Ministry helps 230 000 children a month

JANA-MARI SMITH

Last month the government spent close to N$59 million on various types of child grants aimed at alleviating the poverty of the more than 235 691 children who qualified for these grants at N$250 per child.

Out of that total, N$18 887 250 was paid by the Ministry of Gender and Child Welfare specifically to the 75 549 vulnerable children registered to receive the child welfare grant.

Based on reports from November 2015, which noted that the ministry had paid out a total of N$6 million to 24 000 child recipients, the latest figures indicate a steep rise in registered recipients benefitting for these social welfare nets.

According to the directorate of child welfare at the Ministry of Gender and Child Welfare, the goal is to increase the recipient list on a monthly basis, as the ministry scours the country to identify children in dire need of the N$250 child grant.

Last week, the Directorate of Child Welfare said it had identified 125 000 vulnerable children and was registering them as grant beneficiaries, ensuring that the monthly payouts would steadily increase.

Other child-related grants are the foster care grant and the maintenance grant, aimed at supporting children living in poor homes.

While many applaud the ministry’s commitment to identifying and registering needy children, criticism has been levelled at the amount of money paid out.

“It is not sufficient at all, but still better than nothing. It may help for a few days food-wise, but what about all the other days? School uniforms, shoes, books, transport, health care, these are just a few of the basic needs,” child welfare activist Agnes Albrecht Röhm, founder of Mammadu Trust, said recently.

Currently the ministry’s database on vulnerable children, including children with no parents or one parent, is based on 2011 census figures.

According to those numbers, the total number of orphans in Namibia is around 150 500, consisting of about 26 000 who have lost both parents, and 124 300 who have lost one parent.

And although the link between vulnerable children and HIV/Aids remains a recognised issue, car accidents, suicide, gender-based violence and substance and alcohol abuse are some of the other factors that could plunge children into the orphan or vulnerable child category.

According to the director of child welfare, Helena Andjamba, the biggest challenges faced by orphans and vulnerable children include poverty, teenage pregnancy, HIV/Aids and school dropouts.

Another critical issue, which can hamper the government’s attempts to help, is a lack of identification documents for children or their caretakers.

Abuse of the meagre grants by some guardians remains a burning issue.

Topping the list of current concerns for the ministry are the ongoing drought, poverty and unemployment.

“There are many children who are in dire need and the ministry is challenged to assist them all at the same time,” Andjamba said.

One of the ministry’s main objectives is to ensure that children grow up in families rather than placing them in residential child-care facilities.

According to the ministry the “institutionalisation of children is a measure of last resort”.

Andjamba added that one of the biggest contributions Namibians can make is to support children in various settings within the family, as growing up in a family is vital to children’s well-being and development.

The ministry encourages local foster care and adoption.

There are 24 registered child-care facilities in Namibia, spread across the Khomas, Erongo, Otjozondjupa, Oshikoto, Kunene, Oshana, Ohangwena and Zambezi regions.

According to the ministry, unregistered facilities do exist, including ten the ministry is aware of.

These facilities “operate illegally … and we would like to discourage donors and community members who assist these types of facilities to refrain from supporting them,” the ministry said.

Nevertheless, informal facilities or homes that have welcomed children not registered as vulnerable or orphaned by the ministry thrive across Namibia, according to social workers, and their contribution is critical.

“If it wasn’t for the hundreds of women all over Namibia helping these children outside of the law, the situation of orphans and vulnerable children in Namibia would be devastating,” said a social worker who has spent decades working with vulnerable children.

She said many children who do not qualify for welfare grants have home lives which leave them vulnerable and uncared for.

And although the ministry and others point out that unauthorised facilities could lead to exploitation and abuse, the social worker says many of these women provide a critical, and often unrecognised, service to the country.