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In the past thirteen years the Nelson Mandela Children's Fund has hosted its founder and the former president Mr Nelson Mandela as part of his birthday celebration with children from different communities. The event will be used to celebrate the life and commitment of Mr Mandela to the children of South Africa, the continent of Africa and the world at large. The year 2008 marks the 90th birthday Mr Mandela, the Founder and Chairperson of the Nelson Mandela Children's Fund, hereinafter referred to as the Fund. Together with its sister organisations, the Fund has developed a common framework to guide the public and the media to celebrate Mr Mandela's birthday in the most suited manner under the theme Celebrating Ideas.
The Fund similarly celebrates his 90th birthday under a theme attuned to a cause that is most dear to him. Changing the way society treats its children and youth, under the theme Celebrating a Children's Champion. This concept paper is with specific reference to the Annual Children's Celebration.
South Africa can no longer afford to turn a blind eye on the HIV/Aids pandemic which wipe families out and leave children with grand parents or as orphans. The youth is the most affected and infected and the communities need to find solutions within the communities to deal with the spread of HIV/Aids.
The Children's Celebration will invite children infected or affected by HIV/Aids particularly those who have been orphaned by Aids. Mr Nelson Mandela will join the children in lighting the symbol of hope, promise and rebuilding of our country.
Objectives
- To provide a platform for youth from seven Southern Africa countries to reflect on issues of leadership and civic participation in promoting the vision of an African child through dialogue.
- To use the legacy of Mr Mandela as tool in promoting active civic participation and dialogue between the different generations.
- To celebrate African Leadership and promote human rights and democratic principles in advancing the lives of young in Africa.
The regional celebration will be held on the 9th February 2008 in Gauteng, Province and neighbouring countries will host youth parliaments in the respective area and select children who will then participate at the regional youth parliament. The total number of 500 children and adults to participate at the event.
- Children Participating in Celebrating ideas: Children who are able to participate in different programmes that will be run such as the children's parliament and art programmes. Preference should be given to children who have not previously benefited.
- Number of children from one group: No more than two children from one group.
- Ages: children must be between the ages of 12- 22
- Organisational Status: These children should be part of a programme either in school or community.
- Caregivers: This could be a project leader, counsellor, or childcare worker. It is preferable that the adult is known to the children, especially the younger ones.
Why the parliament The Children's Parliament provides open and meaningful opportunities for children to participate in local, national and international democratic processes raising their issues in the manner that is easy and does not intimidate them. The Children's Parliament gives all children regardless of their background a space to discuss issues as peers and share ideas on issues of common interest and make citizenship a reality. The format of the parliament is chosen since it will emulate the national parliament and follow the process to elect those who will sit in the regional parliament in July. Each province and country will hold preparatory workshops where they will select those who will represent them based on the criteria defined above. The representatives will take their mandate from the workshop which will then be presented at the sitting and resolutions will be made to ensure that information is set to the relevant stakeholders. Participation and Preparations
National Participation and Regional : Since this will be a regional parliament, it is suggested that we negotiate the participation of children in all nine South African provinces and six neighbouring countries. The chief criterion for the selection of participants will be based on the ability of participants to communicate and contribute to the campaign for knowledge, information and awareness on the themes and to offer a platform to those who primarily do not have access to information. Effort will be made to include the entire spectrum of children in the society so that the event is reflective of the demographics of the country. Preparatory Programme
The identified host organisation in the province team will hold a Preparatory/enablement orientation workshop to prepare participants for the parliament. The purpose of this workshop will be to initiate discussions on Child Rights vis-à-vis the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child; to orientate the children on the parliamentary process; to unfurl a methodology for research and information gathering that would result in; - A Provincial Status Report presented by each province.
- Art work, creative writing, performance; photographs (media), as an exploration of children's responses to the issue.
- The design of a provincial flag depicting children's issues for a children's parliament.
- The design of Celebrating Ideas, Celebrating Children's Champion that reflects provincial expectations. In order to make child participation a critical aspect of the Annual Children's Celebration, the provincial team of 50 children will be given distinct tasks in preparation for the event under the guidance of the host partner. The following guidelines are suggested. - 10 Children to develop the parliamentary presentations
- 5 children to capture photographic images that reflect the theme Celebrating Children's Champion
- 10 children to work on flags and banners
- 10children to oversee the exhibition preparations
- 15 children to work on performances of a play and dance/music item for the Parliamentary guard of honour. The guidelines will be flexible so that each provincial team could determine what will work best for them. Process: The key elements of the process as envisaged in the conceptual framework are: - Location of the Parliament
- Designing of the Parliament
- 1 Day workshop/briefing for key organisers hosted by NMCF
- Provincial Workshops- orientation
- Production- programme with children/artists
- Documentation One - Day Workshop/briefing on the event for key organisers hosted by NMCF
Since the Children's Parliament assumed the status of core event in the Annual Children's Celebration, it is important to invest sufficient time and effort to understand all the nuances of it. The creators of the Parliament need to collectively determine the criteria applied to all the issues relating to the development of the parliament. - Criteria and selection of provincial participants.
- Criteria and selection of provincial host structure or organisation
- Criteria and selection of chaperones.
- Identification of tasks and activities for each provincial team of participants.
- Identification of tasks for each provincial host
- Identification of tasks and activities for chaperones.
Themes of Focus The common themes for youth programmes nationally and regionally include:
Leadership (inviting a thinking that all leaders should make child welfare their basic ideology) Leadership is not formed in a vacuum but in a community, grounded in experience, whether it is at school, university, home, or sporting institutions. A critical element in all these forms of institution is the quality of leadership as well as an environment that is stable, safe, nurturing, encourages new ways of learning and working together, builds tolerance and that allows for individuals to find their own values, passions and vision while also keeping an open mind. Young people will engage with the issues around what they think and believe is the leadership that will take South Africa and Africa into being a competent participant in the global world. Mr Mandela represents traits of good leadership, he fought for his ideals and sacrificed himself in order to achieve what he believed is righteous for all. Young people today need to work towards developing critical thinking and formulate their ideals to ensure that all is not lost due to lack of participation and active involvement. Civic Participation and Personal Development
The development of and promotion of a culture of community service is fundamental amongst young people. The NMCF acknowledges that youth have demonstrated great potential to assume leadership roles in their communities - in schools, churches, sport and increasingly, their capacity for creative ways of informing their peers and communities about HIV/AIDS. Based on this it is the view of the NMCF that young people need to be active in preserving democracy and ensuring that the legacy left by Mr Mandela and the generations after. As a nation we now all have a political voice through a ballot paper to elect those we want to make decisions on our behalf. Furthermore participation has been entrenched by legislative mean that ensure that citizens hold their elected leaders accountable. Young people's participation in the realisation of the achievements mentioned above was high and they were very active. The issue today is what the common is because the current generation has and what will be their legacy. The youth parliament is intended to allow young people to engage with social issues and policy matters as they affect them and their ability to live in a society that respects the democratic principles of the all citizens as well as their human rights. - Self-Development: Voluntarism is a way of developing good citizenship and inculcate the spirit of giving among the young. Young people learn in action, and exposure to the broader issues facing communities develops a deeper social conscience.
- Community development: The energies of young people are invaluable in community development. Young people tend to think creatively and can see a thousand alternatives.
- Building leadership and sharing skills: Young people will be able to get skills that will allow them to have a positive view of themselves, to be sensitive ot issues of diversity taking into account the history of South Africa on human rights abuses. Civic participation will also increase their ability to become leaders who are humane and are sensitive in making decision that will promote the dignity of all South African's. Usage of Film
Film in South Africa like in most African countries is not for entertainment only but is should be used as tool to decolonise the minds of the people, to develop radical consciousness and to reflect the lives of the people where the films are developed. This is very necessary for South Africa where the social fibre, pride of people and morals have been destroyed by the long years of being dehumanised by the unjust laws and treatment of the majority of the South African. VISION FOR THE AFRICAN CHILD
The vision for African Child is to create an environment that respects and entrenches basic needs of the child, stating with the empowerment of the family and community that is protective to the child. The African child finds herself/himself in situations of conflict chronic poverty and inability to enjoy the fruits freedom attained through struggles and sacrifice. The workshops will be used to ensure that values and ideals pursued by leaders of Mr Mandela's calibre are upheld by the current leadership and young people inspire to them. There should be a continental agenda that will ensure that all institutions of society will respect and support the efforts of parents and care-givers to nurture and care for children in a family environment.
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