South Africa can meet the United Nations’s Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) for children as long as it prioritises spending, the UN Children’s Fund country representative told Parliament on Wednesday.
Macharia Kamau said South Africa, an economic powerhouse on the world’s poorest continent, had the finances available to reduce its child mortality rates by two-thirds and its maternal mortality by three-quarters.
The country could also reverse the spread of HIV/Aids among children, many of whom are orphans heading up households and surviving on less than R800 a month.
”In looking at the situation of children, there’s no question that a lot of the MDGs are achievable. There are some that remain behind and off-track. … However, we are confident … that with the new resources that are being committed, that these MDGs will be achieved unquestionably by 2015,” said Kamau.
Finance Minister Trevor Manuel last week announced South Africa’s first ever budget surplus and predicted economic expansion of about 5% per year for the next few years.
The MDGs were established in 2001, aimed at halving extreme poverty, cutting infant mortality, fighting HIV and promoting gender equality, among other targets. Most experts say across much of the world the targets are way behind schedule.
Kamau said for South Africa to realise the goals, investment was needed in ”skilling up” those individuals doing planning and expenditures.
”Your implementation is only as good as your plan. The devil is always in the detail … and if the planning to deliver on those resources is not clear, transparent, [able to be implemented] — then you have a problem with expenditure.”
Kamau said South Africa needed to grapple with the challenge of how the funds were spent, with underspending and a lack of trained personnel a major constraint.
”The political will is clearly there. The question is how you get the system … to respond to allocate and target resources, so that they can transform the opportunities for children in South Africa,” Kamau said. — Reuters