Umsobomvo Youth Fund Development Programmes: briefing & UNICEF briefing on Quality of Life & Status of Children in South Africa

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JOINT MONITORING COMMITTEE ON IMPROVEMENT OF QUALITY OF LIFE AND STATUS OF CHILDREN, YOUTH AND DISABLED PERSONS

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.

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