IMPROVEMENT OF QUALTIY OF LIFE AND STATUS OF CHILDREN, YOUTH AND DISABLED PERSONS JOINT COMMITTEE
10 November 2006
NATIONAL YOUTH COMMISSION, OFFICE ON STATUS OF DISABLED PERSONS, OFFICE ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD: MID-TERM REPORTS

Chairperson: Ms W. Newhoudt-Druchen (ANC)

Documents handed out:
Office on Status of Disabled Persons (OSDP) – Mid term Report: October 2006
OSDP Strategic Plan – 2004 Going Forward
OSDP Budget Projections
Response to UN Questionnaire on the Global Study on Violence Against Children
National Youth Commission Presentation
Briefing on Children’s Rights Budget Status
Children’s Rights Delivery Guide for Municipalities
Youth Development Policy in Municipalities in South Africa
National Youth Commission: 3rd National Conference on youth Development at Local Government Level 9-11 May 2006
National Youth Commission: Operational Plan 2006
Programme of Action 2006 Cycle 4
National Youth Service Unit presentation
Project Plan for the INDS Review (see Appendix)
8th Session of the Ad Hoc Committee Report

SUMMARY
The National Youth Commission gave a summary of what they had accomplished in the past year, and summarised the roles of various stakeholders in youth programmes. The National Youth Service was a key factor. Achievements were summarised and it was noted one of the challenges lay in the fact that other departments were confused as to what the National Youth Service was and how programmes must be integrated. The achievements of some Departments were listed. There would be a mass mobilisation in December and January to attract about 5000 young people into service. Site visits were planned for Departments to see examples of best practice. The Commission was busy with a policy review. It would be requesting an increase in the budget to align the research programmes better and to appoint more personnel. Youth development desks must be established at departments. Members asked several questions on the spending on personnel, the job creation and monitoring of effectiveness, youth in prisons, the provincial steering committees and exit strategies for youth. The Committee wished to follow up on Departments who were not cooperating. .

The Office on the Status of Disabled Persons presented the mid term report, covering strategic objectives and expenditure. The Mainstreaming Activities were listed and described. Programmes were in place with a number of departments. Work had also been done on the 2011 census strategic plan and the restructuring of the National Disability Machinery. Two programmes in aid of persons with disability would be running from 2 to 5 December and from 3 to 8 December. The Integrated National Disability Strategy had been implemented. The Office tabled its continental and international obligations, and explained that in South Africa it had been involved in capacity building of specific departments in the understanding and implementation of the Disability Strategy, training programmes, and policy co ordination. It was also involved in an economic empowerment project, special arts projects and training programmes, and advice to the Gautrain consortium. The budget allocation was R3.56 million, of which R845 979 had been spent. Questions were asked on the job access programme, integration, the need for public transport to be properly devised and mainstreamed, the necessity of dealing with transport for the disabled before 2010, and airline needs.

The Office on the Rights of the Child tabled the budget and achievements over the last six months. Many activities centred on mainstreaming of a child-centred government approach, which was facilitated through training, establishing of focal points and compilation of a delivery guide for municipalities. The Office was also involved in coordination of Children’s Rights Activities and had established the National Children’s Rights Advisory Council. Other programmes and activities were highlighted, many involving other Departments. A monitoring and evaluating framework had been set up.  The Annual Sect oral meeting was yet to be held and the South African Charter still had to be reviewed. The total budget projection was R1 275 million and expenditure had been R1.92 million. Particular concerns included violence amongst children, foetal-alcohol syndrome, teenage pregnancies, poverty, child labour and youth in prisons. The Office called for a strengthened relationship with the Joint Monitoring Committee, through monthly activities, the Day of the African Child programme and an Annual General Meeting for children. It was also important to try to standardise the age of “a child” in the legislation.  Questions related to high infant mortality and disease rates, whether money was being allocated correctly with regard to children, the educational needs of children that were not met with mainstream schools, and access of children to cellphone pornography. 

MINUTES
National Youth Commission (NYC) briefing
Ms Nomi Nkondlo, Chairperson: National Youth Commission, stated that the presentation would focus on the delivery partners, the lobbying role played thus far and examples of youth service projects being rolled out. She summarised the roles of the National Youth Service Unit (NYS), the Presidency, the National and Provincial Youth Commissions, the Umsobomvu Youth Fund and the State Departments, noting how they were interlinked. It was important to understand the development of the National Youth Service as a key factor to building patriotism and nationalism. A good example was the establishment of an NYS unit located at and funded by Umsobomvu Youth Fund. It would have technical staff to assist with certain projects through other Departments.

Achievements in the financial year included orientation workshops. One of the challenges lay in the fact that other departments were confused as to what NYS was, and many would be willing to implement programmes but needed to engage the youth into learnerships or internships. They did not understand that service was the main element. The Deputy President had also assisted with co-ordination and 18 departments had been brought on board thus far. Clarity was needed on the distinction between NYS and learnerships and between NYS and the Expanded Public Works Programme. The Department of Public Works had begun to prepare youth to become skilled artisans, and had identified certain buildings for maintenance by the Youth Service. The Department of Health had a home-based care support programme to assist clinics. It had engaged stakeholders and provinces to include NYS targets and budgets in their plans. This still needed to be addressed in Mpumalanga. The Government Communication and Information Systems (GCIS) had a multi purpose community centre project that aimed to train young people in community service skills. The youth would serve in the General Services Counters and assist other departments.

The call for national youth services would be strengthened by a country wide mass mobilisation in December and January to attract about 5000 young people into service. The Deputy President fully supported this and the Committee’s support was requested in spreading the message. Site visits were planned for Departments to see examples of best practice.

The National Youth Commission was leading a NYS policy Review, based on the 1998 Green Paper and the White Paper of 1999. The date for revised policy was March 2007. About 8 000 young people had gone through NYS programmes and it was now necessary to establish exit opportunities and more government opportunities for the youth.

Mr Mothupi Modiba, Commissioner, NYC, stated that during the financial year 2005-2006 NYC’s budget was around R20 million. Around 60% was spent on personnel and a large portion on administrative expenses so there was very little left for policies and programmes. He stated that the NYC did not implement the policies and programmes and were a service organisation, hence the high personnel costs. NYC would request an increase of the 2007 budget by R10 million, as currently there was a misalignment of mandate and personnel. Only one employee dealt with research, yet research was central to the rollout of the programmes. Growing demand meant that more personnel were needed. Various positions would be advertised. The structure of the finance department also posed some shortcomings revealed in the audit, as certain key posts required by government had not been filled.

Youth development was an integral part of developmental work yet youth desks had not until recently been prioritised. Mr Modiba expressed reluctance at the prospect of naming and shaming, but stated that the Departments of Health, Social Development, Defence, Science and Technology, Arts and Culture and Education were all integrating youth programmes. Others would through continuous dialogue become committed. Some departments without youth desks did have special programme desks. The NYC preferred to see youth development desks as youth formed a large section of society.

Discussion
An ANC member questioned the percentage spending on personnel. She asked whether the NYC had studied its organogram to find out whether current employees were being efficiently utilised and could be re-skilled. She also asked to what extent jobs had been created under the NYC programmes

Mr M Modiba defended the NYC expenditure on personnel. He argued that it was not unhealthy to spend that proportion on personnel and noted that other Departments spent more as spending was entirely dependent on the mandate. He emphasised the point that the NYC mandate was not to implement the policies.

Ms M Tshoane, Director of Policies and Programmes, NYC, replied that with regard to job creation there was an increase in registration at National Youth Service but it was difficult to monitor the youth once they left the NYS. Employment placement opportunities for the youth could be problematic but the NYC could assist with initiatives like education.

Ms H Webber (DA) suggested that an organogram was needed to understand who was doing certain tasks. She noted that if there was only one researcher then it would not be possible to know what the needs were. She asked how NYC managed to assess the impact of what it was doing.

Mr Modiba responded that the NYC had already proposed an organogram and were still in dialogue with the Presidency. Costings were also in process. The NYC had had to submit an urgent budget when the Commissioners took office. They had put emphasis on promoting a directorate on policy research and programmes. The NYC still had to place advertisements for much needed positions such as local managers.

Ms Nkondlo added that there was a need to broaden participation of youth as stakeholders and engage with them. An SADC youth committee had been established in Zimbabwe in August, and it was resolved that SADC youth should speak with one voice and establish a steering committee to deal with SADC issues. There had been two meetings so far, including one in Lesotho where HIV/Aids were dealt with.

Mr Modiba said NYC could assess the impact of what they did through a youth development index that was used to measure youth development compliance.

Ms Webber pointed out that there had been no mention of youth in prisons and asked how the NYC interacted with them, and whether there was a specific programme for them.

Ms Tshoane explained that NYC had embarked on a Young Prisoners Programme, computer literacy, and an HIV/Aids pilot programme that was then handed over to the Department of Correctional Services (DCS). The latter programme had encountered problems since the DCS had not been involved from the start.

Mr A Madella (ANC) asked why the three provinces were lagging behind. He also enquired about the impact of provincial steering committees on NYC. 

Mr Modiba pointed out that one problem was the lack of a direct link between the NYC and provinces because they worked under different pieces of legislation, which posed a challenge to integration. There were three levels at which there was no integration. The first was at national and provincial structure, the second at political coordination of youth development, and thirdly there was no policy framework, which was a source of embarrassment since most African countries had youth policies.
Provincial steering committees were utilised in respect of certain projects to support particular NYS programmes. There was a need to strengthen participation of NYS at provincial level

Mr Madella also raised concerns about exit strategies for the youth.

Mr Modiba responded that youth development was essential to all developmental efforts

Mr Madella commented that the additional R10 million that the NYC were requesting did not seem to be justifiable, and amounted to a more than 50% increase.

Mr M Moss (ANC) also raised concern that 60% of expenditure related to personnel.  He also requested the presenters to elaborate more on the additional R10 million.

Ms Nkondlo said that NYC had to ensure there was a balance for the upscaling of recruitment of youth in the December and January programmes. These would demonstrate the commitment of young people to put more pressure on those Departments not moving quickly enough. Service, learning, and exit opportunities were the foundation of the NYS, and the private sector also needed to be brought on board. NYC must create a working environment to bring in diverse young people and the input must be youth owned. She said she particularly appreciated the Review of Chapter 9 institutions because the public opinions would direct the NYC in its activities. She noted that the Flemish government had a strong civil society youth that gave clear direction to government about youth issues.

Ms J Chalmers (ANC) said it would be useful to get more detailed account of work accomplished, for example in the Eastern Cape. She pointed out that it was important to know how to access the programmes.

Mr Moss asked which departments were not co-operating so that the Committee could follow up on it.

The Chairperson asked which departments did not have youth desks so that there could be a follow upon that.

Ms Tshoane said she would prefer to mention Departments that had done well with regards to youth desks since that would be a shorter list and she commended the Departments of Health, Education, Water Affairs and Forestry, Science and Technology, Finance, Environment, and Defence. In defence of departments not mentioned she added that they were not necessarily refusing to work or cooperate but that they had not established a specific directorate.

Office on the Status of Disabled Persons (OSDP) briefing
Mr Benny Palime, Director: OSDP, presented the mid term report, covering the period April to September 2006. It covered both the strategic objectives and expenditure of the OSDP. The Mainstreaming Activities were listed and described. Programmes were in place with a number of departments, and included a Job ACCESS programme, a database of people with disabilities, guiding principles being drawn on the Employment Equity Plan, a bi-lateral workshop with Angola on disability issues, guiding principles being drawn on accessibility of police stations and other facilities, preparations for the National Transport Indaba and work on the United National Convention of disability rights. Work had also been done on the 2011 census strategic plan and the restructuring of the National Disability Machinery. Two programmes in aid of persons with disability would be running from 2 to 5 December and from 3 to 8 December. The Integrated National Disability Strategy (INDS) had been implemented. 

The Chairperson commented at this point that Mr Palime had stated that the Joint Monitoring Committee (JMC) needed to be strengthened. She pointed out that the JMC was the oversight body for the OSDP. She said there was a need for a Disability Act because, although INDS was an important policy, Departments tended to forget about it, whereas legislation would have to be enforced.

Mr Palime replied that he had meant that the OSDP relationship with JMC had to be strengthened. He proposed a meeting for stakeholders at least four times a year.

Mr Palime tabled the continental and international obligations of the OSDP. Further aspects covered in the summary included the capacity building of specific departments in the understanding and implementation of INDS, training programmes, and policy co ordination. It was taking part in an economic empowerment project funded by the Danish Government. Special projects included integrated dance workshops in the Western Cape, visual arts and crafts projects, electronic media training programmes and discussions with the consortium leading the Gautrain project on how to include disability empowerment programmes.

Finally he noted that the budget allocation was R3.56 million, of which R845 979 had been spent. The remainder would be spent in the current quarter.

Discussion
Mr Moss commented on the job access programme to be launched in December. He said that although the target was four years later, he had received a number of CVs from skilled people with disabilities, and asked what he should do with them.

Mr Palime said that the job access programme as OSDP had a target of at least 2% to meet by the end of the 2009/2010 financial year. OSDP had a website that offered job opportunities for people with disabilities. He requested Mr Moss to send the CV’S to him and he would place them on his website

Mr Moss asked, in regard to the draft Disability Act, which countries had similar Acts and how would it operate. He agreed that issues of the disabled must be dealt with but that one should not lose sight on the question of integration

Mr Madella commented on public transport and how it deprived the disabled from participating in the economy. He said that mainstreaming should mean that all taxis must be able to accommodate the disabled instead of setting some aside specifically for the disabled. He also lamented the fact that disabled youth were not accessing learnerships. He was convinced that separate legislation for people with disabilities would not assist with re-integration

Mr Moss commented on the Gautrain and how disabled friendly it was. He also emphasised the need for all taxi programmes to be safe and disabled friendly.

The Chairperson agreed that transport must be accessible for the disabled, especially in view of the forthcoming 2010 World Cup and the 2011 targets. She cited examples of disabled people who were unable to access trains to get to a hospital to receive medication, which in turn the hospital refused to deliver.

Mr Palime said OSDP were reviewing a transport system that would operate from door to door. The cost would be subsidised by local government and the taxi driver would carry the risk. There was also a need to encourage taxi drivers to install hydraulic lifts. In respect of 2010 he said that the OSDP had a partnership with South African Airways on an advisory level to make air transport easier for people with disabilities. Current arrangements only enabled three persons on wheelchairs to board a plane.

Mr Madella commented that the International Disability day to be held in Durban would pose a problem if the issue of airlines was not resolved.

The Chairperson added that there had been dialogue, and that interest groups were pushing for airlines to meet the needs of the disabled, especially in preparation for the 2010 World Cup. This event provided a huge opportunity for people with disabilities, who must be able to benefit. She also explained that the recent equality campaigns had resulted in important decisions. Buildings had to be made accessible to people with disabilities, because even when they had jobs they still could not access the buildings. She stated that the car free day announced by the Minister was not practical for people with disabilities.

Mr Moss said there were still hospitals in which patients were ready to be discharged but were not being provided with wheelchairs to go home, and this was an aspect that needed some work.

The Chairperson expressed disappointment that all members of the NYC delegation had by now left because there were many issues involving disabled youth.

Office on the Rights of the Child (ORC) briefing
Ms Mabel Rantla, ORC Director, commented on the proposed Disability Act and said that all stakeholders could still work together on some ideas for improvement.

Ms Rantla tabled the response to the UN questionnaire on the Global Study on Violence against Children and reported that South Africa had now adopted various international Conventions, Charters and Protocols, listed in the presentation, dealing with child protection and had used these international instruments to review, develop, enhance and inform child-related legislation, policies and programmes. 

Ms Rantla tabled the budget and achievements of the ORC over the last six months. She noted that the activities from November 2006 to March 2007 around mainstreaming of a child-centred government approach would involve Ministers meetings with municipalities in all Provinces, and a budget of R300 000 had been projected. It had been necessary to build capacity in government to facilitate the mainstreaming and so the ORC had focused on conducting training, establishing Children’s Rights focal points and compiling a Children’s Rights (CR) Delivery Guide for Municipalities, a copy of which was tabled.

Ms Rantla explained that a further programme involved coordination of Children’s Rights Activities and to date this had included annual sectoral performance evaluation and planning meetings, inauguration of the National Children’s Rights Advisory Council and the first meeting of that meeting, which had initiated a revision of the national programme of action on children. Projected activities for 2007 included further performance evaluations, a coordination framework workshop in Gauteng and further council and task team meetings. The budget for each was tabled.

ORC had held the Day of The Africa Child to strengthen children’s regional identity and National Children’s Day, which promoted indigenous games (in conjunction with the Department of Sports and Recreation) to facilitate and promote affordable sports activities in poor municipalities. Both were successful. The Road to Health Festival promoted preventative health, taking 300 children for a medical check up, and involving 22 mobile units from the Department of Health.

The Monitoring and Evaluation Programme had developed a sectoral Monitoring and Evaluating framework, and its final round was ongoing. The Annual Sectoral meeting was still outstanding. The South African Charter still had to be reviewed. Ms Rantla mentioned that the total budget projection was R1 275 million and to date expenditure had been R1.92 million. She tabled the provincial ORC budgets and noted that there was no Children’s Rights budget in the Premier’s office in Gauteng.

Particular concerns of the ORC were centred on violence amongst children, which was an area in which more research was needed. The foetal-alcohol syndrome, teenage pregnancies, poverty, child labour and youth in prisons were further causes for concern. Character building through Brownies and Girl Guide initiatives was being worked on.

Ms Rantla proposed a strengthened relationship between the JMC and ORC through monthly activities, the Day of the African Child programme and an Annual General Meeting for children, which would give Members a chance to engage with children. She mentioned the importance of having set age definitions for a child because different legislation currently referred to different ages. It was important to try to harmonise the various pieces of legislation. She was sorry that the NYC delegation was no longer present as it would have been a good platform for discussion. 

Discussion
Mr Madella commented on the high infant mortality rate and also added that the monthly calendar proposals were encouraging, but it thought it more important to engage with the Department of Health first, and thereafter with the department of Social Development to address poverty, and finally with the Department of Correctional Services and Department of Justice. He expressed concern that at a recent summit he attended South Africa was said to have the highest alcohol consumption in the world.

The Chairperson complimented the Director on the work with different Departments but asked why children were dying of treatable diseases like diarrhoea.

Mr Moss complimented the Director on a well-presented report. He commented that poverty should not be such a major problem as South Africa was rich in resources, and wondered whether money was being allocated correctly with regard to children.

Mr Madella said there would be a surplus of budget next year because allocated money was not being spent. He was also concerned that disabled people, including children with low IQs or other learning difficulties, had needs that were not being met in mainstream schools.

Ms Rantla said that the OSDP should also sit on an Advisory Council in order to discuss mainstreaming children with disabilities and low IQ’s into the schools.

She added that monthly meetings with the JMC would make it easier for the Office to monitor budgets and to question departments on this.

 The Chairperson asked whether the ORC was addressing issues such as cell phone pornography that children were being exposed to.

Ms Rantla responded that the Department of Communications must be engaged in this issue.

Other Committee Business
The Chairperson noted that this was the last meeting of the year. Any questions left answered in this meeting would be dealt with in 2007.

The Chairperson asked Members to notify the Committee Clerk if they wanted any changes to be made to the amended business plan.

The meeting was adjourned.

Appendix:

PROJECT PLAN FOR THE INDS REVIEW