Provides an evidence and rights-based approach to monitoring the well-being of children and adolescents in South Africa. Drawing on international precedents, and subject to extensive peer review and revision, this work offers a holistic set of child well-being indicators that will enhance the country's capacity to monitor the status of children.

Analytical bases: Conceptual underpinnings - monitoring the well-being of children - historical and conceptual foundations, a rights-based approach to monitoring the well-being of children in South Africa, conceptualising, defining and measuring child poverty in South Africa - an argument for a multidimensional approach, neighbourhood indicators - monitoring child rights and well-being at small-area level; child survival and health - monitoring child health, monitoring child and adolescent mental health, risk behaviour and substance use, monitoring child unintentional and violence-related morbidity and mortality; education and development - monitoring children's rights to education, early childhood development and the home-care environment in the pre-school years, monitoring childhood disability, monitoring specific difficulties of learning, child protection, monitoring the well-being of street children from a rights perspective, monitoring the worst forms of child labour, trafficking and child commercial sexual exploitation, monitoring child abuse and neglect, monitoring the situation of children in statutory care, monitoring children in conflict with the law, a monitoring dilemma - orphans and children made vulnerable by HIV and AIDS. The indicators: Neighbourhood indicators; indicators for monitoring child health; indicators for monitoring child and adolescent mental health; indicators for monitoring child injury morbidity and mortality; education indicators; indicators for monitoring early childhood development; indicators for monitoring childhood disability; indicators for monitoring child-specific difficulties of learning; indicators for monitoring street children; indicators for monitoring child labour, trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation; indicators for monitoring child abuse and neglect; indicators for monitoring children in statutory care; indicators for monitoring children in conflict with the law; indicators for monitoring orphans and children made vulnerable by HIV and AIDS.