UCT Sustainability and the SDGs 2022 - Magazine - Page 8
Part of Bertha Centre’s Youth Innovation portfolio is the
Changemakers
programme.
This
youth
development
programme is working to capacitate young people with an
entrepreneurial mindset to tackle complex social challenges
and drive systemic impact.
Between 2022 and 2024 the Bertha Centre
supported 5 782 changemakers through six
types of capacity-building interventions.
By providing the tools and
opportunities needed to drive systemic
impact, we continue to empower
both emerging and established
changemakers to create lasting
social change.
– Dr Solange Rosa,
Bertha Centre director.
UCT’s Children’s Institute (CI) was commissioned by South
Africa’s national Department of Social Development to
understand the state of child poverty in the country. The report,
Reducing Child Poverty: A review of child poverty and the
value of the child support grant (2024), found around eight
million young children in the country are not accessing
enough nutritious food to aid their development due to living in
economically disadvantaged homes.
The report highlights how many families rely on the child
support grant to survive. It argues that increasing this grant
Capacity-Building
Interventions
(2022-2024)
Research and Innovation
to meet the current food poverty line would mean a boost
from R530 to R760, at a minimum. This would go a long way
towards combatting food poverty for South Africa’s children.
Funding elder care in South Africa
The country’s elderly people are one of the most vulnerable
groups, with limited 昀椀nancial means and inadequate
1 983
Recognising the 昀椀nancial strain on the government, the CI
recommended a phased approach to raising the grant with a
focus on pre-school aged children as a start. The adjustment
access to basic services to meet their often-high needs.
will substantially reduce child poverty within the next 昀椀ve
The Department of Sociology at UCT undertook a research
years, yielding positive impacts on many other areas of child
project, the Family Caregiving of Older Persons in Southern
wellbeing including nutrition, health and education.
Africa, to understand how funding for elder care is structured
1 477
Number of participants
Advocating for increased child support grant to
eliminate child poverty
and the related experiences of older persons, caregivers and
care workers. The work found that spending by the national
Department of Social Development is not suf昀椀cient to meet
1 005
the needs of this population.
This research was conducted as part of a trans-disciplinary
737
team which included members from government, civil society
442
and non-pro昀椀t organisations that serve older people and
academia. This allowed broad reaching and impactful research
138
Webinars
Workshops Conferences
Lectures
16 - Sustainability and the SDGs 2024
Courses
Dialogues
able to guide policymakers on what is required to address the
challenges and miminise funding gaps in service provision for
South Africa’s vulnerable elderly population.
This reform is a key mechanism
to reduce child poverty, advance
the realisation of children’s rights
and will contribute to long-term
human development outcomes
and economic growth.
– Paula Proudlock,
senior researcher at the CI.
Sustainability and the SDGs 2024 – 17
