It is a great honour to join you at the launch of the UNICEF State of the World’s Children 2025 Report on the side lines of the G20 Social Summit here in Johannesburg.
The launch further coincides with the World Children’s Day, commemorated annually on this day, November 20th, for us this is a global moment to advocate, promote, and celebrate children’s rights. Ladies and gentlemen, let me begin by expressing our profound appreciation to UNICEF for its unwavering partnership with South Africa in advancing the rights and wellbeing of every child. This year’s theme, “Championing Solutions to End Child Poverty,” is both timely and urgent.
Child poverty is not just an economic condition—it is a multidimensional and deeply human crisis. It affects a child’s nutrition, health, safety, learning, dignity, and future prospects. Poverty in childhood casts a long shadow over adulthood, influencing life outcomes and shaping the next generation. And so, if we are to break the intergenerational cycles of poverty, we must begin with our children.In South Africa, we have made significant strides in strengthening our social protection system—one of the largest on the African continent.
Our Child Support Grant, which reaches more than 13 million children, remains one of our most important investments in human development. Yet we acknowledge that the scale and complexity of child poverty require even deeper, coordinated and innovative solutions.The findings presented in this year’s State of the World’s Children report challenge all of us—government, civil society, development partners and the private sector—to confront uncomfortable truths:
Too many children continue to grow up in households without stable income.
Too many children still experience hunger and malnutrition, even in countries with developed food systems.
Too many children face barriers to education, healthcare, social services, and safe communities.
Too many children are victims of gender based violence and femicide.
This report is not only a mirror reflecting our present reality; it is also a map pointing towards a better future.As South Africa, we are intensifying our work to strengthen child-centred policies and programmes, including:Scaling up early childhood development services,Strengthening the Child Support Grant and complementary support measures,Expanding linkage between social protection, early nutrition, education, and health services,Enhancing family support and community-based interventions, and Through the Children’s Parliament, we are ensuring that children’s voices inform programs and policies that affect them.
We are also advancing the development of the White Paper for Social Development, which aims to strengthen the coherence, reach, and impact of social development programmes—particularly those targeted at children and youth.In this regard, I must further warn that teenage and unwanted early pregnancies will perpetuate child poverty. Therefore, ending child poverty is not simply a development objective. It is a moral obligation. It is a commitment to justice, dignity, and human flourishing. And it is a recognition that the strength of a nation is measured not by the wealth of its richest citizens, but by the wellbeing of its children.
Ladies and Gentlemen, the world recently concluded a World Summit for Social Development in Qater where we committed among others to make the world a better place for our children and we look forward to development partnerships, especially that of UNICEF. We trust that UNICEF will continue to be an invaluable partner in generating evidence, amplifying the realities of children, and supporting us to develop transformative solutions. This report deepens our understanding and strengthens our resolve.Let today’s launch not be a ceremonial moment, but a catalytic one. Let it inspire renewed partnership, smarter investments, and collective action. Our children deserve nothing less.
On behalf of the South African government, I wish to thank UNICEF and all partners represented here. May this report guide us toward a future where every child is safe, nourished, educated, and empowered—and where child poverty is not a defining reality, but a historical memory.As I draw to a close, let us all – the G20, governments, civil society, UNICEF, partners and young people – act together, guided by solidarity, equality, and sustainability, to uphold children’s rights in practice and end child poverty in our generation.
