The Brightest Young Minds Experience 2011

This story was published in the University of KwaZulu-Natal online newsletter UKZNOnline and on the University website.
http://enewsletter.ukzn.ac.za/Newsletter.aspx?id=45

From left: Mr Andrew Goronga, Ms Sophia Basckin, Ms Basheerah Mohamed, Mr Msawenkosi Jeffery Khumalo, Ms Xolelwa Zulu, Ms Frances Rachel Morrow, Mr Musa Kika, and Ms Aarefah Mathir.

Eight UKZN students are among South Africa’s 100 Brightest Young Minds selected by the Brightest Young Minds Organisation. The students attended the Brightest Young Minds Summit in Johannesburg from July 4-9. UKZN, the University of Cape Town and Stellenbosch University had the highest number of representatives.

The eight students are: Ms Areefah Mathir, a Masters student in Chemical Engineering; final-year Bachelor of Social Science student, Ms Basheerah Mohamed;  Mr Musa Kika, first-year LLB student and the only first-year student to attend the summit; Mr Msawenkosi Jeffery Khumalo, Masters student; Ms Frances Rachel Morrow, who is studying Politics and Economics; Ms Sophia Basckin, studying Philosophy and Linguistics, Mr Andrew Goronga, a final-year Electrical Engineering student and Ms Xolelwa Zulu, a PhD student.  Six of the students are based on the Howard College campus, while one is from Pietermaritzburg and one from the Westville campuses.

The Brightest Young Minds Summit is South Africa’s premier youth summit that brings together 100 of the brightest and most passionate young minds with the view to connecting them and channelling their hearts and minds into initiatives that have a positive societal impact. They are chosen from thousands of entries from university students and young people between the ages of 20-30 from all over the country. They are selected using the criteria of innovation, leadership, and academic accomplishments. Delegates get the rare opportunity to interact and network with some of the country’s top thinkers and leaders, whilst a platform is also created for them to showcase their talents. All the UKZN students are academic high achievers and have over the years exhibited leadership and innovation through personal initiatives and association with various organisations and groups.

The theme for this year’s 11^th edition of the summit was “A Climate for Change”, focusing on perhaps the major challenge that the next generation of leaders will be faced with, that of building a carbon-free economy that is environmentally sustainable. Among the many high profile organisations and companies that the delegates engaged with were T-Systems, BMW, Pam Golding, Vodacom, X-Trata, Sasol, Unilever, Dimension Data, and leaders including Dr Yaw Afrane-Okose of the Development Bank of Southern Africa, Dr Richard Worthington of the World Wildlife Fund, Mr Stanford Masie of Novell South Africa and former CEO of Google Africa, and Dr Andrew Venter of the Wildlands Trust.  

Past alumni of the summit have included numerous Rhodes and Fulbright Scholars, entrepreneurs and the founders of successful social initiatives.

Budgeting for child welfare essential. By Musa Kika (Published in The Standard Newspaper, Harare, October 2010)

CHILD BUDGETING: FUNDAMENTAL FOR CHILD PROTECTION

The commitment of those in authority and the importance attached to child protection in any given country can be measured by the amount of resources channeled towards this sector. The same applies to all the other areas. Not only will the amount of resources allocated to child protection reflect the willpower, but they will ultimately determine the achievement desired. It will show that we are a nation in which children’s rights are taken as human rights, and where every child develops to their highest potential without any challenges that can be prevented.

The above position is recognized and recommended by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) in Article 4 wherein state parties are enjoined to “undertake all appropriate legislative, administrative, and other measures for the implementation of the rights recognized in the present convention.......undertake such measures to the maximum extent of their available resources and, where needed, within the framework of international co-operation”. This provision recognizes that resource allocation is indispensable if child protection is to be achieved. In Zimbabwe the child rights area has not been considered a priority in budgeting. Whilst we truly appreciate the efforts made by the government to channel much of the nations budget allocation to education, areas such as health, OVC programming, shelter and birth registration remain painfully under-funded. The development of a child is multifaceted and requires that each aspect be concurrently addressed to achieve holistic growth, physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually.

It is hopeful to note that there is growing realization by development practitioners that budget analysis and advocacy play key roles in advancing child rights[1]. As implied by the theme for the Day of the African Child this year, “Planning and budgeting for children our collective responsibility”, the process calls for our collective efforts in resource mobilization and lobbying for the relevant budgeting authorities to put children first. As we do this, we must not be shortsighted that such budgeting will only serve to provide the immediate needs of the children. It is about the distant future that we intend to prepare for the country’s future adults. One of the 10 imperatives adopted by the May 2000 “Say Yes for Children Campaign”, that culminated into the 2002 UN General Assembly Special Session on Children, is  “Fight poverty: Invest in children”.  This resolution stemmed from noting that “investment in children lays the foundation for a just society, a strong economy and a world free of poverty”, establishing the relationship that exists between the elimination of the challenges we face today and the proper upbringing of children, who are the custodians of the future.

The attainment of universal child protection hinges on the effective mobilization of resources, both for programming, implementation and evaluation so that we achieve a “Zimbabwe fit for children”.

A government budget is an expression of the aspirations of those in power. Through the budget, one can see whether children are a priority or not. Our call is that indeed they are a priority. Prioritizing children’s issues cannot be divorced from budgetary allocation. How our nation progresses is determined, among other things, on how much we value our future and invest in it. This investment is through channeling resources to the development of humanity. Children are the future of this nation and let us prioritize their needs.

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[1] B. L. Muchabaiwa, Child Budget Analysis and Advocacy,  NANGO 2007