Today, millions of children in the SADC region still suffer from lack of inclusive and quality education due to various underlying factors such as child marriage or early and unintended pregnancies leading to school drop-outs, gender discrimination favouring boy schooling, child labour, or even relocation of families due to climate devastations, to cite but a few causes. At the same time, Africa is a growing economy which is demanding skilled work and a gamut of different competencies dispersed across all fields from agriculture to ICT and Artificial Intelligence. The rising demand in skills needs to be met by the African children of today who will blossom into the working force of tomorrow. According to UNICEF, the child population of Africa will reach 1 billion by 2055, which will render the continent the one with the highest child population worldwide.  The moment is therefore nigh to implement child-friendly policies which provides for universal child schooling and which encourages comprehensive primary and secondary education that can equip children for progressive lifelong learning.

The Forum also reiterates that Parliaments need to garner a pivotal role in exercising oversight on the implementation of Article 11 of the African Children’s Charter relating to the human right to education, as well as Aspiration 6 of the Africa’s Agenda for Children 2040 which provides for innovative education policies such as compulsory pre-school education, the teaching of mother-tongue languages in primary schools, and appropriate teacher-learner ratios to facilitate classroom interactions.

The Forum promotes child education through its various Model Laws including the SADC Model Law on Child Marriage which favours comprehensive sexuality education and the need for children to understand their basic rights and freedoms as springboards to evolve in their adult life.

Every child in Africa should have the possibility to realise his or her dreams through the transformative effect of education. If we unite to create a world of equal opportunities, where education acts as a driving force, then every child should have a realistic prospect to succeed in life. This is the Africa that we want in line with our development objectives.

Yours sincerely,

H.E. Boemo SEKGOMA

SECRETARY GENERAL

STATEMENT BY THE SECRETARY GENERAL OF THE SADC-PF ON THE DAY OF THE AFRICAN CHILD, 16 JUNE 2024