The late Albertina Sisulu played a pivotal role in putting children's wellbeing at the top of the political agenda, the United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef) said in a tribute on Monday.
“She argued that children had already paid far too high a price in the country's struggle for freedom. She was a powerful voice for children who were displaced, maimed and victims of political violence,” a statement read.
In 1990, she was at the forefront of setting up the National Children's Rights Committee (NCRC), which was supported with financial, administrative and humanitarian assistance from Unicef.
This body, an umbrella organisation for civil society groups working for children's rights, became instrumental in making sure the principles of the 1989 Convention on the Rights of Children were included in the country's democratic Constitution and Bill of Rights.
It also paved the way for Unicef to engage in the country and establish an office.
“As the NCRC's patron and moral leader, she was instrumental in ensuring that after the country's first democratic elections, it took centre stage, being transformed into the children's desk in the office of the president, as well as in all nine provincial premier's offices.”
This work laid the foundation for the National Programme of Action for Children, which mapped out plans for the realisation of all South African children's rights.
“Today, as we join South Africans in mourning her loss, we remember the significant contribution Mrs Sisulu played in the liberation struggle and her tireless work to realise the rights of all South African children.”
Sisulu died at the age of 92 at her home in Linden, Johannesburg, on Thursday. -
SAPA