The Founder of GIFTAC Empowerment Foundation, Miss Gift Enwere, in this report argues that well mapped out and articulated development plans by stakeholders on the African child not only hone their overall development but also create the pathway to the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
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Statistics from SOS Children’s Villages show that Africa currently has over 400 million children and the figure is projected to increase to about 2.4 billion by 2050, this being one-quarter of the world’s population.
There is no doubt that the African child remains the pride and future of the African continent and is known to be gifted and well-endowed with great potentials. However, it is apparent that the continent is currently enmeshed in multiple bottlenecks and challenges and therefore has a long way to go in harnessing these potentials for their development and growth.
With the emerging grim picture when compared to other continents, it therefore becomes compelling to the African Union (AU) especially through their various National Governments, Policy Makers and Civil and Non-Governmental Organisations that with the growing population of African children, there is need to make the right investments in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as recommended by the United Nations to be able to harness their full potentials.
It is worthy to note that if the goals mapped out by the UN must be effective in the long run, the children must be seen as priority and thus, carried along. This is because there exists a directly proportional relationship between the right investments in children now and the futuristic impact in African countries.
This explains the reason behind the special yearly celebrations such as Day of the African Child and World Children’s Day on 16th June and 20th November respectively. The aim of the celebrations goes beyond the merriment. These days were designed to promote the advocacy of children’s rights. It creates an opportunity to sensitize children as well as the public on why these rights matter and why investments should be made in children.
From the popular axiom “Catch them Young”, it is seen that the best time to make these investments are in their formative years of their lives as it serves as a seed which when nurtured, germinates, and produces a breed of African giants.
The aim in making these investments is to reach out to every child especially those been brought up in the low-and middle-income countries. These children are known to face diverse challenges which range from malnutrition/poor nutrition, pervasive insecurity, wars, rampart child abuse, lack of access to good and quality education, untreated and unhygienic water and lack of medical infrastructure which affects their physical and psychological development.
It is believed that by taking the right actions, the gap built over time due to these challenges will be significantly addressed and reduced.
Children and Sustainable Development Goal (SDGs):
Child investment serves as a bedrock and indicator to social and economic development crucial in attaining Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Goals aims to provide a sustainable future where no one is left behind including children. The indicators of the SDGs relating to children include no poverty, zero hunger, good health and well-being, quality education, gender inequality and lastly, clean water and sanitation.
It is important that investments in human capital should not be overlooked or postponed else we face the risk of losing generations. SDG-tailored investments must be treated with a sense urgency because of the complexities in the challenges faced by African children and the need to rightly invest in them. With several goals linked to the African Child, it becomes a thing of delight to see what Africa stands to gain from the implementation of these goals.
Way Forward in Prioritizing Investments in African Children:
1. Timely investments: These investments are termed timely because they focus on maximizing their early childhood years. These provide a unique window of opportunities that help prevent the delay in cognitive developments. Vital elements that contribute to early childhood development such as good nutrition, health, caregiving, early learning etc. are usually made unavailable by extreme poverty, conflict and other social and environmental problems which go a long way in affecting these children.
2. Synergy of International agencies, non-profit organizations, and country leaders: This is key in providing and coordinating a deliberate multi sectoral approach that supports social and economic developments for children.
3. Systematic track record of budget allocations: There is need to designate a monitoring system that tracks the budget allocations for the well-being of the children as well as mobilizing domestic sources.
4. Effective partnership that fully domesticates the SDGs into the national and regional planning as well as its implementation mechanisms.
Enwere, is a Lawyer and Founder of GIFTAC Empowerment Foundation, wrote from Abuja.
