The St Francis Care Centre has joined the rest of the country to celebrate National Child Protection Week, which runs from May 31 to June 7.
Child Protection Week is commemorated in the country annually to raise awareness of the rights of children as articulated in the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa and Children’s Act (Act No. 38 of 2005). The campaign is led by the Department of Social Development in partnership with key government departments and civil society organisations rendering child protection services.
This year’s Child Protection Week theme is “Let us all protect children during Covid-19 and beyond”.
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James Matli, fund-raiser at St Francis, said staff members gathered (while adhering to social distancing protocols) to shine a light of the rights and responsibility of children. The care centre provides care to over 30 abandoned or orphaned children.
“We found other ways to observe Child Protective week this year as we’re unable to organise an event due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Children are important to us, therefore, we felt the need to raise awareness,” Matli explained.
In a video presentation, Tilly Brouwer, centre manager, focused on values and obligation on rights and dignity for children. The manager emphasised it is everybody’s responsibility to look after children and to ensure their safety.
“Protecting children from violence, exploitation and abuse is not only a basic value but also an obligation clearly set out in Article 28 of the South African Constitution. Children in South Africa live in a society with a constitution that has the highest regard for their rights and for the quality and dignity of everyone,” Brouwer said.
She said that the centre is also affected by the lockdown and they are in need of the community’s support. “We are dependent on support from donors to continue rendering its services. Any support will be most welcome and will be officially acknowledged.”
St Francis Care Centre residential social worker Thuli Mbatha highlighted that it is important for parents or guardians to be observant about children’s behaviour, emotions, personality changes and mental stability.
“This is a stressful time for children as their routine is disrupted. They play and run around like normal children and it’s resulting in anxiety. Therefore, it’s important that we listen to children, make them feel loved and involve them,” the social worker pointed out.
She emphasised that statistics show that child abuse (emotional, physical and sexual) and child neglect have increased during lockdown.
“Let’s stop abuse,” Mbatha said.
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