and products for
their statistics, but was now using different criteria. He described “brain
drain” as involving graduates who attended universities in other provinces who
did not return to their home province on graduation. This was why it was
difficult to fill certain job positions in some provinces. UYF was trying to
build a capacity to address this “drain’ situation by training others to take
the responsibility of these jobs. UYF logo and branding would soon be a part of
this capacity.
Mr M Moses (ANC) asked what targets UYF had reached during its first five years
in operation.
Mr Kekana said that UYF set out to use R785 million in the five-year period
ending in 2007, and aimed to create 50 000 jobs with that money. UYF would soon
reach a spending figure of R855 million, which aimed to create 80 000 jobs. So
far 45 000 jobs had been created. UYF was well on track to reach 50 000 jobs.
It had helped 9 000 entrepreneurs start up and was training a further 11 000.
UYF aimed to have a presence in 284 municipalities, and had currently achieved
140. He said that with government leverage UYF could be in all municipalities.
Mr Moses commented that many people were receiving education and training but
remained unemployed. He enquired whether people were studying the wrong skills.
Mr Kekana replied that it seemed that many were making the wrong choices and
taking the wrong subjects. Young people needed to be advised on future careers
through workshops and programmes and there needed to be a focus on those who
lacked social capital, like graduates from historically disadvantaged
universities, whose qualifications were regarded as of a lower standard and
level.
Mr B Dhlamini (IFP) asked Mr Kekana for his comment on the fact that although
South Africa had 6% economic growth per year unemployment was still very high.
Mr Kekana recognised that in South Africa there was high unemployment despite
high levels of economic growth. There were not enough jobs being created for
those entering the labour markets. He believed that this would now start to
decline with the impetus of the Accelerated Shared Growth Initiative for South
Africa (ASGISA) and other Expanded Public Works programmes. Youth unemployment
was not limited to South African problem, as illustrated by recent riots in
France and xenophobic tendencies in parts of Europe. There needed to be more
micro financing and skills programmes, and better skills matches. There were
not sufficient people at NQS levels 3 and 4 to progress on to higher levels,
and there needed to be a database to go some way to address these issues.
A member of the Committee said that he would like to see improvements in UYF’s
employment equity and an increase in service provision. He commented on the
recent oversight visit, and asked whether the area in which UYF had given
funding had achieved effective results.
Mr Kekana responded that UYF could not simply spend money. In terms of
employment equity, UYF’s top management was 90% African and 53% female. In the
executive committee, the male to female ratio was 50/50. Regrettably, only 1%
were disabled. UYF recognised that this was very low and were in the process of
resolving the problem.
Mr Kekana commented that the project mentioned did indeed exist. UYF was not
selling a commodity or commercial goods, and when it ran an advertisement for 4
000 jobs it would expect to receive over 1 million applications. UYF was trying
to measure needs and not over promise, as it must retain credibility. When
offices were more established UYF could be more aggressive in its marketing.
Mr Kekana mentioned a specific loan of R80 000 granted to a young Afrikaner
woman. She herself was not previously disadvantaged, but her business plan was
very good and her business would have employed 100% black people, and would
make a real contribution to addressing poverty
The same member asked if he could get a sense of the challenges that the board
faces.
Mr Kekana said that the UYF Board operated in similar fashion to any other fund
Board. He would welcome further questions in future about the Board, as this
would help with oversight of UYF and also with its upcoming merger. There had
never been any kind of governance problem at UYF. He recalled that once there
had been a late submission due to new accounting practices that required a
change in the way of recording every enterprise in the UYF accounts to comply
with fair value accounting practice.
The member also asked about a certain project that the Committee had visited
during its oversight visit.
Mr Kekana was happy to report that two people who had been part of that project
were now in Master’s programmes and that others were receiving more training.
The project had been a success and continued to be so.
F Nyanda (ANC) asked why not all the provinces were involved in the sale of
ice-cream with Nestle.
Mr Kekana replied that this was due mainly to demand. UYF had assessed the
provinces where this project would most likely get the best attention. Crime
posed a problem with this project as two young people were mugged while they
were on their Nestle motorbikes.
The Chairperson asked for an indication of the relationship between UYF and the
various SETAs, and asked if many learners were switching from one SETA to
another and thus not getting proper training
Mr Kekana said that UYF enjoyed a good relationship with the SETAs and had also
acquired much funding from them. He said that the issue of attrition required
all parties to address youth development together.
UNICEF Report on the Status and Quality of life of children in South Africa
Mr Macharia Kamau, UNICEF Country Representative, tabled a report on the status
and quality of life of children in South Africa, following a meeting earlier in
the year when the Committee had recognised the importance of UNICEF reports to
the Committee. Mr Kamau said that he was very impressed with the government of
South Africa and the Parliament of South Africa. It was clear that children
today had secured rights and better prospects. South Africa had done much to
address key children’s issues, but naturally more still had to be done. Various
challenges remained, such as health, crime and HIV/AIDS, and UNICEF and the
South African government had to partner together to solve the problems of the
children. Five main areas would form the key focus of the programmes between
2007 and 2010.
Mr Kamua noted that while almost all indicators had improved, the indicator of
under-5 and infant mortality has increased. Sadly, more children were currently
dying from preventable diseases than ten years ago. AIDS was seen as the worst
killer, but 60% of children died from preventable diseases due to poverty.
There was a need to have integrative responses to tackle the problems of
poverty, which would require close co-operation with communities and clinics.
5.7 million people were infected with HIV, half of whom were women, and a
significant number of babies were born with HIV. UNICEF was very focused to
help the government with this issue. He commended the Department of Health for
the significant progress that had been made, describing the work done so far as
exemplary. However, he cautioned that the challenge still remained daunting.
UNICEF worked differently in South Africa than in other developing countries.
It did not fund but rather gave advice and worked together with the government
on areas such as the testing of infants.
Mr Kamau stated that South Africa had a shortage of staff and skilled workers.
Although South Africa could address the medical issue of HIV, there was concern
about orphans, as even if there was no further infection there would remain 150
000 orphans each year for the next five years. There was a need to create more
social needs services and programmes. 7.5 million children were already on
social services grants, and 2 million children had been orphaned. Apart from
their financial needs, they needed love and care.
Mr Kamau also reported that there were over 50 000 rape cases per year reported
in South Africa and over half of them were committed against children. Violence
was a huge challenge, especially violence against women. There was a whole new
challenge of moral regeneration that needed to be addressed with a new vigour.
Trafficking of children for sex and drugs was also becoming increasingly more
evident. He acknowledged the incredibly successful work of the Thuthuzela Care
Centres, which were modeled on a Mexican initiative. He commended Parliament
for the improvements that they had already made to the lives of children and
their efforts behind the Child Justice Bill and the Sexual Offences Bill.
Mr Kamau noted that education was the largest item on the national budget, but
a vast number of people did not get to attend quality institutions. Even in
President Mbeki’s State of the Nation address, it was mentioned that rural
schools were rudimentary at best. Fee-free schools needed to be discussed as a
possible solution, using the R44 billion surplus. He acknowledged that there
might be a problem of quality, as in the case with Model C schools, but argued
that a proper solution could be found.
Mr Kamau said that there had been many improvements in social policy and local
government and again exemplary polices had been devised. However, in giving
services to the poor, not all the money allocated was spent. He was aware that
government was taking up the issue itself, but urged that any policies must
extend the life and opportunities of vulnerable people. UNICEF would continue
to support this Committee, Parliament and Provincial Legislatures in order so
that they could continue to provide a better quality of life.
Discussion
The Chairperson asked if there were still children dying of diarrhoea,
and if young mothers were aware of proper care and sanitation. She suggested
that this was a joint issue that should also include the Department of Forestry
and Water Affairs.
Mr Kamau replied that one of the most tenacious legacies of apartheid was the
failure to set up primary health facilities. Since 1975 other countries had put
into place an agreement that addressed such diseases. The second legacy of
apartheid had been the disruption of the family and culture and thus the system
that communicated health practices from one generation to another. Therefore
there were young mothers who did not know how to care for babies, and clearly
did not have the correct information children were dying. Much more hadto be
done in the area of primary health care facilities for young mothers. The
Department of Health was dealing with the problem, but it had not yet become a
tradition for the Department to deal with these basic practices.
The Chairperson commented that trafficking had become a major issue, and that
although South Africa was in the process of negotiating with its neighbouring
countries on cross-border trafficking, it continued.
Mr Kamau replied that trafficking was not the biggest issue. About 20 000
children a year were trafficked. Violence was a much bigger issue. UNICEF had
met with the South African Police Service (SAPS) and countries where the
children originated. Children were being brought in from Eastern Europe and
China and there was evidence to indicate that South Africa was a transit point
for children on their way to other places.
The Chair asked for an indication of UNICEF’s relationship with the Office of
the Rights of the Child (ORC)
Mr Kamau said that the rights of the child had declined in South Africa and
that more had to be done with the Office of the Rights of the Child. UNICEF had
been waiting for a report from the Office for around eight years and this
report would greatly help UNICEF in doing its job and co-operating with the
ORC.
Mr Madella asked what could be done to better the models on care-givers and
child protection
Mr Kamau said that UNICEF could be in all places at once, and had thus given
Parliamentarians the document entitled In a Child’s Best Interests…Parliamentarians,
You Can Make a Difference. It was in very simple terms and has been created
for easy reading. It would be updated every year. Models were being developed
with NGOs and the South African government, which UNICEF believed would be adopted
and rolled out by government. In the future specific officers for various
models would be able to report to Parliament with clarity about the programmes
and models.
Mr Madella asked what kind of structures and facilities would be needed to
accommodate the growing number of orphans.
Mr Kamau said that large structures created to house orphans had not been
accepted by the rest of the world as an effective solution. In Africa, the
family system used to be a support network, but many extended family members
were ill or dying from HIV. One poorly paid family member might now be caring
for numerous relatives’ children, and if institutions were not an option, then
far more needed to be done urgently. By 2010 there would be 5 million orphans.
South Africa was a society in transition but the question must be for how long
could this period of transition last. HIV was now spreading fastest in Russia
and some part of Eastern Europe, but most people were part of the mainstream
economy there. In South Africa, 5% of the population owned 90% of the wealth so
the effects of HIV/AIDS were worse felt. Having said that, South Africa was
still in a position to make radical changes.
Mr Dhlamini remarked that the presentation was very emotional. He wanted to
know about the development capacity around the issue of health workers.
Mr Kamau answered that there were issues of testing and diagnosis that had been
addressed well in South Africa. South Africa used to have only one testing
clinic for mothers and children, but now there were six and by March 2007 there
would be twelve, if budget and technical capacity were approved. Mr Kamau
continued that South Africa had been sharing its sophisticated studies and
research with the rest of the world. UNICEF believed there were value added
benefits too in being represented in South Africa. In terms of training, there
was a real need for skilled low-level workers in the clinics, seeing to the
needs of the sick daily. There needed to be a comprehensive national standard
for local clinics. More had to be done on the issue. He would not be against a
federal approach.
Mr Dhlamini then asked about the preventable diseases, commenting that Kwa-Zulu
Natal had seen an increase in TB.
Mr Kamau said that he was aware of a new TB strain that caused high mortality.
It caused complications to the body in conjunction with HIV and germs stayed
viable for up to five hours. Much had been done about this by the Department of
Health but had not been reported.
The Chairperson asked for the source of UNICEF’s statistics.
Mr Kamau replied that all statistics came from the South African government,
Stats SA or The Department of Health. None were compiled by UNICEF, but UNICEF
did undertake the analysis.
Mr M Moss (ANC) said that the UNICEF presentation was both shocking and
depressing and there were clear contradictions arising since 1994. He commented
that this type of suffering is unacceptable. He suggested that all Members
should investigate in their constituencies and report back in order to address
the issues comprehensively.
The Chairperson asked about fragmentation at the local and provincial clinic
level. She noted that there was an integrative framework for children. She
enquired as to Mr Kamau’s view on working in the cluster.
Mr Kamau answered that it was a perennial problem whether to create a
Department for Children or accept the cross-over from department to department.
The danger of mainstreaming from one department was that other children’s
issues would fall through the gaps. There needed to be a steadfast approach.
South Africa needed an integrative framework for children, but there was still
debate on leadership. ORC were a very junior organisation. The Office of the
President would add prestige, but there it would have to compete with other
pressures. He concluded that the government must address children’s issues with
the highest level of commitment and bring all political capital to bear.
Moreover, there should also be a review of efforts every four or six months.
The meeting was adjourned.
Audio
No related
Documents
No related documents
Present
- We don't have attendance info for this committee meeting
Download as PDF
You can download this page as a PDF using your browser's print functionality. Click on the "Print" button below and select the "PDF" option under destinations/printers.
See detailed instructions for your browser here.