Latest News Archive

Please select Category, Year, and then Month to display items

Hunger is a violation of children’s rights. An all-of-society response is needed

18 March 2022 | Story Dr Chantell Witten | Photo Supplied

Opinion article by Dr Chantell Witten, Division Health Science Education, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Free State (UFS).

As we count down to Human Rights Day commemorated annually on 21 March, we are acutely aware of the failures of the state to realise and satisfy the human rights enshrined in our Constitution and Bill of Rights, especially for children.

Since the dawn of democracy in South Africa in 1994 the country has struggled with a persistent high level of child malnutrition measured as stunting, when children are too short for their age. This is not just shortness of height but it is a proxy for compromised health and a risk factor for lower cognitive development, lower education attainment and lower future productivity both in work output and in earning capabilities. Unhealthy children are likely to be our future unhealthy adults and compromised human development.

Protect children from hunger

It is for this reason that all efforts must be explored to protect children from hunger. Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic more than two years ago, there have been huge negative impacts on global health and development which are bearing down on the youngest members of the planet, our children. These impacts on children are costing their lives now and well into the future. South Africa has the largest social protection programme for children on the African continent with a child support grant that benefits more than 12 million children under the age of 18 years. On 23 February 2022, Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana announced that the child support grant would increase from R460 to R480 per month as from 1 April. A mere 4% increase, against a year-on-year food and non-alcoholic beverages inflation of 5.5%, rendering the already measly child support grant ineffective to keep hunger at bay, much less to address the nutrition that children need to grow and be healthy. In Section 28 of the Bill of Rights in our Constitution states that “every child has the right to basic nutrition, shelter, health care and social services, as well as the right to be protected from maltreatment, neglect, abuse or degradation”. But the high levels of child malnutrition, almost one in three children are stunted, while one in four households reported child hunger. This is a result of the failure to protect children.

One of South Africa’s leading civil society organisations, the Black Sash, undertook research with the South African Medical Research Council to explore how households receiving the child support grant managed with respect to food procurement and dietary patterns. I was approached to assist with child nutrition data interpretation and policy implications. It was not surprising to find that all 12 households included in this qualitative study were not able to cope or meet their food needs. These households’ food purchasing patterns were insufficient in quantity and in dietary quality. All household members were not able to eat regularly or sufficiently to keep hunger at bay. Even for children, hunger was a norm. Even for a household of a single mother and her five-year-old child, the child support grant was not enough to buy enough food, and other essentials like electricity, toiletries and cleaning materials. This was a huge cause for concern, given the context of COVID and the need to wash hands and surfaces regularly.

Trauma of caregivers to provide food

The nutrition evaluation of the foods that were purchased was lacking in diversity, nutrient-density and low-quality foods, raising the issue of food safety as well. Poor households dependent on the child support grant, even with multiple grants, was not enough to buy enough food for all the household members. Many adults are forced to go without meals or reduce the amount of food they eat and to rely on food relief efforts like soup kitchens, food packs and food charity. The most heart-wrenching finding is the constant experience of trauma faced by caregivers to provide food for their hungry children. Caregivers expressed feelings of shame and guilt knowing that their children are hungry, for sending their children to ask for food from neighbours and community members. The constant cries for food would drive caregivers to ‘hit the children and send them to bed’. Sleeping is an escape from hunger and having to deal with hunger. These households are under severe psychological strain, re-emphasising that hungry people are angry people. This is not conducive for optimal child care and highlights hunger as a driver of child ‘maltreatment, neglect, abuse or degradation’ as listed in the Bill of Rights.

While caregivers are resourceful in trying to stretch the food budget by buying cheaper, smaller quantities of food products, giving small children many smaller snack foods and taking cash loans to buy foods, these efforts do not shield or protect children from the physical and psychological harm of hunger. A whole-of-society response is needed to create more provision efforts like community out-reach kitchens, food drives and donations, macro-policy initiatives to subsidise food for grant recipients, promotion and support of food gardens and to push government to institute a Basic Income Grant for unemployed persons 18-59 years of age. The child support grant is not enough to protect children from chronic hunger which itself is ‘maltreatment, neglect, abuse or degradation’ as enshrined in the South African Bill of Rights.

News Archive

B. Iur. programme in Occupational Risk Law first of its kind in the country

2010-11-26

The University of the Free State (UFS) will offer a B.Iur. degree programme in Occupational Risk Law from 2011.

This programme of the Faculty of Law is the first of its kind to be offered in South Africa and positions the UFS in the forefront of this field of study.

The programme is designed to develop and qualify professionals, knowledgeable in the field of occupational risk law as prescribed by South African legislation and international best practices. It further offers a qualification based on a well-researched basis of applicable legal principles, combined with safety, health, environmental and quality risk management principles applicable to employers and employees in a specialised industry.

The B.Iur. (Occupational Risk Law) has been developed by experts within the parameters of international comparability, according to research-based identification of career demands and requirements in the fields mentioned.

By introducing this programmesignificant progress will be made towards achieving the nationally stated objective of legal safety, health and environmental quality assurance in the workplace and within the broader community. The programme will also encompass the values and standards prescribed by the Institute of Safety Managers. This will provide them with a further step towards the regulation of the professional en ethical standards in the field of legal safety, health and environmental quality assurance.

With the programme, the UFS not only creates a unique opportunity for stakeholders and learners to add meaningful value to their careers, but also exerts a meaningful influence on the industry and society in terms of the acquisition of a most appropriate type of qualification. The B.Iur. (Occupational Risk Law)degree therefore offers a meaningful contribution towards the industry through addressing the increasing demand for career opportunities in the field of legal safety, health and environmental quality compliance.

The new programme is the result of an agreement between the faculty and its partner, IRCA Global. The university officially launched its partnership with IRCA Global, an international supplier of risk management solutions pertaining to safety, health, the environment and quality in 2008. As part of the agreement, the UFS will offer short learning programme, a diploma and a degree in Risk Management.

IRCA Global is a South African company in the international risk control and SHEQ environments with filials in Africa, Australia, India, Eastern Europe, and South America.

In the interim IRCA Global has continued with the marketing of the programme, with the result that hundreds of potential students are waiting for the launching of the programme. The faculty is geared towards offering the programme in e-learning. New modules will also be offered with the help of IRCA’s trained and skilled facilitators. The faculty also utilises the partnerships entered into with IRCA to appoint practising specialists as part-time lecturers for the occupational risk law component of the programme as well as to develop a new specialist component amongst the permanent staff.

The programme is already active and students can register for the first semester 2011 (study code 3324, programme code M3000). Direct your enquiries to Cora-Mari de Vos at 051 401 3532 or devosc@ufs.ac.za.

The programme consists of fundamental modules of the LL.B. and B.Iur., as well as short learning programmes in the Faculty of Law and specially developed core modules in occupational risk law. The B.Iur.in Occupational Risk Law enables successful candidates to enrol for applicable Post Graduate Diplomas or a cognate Honours Degree. Obtaining one of these qualifications provides the platform to articulate to Magister degrees. Horizontal articulation possibilities exist with the accredited Baccalaureus of Law (LL.B.) which is presented by several institutions in the country.

Media Release
Issued by: Lacea Loader
Director: Strategic Communication (actg)
Tel: 051 401 2584
Cell: 083 645 2454
E-mail: loaderl@ufs.ac.za
26 November 2010

Back

Economic and Management Sciences

Education

Health Sciences

The Humanities

Law

Natural and Agricultural Sciences

Theology and Religion

Open Distance Learning

Business School

We use cookies to make interactions with our websites and services easy and meaningful. To better understand how they are used, read more about the UFS cookie policy. By continuing to use this site you are giving us your consent to do this.

Accept