CHILD DELEGATES ARRIVE IN JOHANNESBURG FOR AFRICA CHILDREN’S SUMMIT

Staff Reporter

• The second Africa Children’s Summit is poised to be a transformative platform for holding leaders accountable to children’s needs.
• Children from Zambia, Zimbabwe, South Sudan, Kenya, and Ghana have started arriving in Johannesburg ahead of the event.
• The summit will be officially opened on Saturday, 5 April 2025 by the Minister of Social Development, Sisisi Tolashe.

Children from various parts of Africa arrived in a cold, rainy Johannesburg to take part in the second biennial Africa Children’s Summit held at St John’s College in Parktown.

The summit, held under the theme “Seen, Heard and Engaged in Education, starts in earnest on Saturday, 5 April 2025.

Fifty-five children and their caregivers from Zambia, Zimbabwe, South Sudan, Kenya, and Ghana arrived at OR Tambo International Airport on Friday, 4 April 2025.

The summit’s agenda will amplify the voices of the continent’s children on priority issues, including child protection, violence against children, and the effects of climate change.

With representatives from 17 of Africa’s 54 states already confirmed and about 1 300 children from across Africa participating, 300 will attend physically and 1 000 will join virtually.

Resolutions from the summit will be drafted and presented to the African Union’s Committee of Experts and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa.

The Department of Social Development and the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund, which are hosting the summit, said the landmark event will listen to the voices of the children and push for transformative policy changes to safeguard their rights and well-being.

Speaking at a media briefing held in Cape Town earlier this week, the Minister of Social Development, Sisisi Tolashe, highlighted the significance of hosting the summit in the same year as South Africa hosts the G20 Presidency – the first for an African country.

The summit will be positioned as a platform to elevate Africa’s developmental priorities on the global stage, the minister said.

“The government seeks to use this opportunity to bring the developmental priorities of Africa and the Global South to the forefront, amplifying the collective voice of Africa’s children,” Minister Tolashe said.

The summit coincides with the ongoing crisis of child abuse and gender-based violence that continues to plague communities nationwide.

The opening ceremony takes place on Saturday, 5 April 2025, and the summit will be streamed live on the Department of Social Development’s site.