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Childrens Parliament - Eastern cape PRESS RELEASE
NELSON MANDELA CHILDREN'S PARLIAMENT ON LEADERSHIP, EASTERN CAPE
03 JUNE 2008 We the children and young people of EASTERN CAPE have, in this first NELSON MANDELA CHILDREN`S PARLIAMENT on LEADERSHIP, through discussion and debate learned many things about the conditions and circumstances of children and young people in our province. As a large, mainly rural province, we in Eastern Cape still experience many social problems and challenges like rural development, poverty, inequality, HIV/AIDS, crime and other social ills. We acknowledge that while the material condition of children and young people in the country has improved since freedom, not enough attention is being given to children in our province. We have learnt that poverty and inequality are the strongest issues that affect the lives of the majority of young people in this province. The environment of poverty and inequality breeds discrimination and other social problems and challenges in our lives. We recognise that poverty is historical, and with it goes the issue of illiteracy and ignorance. These conditions have created an unhealthy circumstance of silence and non-communication between children and the adult world. The parliament demonstrated to us the power of dialogue, communication and expression as critical tools in human development. Therefore we would like to see a greater participation of children and young people in their lives and their communities, especially within homes and schools. We have learnt that children can make a difference; that children can become agents for change in society, as we learn to speak out on issues that affect us; on problems and challenges in our different environments and most importantly as we learn to deal with our emotions, thinking skills and growing knowledge. We are concerned that the adult world does not take children seriously within our communities. And within our cultures child participation is not as we would like it to be, especially as we are bearers of Rights under Democracy and the new South African Constitution. We would like to engage the older generation in dialogue on the issues that affect our lives through programmes of Education (basic literacy), Democracy and Freedom, Rights and Responsibilities and Culture. We believe that such a dialogue can only make us make us grow as communities. We therefore, affirm the legacy of dialogue given to us by Tata Madiba. We see our lives in an environment of hope, even though there is so much poverty because we as young people are excited by the challenges of change. To the leaders, we say that our consciousness has grown and we are clearly aware of the bad practices of leadership that exist in our communities. We want all of us to rethink the values of leadership and bring about greater respect and dignity to all our people in this province. And in the spirit of unity we condemn the xenophobic violence and conflict that we have seen in our country over the past weeks. As Africans we must all work together for unity and peace in the world.
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