The International Day of the Girl Child is marked every year on 11th October to promote girls’ rights and to recognize the unique challenges girls experience around the world. Achieving the empowerment of women and girls is integral to each of the United Nations (UN) 17 Sustainable Development Goals,[i] but particularly Goal 5, which calls […]
Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic most of our healthcare resources have been directed toward identifying those with COVID-19, and providing the level of care they require. This has not been without some cost to those with other medical conditions, such as chronic illness and HIV. Furthermore, maternal care for pregnant women and child […]
World Breastfeeding Week (WBW) is observed every year in over 120 countries from 1st to 7th August. It is the greatest outreach vehicle for the breastfeeding movement and seeks to generate awareness among new parents and to enhance the health of infants worldwide. The awareness programme was initiated in August 1990 by governments as well […]
Family Digest 42: Older Persons and Covid-19 by Lois Law
Family Digest – World Child Labour Day by Lois Law
Family Digest 40 Menstrual Hygiene Day – LL
Family Digest 39 Bullying in Schools by Lois Law
Pit Latrines and the Rights of the Child The continued use of pit latrines in largely rural schools has long been a matter of major concern. The Minister of Basic Education has repeatedly given assurances that they will be phased out. However, various reports indicate that there are about 4000 schools throughout the country where […]
Health Minister Zweli Mkhize, in a written reply to a DA Parliamentary question in the NCOP, said that 1 781 suicide-related deaths occurred under lockdown between the 27th March and 27th July 2020. This means that close to 1 800 people committed suicide during the first four months following the declaration of the lockdown in […]
Disability, Desperation and the Water Cannon In early January 2021, the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA), which falls under the Department of Social Development, announced that it had suspended 210 778 temporary disability grants (after a series of extensions during 2020 lockdown) that lapsed at the end of 2020. Frustrated and increasingly desperate beneficiaries […]
