SOUTH AFRICA

Read SPW South Africa's most recent quarterly update here (April - June 2009).

“Welcome to SPW South Africa. Our programme has 11 staff and works in two districts in the Eastern Cape Province. The Eastern Cape is one of the poorest and least well served regions of South Africa. The communities in which SPW works are disadvantaged and under-resourced; schools are not integrated into the community and unemployment is high, providing little incentive for young people to finish school.

In our last programme year we recruited and trained 48 young people as volunteer peer educators – the young people who deliver and evaluate our programmes in rural communities in.

SPW South Africa was founded in 1997 and our key areas of our work are our Youth Empowerment Programme (YEP), research and advocacy, and capacity building and training. Through the YEP model, we recruit and train 48 volunteers every year who are then placed in underserved communities and implement our Programmes. The young people we work with are both in- and out-of-school youth.

To reach our objectives and contribute to South Africa’s development objectives, we work with government, community-based organisations and other NGOs. We are an affiliate member of the Eastern Cape NGO Coalition.

Read more about our programme and its successes below.”

Mr Alex Nyago

SPW South Africa Country Director

Key statistics from South Africa

Statistics from: http://devdata.worldbank.org/data-query/

SPW South Africa's Youth Empowerment Programme (YEP)

SPW South Africa is one of only a few organisations working specifically in remote rural communities in the Eastern Cape, and is therefore uniquely positioned to facilitate the provision of services and information from other, normally urban-based NGOs. SPW's community-based programme provides a vital link between communities and local services, working closely with both in and out-of-school youth, community groups, churches, local clinics and a wide variety of district government departments and locally based NGOs. Working as “peer educators”, volunteers raise awareness of health and resource issues that affect the lives of young people in rural communities. These include HIV/AIDS awareness, teenage pregnancy, sex and sexuality, health promotion, hygiene and nature conservation. Volunteers also help community members to initiate income-generating project

South Africa’s programme has three phases which mobilise and empower young people to lead community development initiatives in their communities. The programme takes a holistic approach to HIV and AIDS prevention, empowering youth with SRH knowledge and with the skills to make positive decisions about their transition into adulthood.

Highlights from SPW's most recently completed programme quarter (April - June 2009)

• 400 young people were trained on local, provincial and national governance issues

• 59 sexual and reproductive health lessons were run for young people in the Eastern Cape

• 87 lessons organised on life skills for young people

Kwelerha celebrates National Youth Day

On Tuesday 16 June, communities in the Kwelerha area near East London, South Africa, came together to commemorate National Youth Day. Youth Day observes the start of the 1976 Soweto uprising during the Apartheid regime, sparked by a government edict that all instruction in black schools be undertaken in Afrikaans.

Organised by SPW volunteer peer educators and staff, the event attracted over 400 people, including local youth, elders, councillors and other leaders.

A sports tournament including rugby, soccer and netball games was organised during the days leading up to the event, with the finals being played on Youth Day itself. The event was a chance for young people to speak and perform, with a number of motivational speeches, dance acts, musical performances, and poetry readings.

The event was also a chance for SPW SA to publicise its Youth Development Centre in Kwelerha, which offers free computer literacy and job preparedness training, peer and business advice, and facilitates workshops surrounding life skills and SRH. It anticipated that more young people in the area will now be aware of the Centre and start taking advantage of its services.

Key Achievements from the last programme year:

SPW South Africa’s 2007/2008 programme achieved the following:  

• 48 young South Africans were trained as volunteer peer educators to deliver SPW South Africa’s programmes

• SPW reached 24 rural communities with youth-led programmes planned, implemented and evaluated by young people

• 5,032 young people were reached directly by SPW’s programmes on sexual reproductive health, life skills and livelihoods

Case Study – Contributing to South Africa's development objectives:

Eighteen percent of South Africa’s adult population has HIV or AIDS. In the Eastern Cape, where SPW South Africa operates, the Department of Health’s objective is to increase early detection and prevention of Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) including HIV and AIDS.

To help reach Provincial objectives, SPW South Africa’s Youth Empowerment Programme (YEP) trains young people to empower other young people with knowledge about HIV, AIDS and life skills. Through peer education, SPW South Africa achieves sustainable behaviour change in young people while altering the perception of young people in communities.

“I hope the youth will change their attitudes about HIV and AIDS and they will encourage others to go to the clinic and get tested.” Delina Mluma (out-of-school youth)

To reach both in and out-of-school youth with Sexual and Reproductive Health education, SPW South Africa:

• Conducted 2,854 workshops for 4,586 young people

• Established 24 youth-oriented resource centres giving 9,892 young people access vital information about Sexual and Reproductive Health through to career development.

• Distributed 50,630 condoms through resource centres; helping the Department of Health reach its objectives of reducing prevalence of HIV and AIDS.

Partner Organisations

SPW South Africa are proud to work with: 

• UNFPA
• Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund
• New Zealand Aid (NZAID)
• The Tesco Foundation
• Australian Embassy

Contact SPW South Africa:

1st Floor, NBS Building, 15 Terminus St, East London

Tel: +27 43 743 7667

Email: spwsa@spw.org