Joint statement: UN Committee on the Rights of the Child calls government to account: Time to stop short-changing child health

29 January 2024
Joint press statement: UN Committee on the Rights of the Child calls government to account: It’s time to stop short-changing child health

On 24 and 25 January, the South African government delegation met with the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) to report on progress towards the realisation of children’s rights.

Yet despite South Africa being one of the first countries to enshrine children’s rights directly in the Constitution, key challenges remain – including significant gaps between the bold vision outlined in our laws and policies and the delivery of services for children on the ground.

In times of stress, children and children’s services are all too often forced to pay the price. We therefore note with growing concern the cuts to public health expenditure outlined in National Treasury’s Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS) which threaten to erode children’s access to health care.   

We also welcome UNCRC Commissioner, Dr Philip Jaffé’s, guidance to the SA government that “children should be exempted from fiscal tightness, or at least prioritised”.  

Read the full statement here. 

The recordings of the UNCRC session with South Africa are available here and here.