Social risks and child development in South Africa: a nation's program to protect the human rights of children

Abstract

Poverty, violence, social inequality, rapid urbanization, the HIV epidemic, and an erosion of traditional values create a challenging environment for development in South Africa. The nation has responded with a range of efforts to promote child welfare, often through efforts to strengthen family functioning. The nation's struggles, failures, and successes at safeguarding the developmental rights of children and providing for their needs offer lessons to others about what can and must be done if they are to live up the obligations assumed as signatories to the United Nations Conventions on the Rights of the Child.