South Africa's Cabinet has approved a new National Strategy to Accelerate Action for Children, focusing on basic needs like nutrition, safety, and education to improve child welfare. Despite progress over the past three decades, many children still face significant risks, and the strategy aims to reverse negative trends in health and wellbeing. It identifies 10 priorities to support parents, protect children from harm, and enhance early learning opportunities.
In December 2025, South Africa's Cabinet endorsed the National Strategy to Accelerate Action for Children, a plan designed to address core requirements for the country's youth. The strategy outlines 10 priorities, including strengthening the capacity of parents and caregivers, improving child nutrition, and protecting children and teens from harm. It also emphasizes early learning to boost cognitive development and ensuring access to healthcare and stimulation.
Children thrive with essentials such as love, food, safety, stimulation, and healthcare, yet many in South Africa are deprived of these. While child health, education, and financial security have improved since the end of apartheid 30 years ago, at least a third of children remain at risk. Recent data shows faltering progress in child mortality, poverty, and malnutrition, signaling potential setbacks for the nation's future.
Key interventions include restoring the Child Support Grant to the food poverty line, partnering with businesses and government to discount protein-rich staples, and providing treatment for malnourished children through sufficient nutrition. For protection, the plan prioritizes welfare services for abused children and aims to reduce violence by tackling alcohol abuse, a major preventable cause of child harm. International examples demonstrate that curbing heavy drinking can mitigate these issues.
Teens face additional challenges from alcohol advertising and limited sexual health services; the strategy calls for expanded access and support networks to foster identity and belonging. Building on recent increases in funding for early childhood development, it advocates for universal screening to detect impairments like hearing and vision problems early.
The Hold My Hand campaign, recently launched, urges society to mobilize alongside government efforts. As David Harrison, CEO of the DG Murray Trust and co-lead of the Hold My Hand Accelerator, notes, implementing these changes requires political leadership and collective action to secure a brighter future for South Africa's children.