Funding priorities
Human Rights
Reinforcing our Nation's Justice and Democracy
Children's Institute
More than two thirds of South Africa's 18.6 million children live in poverty and one in 15 die from diseases that can be prevented. These are just two of the disturbing statistics regarding our children, according to research by UNICEF. The Children's Institute (CI) at UCT focuses on policies, laws and interventions that promote equality, realise the rights of and improve the prospects of children in poverty. Established at UCT in 2001 with a grant from Atlantic Philanthropies, the CI brings about positive change in the lives of children through a complex but carefully honed combination of social and legal research. Their approach also includes multiple levels of evidence-based advocacy and public engagement, community capacity-building, and a communications strategy designed to reach diverse audiences. As a university institute, the CI regards rigorous, socially responsive research and analysis as a necessary condition for its activities. However, it recognises that if research is to have a significant social impact, it needs to be carefully crafted. This process involves firm strategies for dissemination, policy dialogue with key stakeholders, and advocacy for social change. The Children's Institute meets the challenge for change in areas of child rights, child health, social security, social services, education and care, child poverty, and children in the context of HIV/AIDS.
The Elma Foundation has provided the Institute with a three year challenge grant to cover operational costs and Atlantic Philanthropies has provided a lead gift of R2,6million. Your help is now needed to give further voice to the rights of our children, by contributing towards our fundraising objective to raise R5million.
Gender, Health and Justice Research Unit
Interpol studies reveal startling figures about South Africa recording the highest incidents of rape, with a woman being attacked every 17 seconds. Violence against women, and also innocent children, demands immediate and sustained action and this is the mission of UCT's Gender, Health and Justice Research Unit (GHJRU). It unites scholars, NGOs, criminologists and medical practitioners in the fight against this scourge and, through interdisciplinary research, creates social interventions to address violence against women and children. The GHJRU focuses on contemporary legislative and policy reforms and their social application. It conducts progressive, collective action research in the area of women's rights, seeking to improve access to health and justice services for survivors of gender-based violence and their families.
Law Clinic
The service of lawyers, especially for people from impoverished communities, is often seen as a privilege they must do without because of the difficulty in accessing these facilities. Even matters with strong merits cannot be pursued due to the high costs of certain external services such as sheriff's fees. UCT's Law Clinic is presently seeking to establish, among other initiatives, a dedicated fund to assist clients in such dilemmas. Such interventions are complemented by workshops and advocacy programmes that provide legal training for outside entities that engage in community development work. These are just some of the ways in which UCT's Law Clinic fulfils its mission of rendering practical and relevant training to its students, and providing outstanding free legal assistance to communities in need. However, due to the intensive one-on-one training required for these services, student fees for the Legal Practice course do not cover the actual running costs of the Law Clinic. Besides funding from the UCT Law Faculty, the Clinic receives a modest contribution from only one outside funding source.
Perinatal Mental Health Project
'Caring for mothers is caring for the future'. This, being the guiding philosophy of UCT's Perinatal Mental Health Project, is what offers hope to mothers in poverty. Having to bear the extreme hardships of deprivation, stressful interpersonal relationships, even physical and mental abuse, the incidences of maternal depression and suicide are startling. Pregnancy is also the time when most women learn their HIV-status and mental illness has been found to impact negatively on HIV/AIDS treatment, adherence and outcomes. Psychological distress has negative impacts on the mother, foetus and infant, which can persist into adolescence, resulting in higher rates of cognitive, behavioural and emotional difficulties as well as mental illness and suicide tendencies in teenagers. Perinatal mental illness has reached epidemic proportions among poor women but the critical need for maternal mental health services is evidenced against a backdrop of unavailable or poor service delivery. The Perinatal Mental Health Project (PMHP) addresses the needs of mothers in poverty-stricken communities in and around Cape Town, providing holistic mental health services at the same sites at which women receive maternal care. The project provides mental health screening, counselling and psychiatric services as well as training for maternity staff. Research initiatives ensure a constant improvement and development of the system, while advocacy and policy development ensures best practice tools for the wellbeing of women and girls across the region.
Aids Archive
Southern Africa's medical history has been largely characterized by our efforts to contain and counteract the HIV/AIDS pandemic. These brave efforts have produced a valuable resource of information on the disease, its vectors of transmission, prevention, treatment, care and support. The struggle against HIV/AIDS in the past ten years has also spawned some highly successful civil rights movements such as the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC). To capture the vital historical record associated with this social tragedy, UCT Libraries and the Community Media Trust (CMT) have embarked on an ambitious partnership to archive and curate over 3000 hours of video footage on HIV/AIDS related media. The goal is to create a searchable online database that will make the information widely available and easily accessible for teaching and research at an international level. The footage being donated by CMT comprises one of the largest audio-visual collections on the AIDS experience in Africa and internationally. It also contains extensive material on the TAC's struggle for access to treatment from 1999 to the present. CMT was established as a sister movement to the TAC and has filmed most of the organisation's meetings and congresses with the express purpose of creating an historical record of the struggle against HIV/AIDS.
The Elsevier Foundation has thus far provided a lead grant for this project. You too have an opportunity to strengthen the cause of the AIDS Archive by contributing towards our fundraising target of gathering R3 million over three years.
| Your help is needed to give further voice to the rights of our children. Contribute towards our fundraising objective of R5 million. |
| The Elsevier Foundation has thus far provided a lead grant for this project. You too have an opportunity to strengthen the cause of the AIDS Archive by contributing towards our fundraising target of R3 million over three years. |