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The Nelson
Mandela Children's Fund History
Driven by his love
for children and a desire to end their suffering,
former President Mandela established the Nelson
Mandela Children's Fund (NMCF) in 1995. From 1996 to
1998, NMCF successfully mobilized over R36 million
to fund over 780 projects, at an average of R40, 000
per project. Grounded in the legacy of its founder,
NMCF initially operated as a grant-making
organization promoting a humanitarian response to
the plight of South Africa's children and youth. The
1995-1999 period was characterised by ad hoc funding
strategies that enabled children and families to
meet immediate needs, and one-time support for
overhead and salary costs for organisations
targeting children's issues, with no particular
programmatic basis for NMCF's engagement with these
organisations.
During 1999, NMCF realised that this welfare or
handout approach was not sustainable as it did not
encourage community involvement nor did it address
the array of growing organizational capacity issues.
To inform a new approach, NMCF conducted an
extensive review of national and regional policies
on children and youth; identified several
significant policy gaps; evaluated its portfolio of
projects and internal procedures; and carefully
defined programme intervention areas it would
pursue. This review culminated in the launching, in
the year 2000, of the Sakha Ikusasa strategy,
reflecting a new programme and organizational
approach for the period 2000-2005, and establishing
NMCF as a funding cum development agency that seeks
to change the ways in which society treats its
children and youth in order to improve their
conditions and lives.
The strategy incorporated an expanded operational
approach that embraced a more developmental role
characterised by a targeted focus on programme
objectives, a more proactive funding approach,
enhanced prospects for increased, sustainable,
strategic impacts of NMCF's programmes and an
introduction of projects. This developmental
role/approach, which was refined during strategy
implementation, goes beyond the notion of people and
children as needy, passive recipients of services,
to a view that regards community development and
people involvement as key in changing the conditions
of children and youth. It emphasises a holistic
intervention to help improve a child's conditions,
taking into consideration the holistic needs of the
child and taking cognisance of the family, the
community, and the socio-economic context as a
primary environment impacting on the child's
development and survival. Sustainability of
strategic programme impacts is key to NMCF's
developmental approach and is achieved via a central
focus on communities as a frontline nexus of
institutions, charged with the care and support of
children and youth. The Sakha Ikusasa strategy
articulates the developmental approach as a
combination of funding with community involvement.
Through its developmental approach, NMCF promotes
programmes that:
- promote the building
of collaborative and participative partnerships
- foster ownership,
empowerment and sustainable involvement of
communities
- promote integrated,
multi-sectoral and inter-departmental
development interventions.
- promote proactive,
responsive, and innovative interventions
- foster
organisational sustainability
NMCF’s birth and growth
has closely paralleled that of the new, democratic
South Africa, while contributing directly to the
country’s transformation agenda, guided by the new
Constitution. Since its inception, NMCF has
demonstrated a strong ability to respond to
established and emerging challenges. It has built a
broad programme base through successful working
relationships and partnerships with national, local
and community based organizations. Underlying
accomplishments in many areas of success are these
strong partnerships. NMCF has catalysed this
programme base to strengthen national and local
responses to an array of issues impacting children
and youth. Its emphasis on promoting sustainable
community support has resulted in a formidable track
record as a catalyst force in assisting communities
to strengthen households to better cope with and
mitigate the effects of HIV/AIDS. The organization
has contributed to and promoted opportunities for
youth to excel in sports, arts and culture, as well
as in marketable skills, such as jewellery making.
NMCF has developed several models during the
2000-2004 period for program delivery based on
identified service delivery gaps and on need. These
models were developed with NMCF working closely with
implementing partners in problem identification,
project design, implementation, and in the
monitoring of funded projects. These models provide
NMCF a basis for further strengthening of service
delivery and for further identification of service
gaps in the sector.
Against the broader backdrop of poverty,
underdevelopment and daunting psychosocial problems,
the NMCF recognises the challenges it faces as a
non-profit funding cum development institute to
confront the focal issues facing children in South
Africa, which are principally:
- HIV/AIDS, which is destroying the social
fabric and damaging the bedrock of communities
- Violence and abuse of children
- Huge non-delivery of Early Childhood
Development (ECD), depriving the majority of
children of opportunities to develop critical
social skills early in life
- Marginalisation and inequitable of provision
for disabled children and youth
- Unemployment and crime which subject
children and youth to poverty and violence
The NMCF’s (Sakha Ikusasa) strategy targets four
primary programme areas
Leadership and Excellence
Disability
Skills Development
Wellbeing of a Child
Models
To achieve an approach that affords NMCF depth,
breadth and potential to increase strategic impact,
a clear framework for a synergies implementation of
projects is essential. This framework comprises an
overall goal and four programme areas, each with a
discrete programme area goal and relevant programme
area objectives to guide project selection and
request for proposals (RFPs) development activities.
This framework is summarised below.
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