 *Children playing with Comic Relief personnel during the New Jerusalem Visit The Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund is made stronger by caring organisations of its ilk in supporting initiatives to make communities a safer place for the children. The Fund has for many years partnered with Comic Relief in reaching out and changing the lives and dire situations that most children live under. The partnership was founded in 2006 with Comic Relief funding various projects across two of the Fund’s previous strategies, namely Sakha Ikusasa I and II. The Fund still enjoys support from Comic Relief through its Sexual Violence Against Girls In Schools in South Africa (SeVissa) project; which aims to protect young girls and see them through their development. Comic Relief Visited one of the Fund’s implementing partners to witness the wonderful life-changing work the Fund is involved with on a daily bases.
 The June 2016 Youth month commemoration period coincides with the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund processes of implementing and executing the new 2016-2021 strategy. June 16 is a particularly interesting date because of its historic commemoration of the Soweto uprisings of 1976. In terms of five year strategy of the Fund (2016 to 2021), one of its programmes called Youth Leadership, is anchored on the phenomenon of Youth Think Tanks that will enable young South Africans to highlight and find solutions to issues affecting them. The programme will focus on:
The Fund’s continued focus on youth development and empowerment is informed by research and empirical evidence; its focus is emboldened by the latest depressing figures from Statistics South Africa ranging from low levels of education to high unemployment rate affecting youth. The goal of the Fund’s youth leadership programme is to provide youth from all walks of life with a platform that will enable them to lead and become agents of their own change. The Fund and the Nelson Mandela Children’s Hospital (NMCH) will kick off the Youth Leadership programme by hosting an inter-generational dialogue called Conversations for Development aimed at breaking barriers between the young and the old. he theme of the day is “the South Africa I would like to live in” and participants will be tackling various issues that are currently affecting South Africa. The June 15 event will be held at the Fund’s Offices and will draw participants from all walks of life and discussions will be reflected on all our social media platforms.  The Fund’s continued focus on youth development and empowerment is informed by research and empirical evidence; its focus is emboldened by the latest depressing figures from Statistics South Africa ranging from low levels of education to high unemployment rate affecting youth.
The goal of the Fund’s youth leadership programme is to provide youth from all walks of life with a platform that will enable them to lead and become agents of their own change. The Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund (Fund) has completed the new strategy for the period 2016 to 2021 following a comprehensive research on current issues affecting children and the youth. The Fund’s Chief Executive Officer Bongi Mkhabela has been spearheading the process of unveiling the strategy to the organisation’s stakeholders locally and internationally.  USA Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund Board: right to left: Mark Weinberg, former New York Mayor David Dinkins, Franklin Thomas, Sibongile Mkhabela,CEO, Susan Wagner, Mary Zients, Mary Tiseo Board members absent: Donald Gips, Maryana Iskander Ms Mkhabela is seen in the picture with board members of the Fund’s affiliation office in New-York USA. Accompanied by the Fund’s Resource Mobilisation manager Mpaki Pule; they presented the Fund’s five year strategy and the organisation’s sustainable prospects.
The strategy’s focus areas have been clustered into three overarching themes for interventions:
Challenges facing children are global; hence the Fund’s historical ties with international partners to better the lives of the vulnerable children and the youth. The Board has been instrumental in fundraising in the US for the Nelson Mandela Children’s Hospital Trust campaign. |
