World NGO Day

On this Monday, 27 February 2023, the Nelson Mandela Children's Fund  (the Fund) joins the world and all like-minded organisations commemorating the annual World NGO Day. Following the  two years of the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent economic challenges that have a devastating impact on children and youth, the Fund pays tribute to, celebrate, and appreciate all its implementing partners that are community based and non-profit organisations that continue to provide interventions that give dignity and a voice to children, youth and all vulnerable citizens in hard to reach communities.  There are also strategic partners from  other medium to large NGOs, funders, donors, development partners, private sector, government departments and individuals  who have enabled the  delivery of quality services that address social ills and assist in holding  government accountable to service delivery as per the annually developed plans and budgets across the country.   
 
World NGO Day is critical annual moment  to reflect  the celebrations or achievements and challenged faced by NGOs as agents of change that  foster partnerships and collaborations with various stakeholders nationally, regionally and globally in order to give a voice to grassroots communities while at the same time interceding  with and on behalf of children and their communities in service delivery challenges across the country. Through this day, the Fund is encouraging active citizenry, especially for the children and youth, so that they can move their  immediate communities towards resolving their own development challenges by seeking  context specific solutions. Some of these context specific solutions include the discipline to save whatever little income communities receive from government grants, remittances, stipends, and inheritances, if any, to start their own income generating activities.

Chief Executive Officer of The Fund, Linda Ncube-Nkomo, says; ""World NGO Day serves as a reminder of the pivotal role that civil society plays in our modern society. Our democracy thrives on the collective voice of civil society, advocating for the most vulnerable and standing in the place of the unseen. As the Nelson Mandela Children's Fund, we commemorate this day as a reminder of the role we must continue play to advance the rights of children and youth."
 
The Fund,  with its 28 years of experience, has been working  with over 400 community based organisations by empowering and enhancing their capacity to change the way society treats its children and youth in particular. The NGOs have also played a  role in building cohesive communities that have actively participated in  tackling the triple challenges of poverty, unemployment, and inequality. The community  facing focus areas of the Fund are in child health, safety of children from all forms of violence, economic resilience and the  leadership and empowerment of youth to participate in decision making spaces at all levels. In addition to this, the Fund advocates for policy changes, policy evaluation and  implementation using the lenses of children and youth throug consultations, dialogues, research, and thought  leadership that  shares  the development and advocacy experience .
 
The  Fund works in alignment with the global and  priorities for children and youth.  It partners with  the Department of Social Development (DSD), which is the custodian of the NPO Act and is mandated to register and regulate  the NPOs in the country. The Fund also partners with the DSD in hosting that annual   Nelson Mandela Children's Parliament. There are currently as many as 270 313 NPOs registered with the DSD. For grassroots level impact that is closer to the  communities, the Fund challenges government, development agencies and corporates among other to partner with NGOs  in the wok they do in the communities.