Development Talk

Kader Asmal (8 October 1934 – 22 June 2011)

 

June 23, 2011

Click for photo source

Creative Consulting and Development Works would like to extend our sympathy to the Asmal family as we join the rest of South Africa in celebrating Kader Asmal and his life as an activist academic and politician.  His ANC comrades hail him as a “selfless man of honour” and that “his death must be a reminder for all of us of the non-racial, non-sexist and prosperous South Africa we committed to build”.  Kader represented the anti-Apartheid movement as a committed ANC member from the United Kingdom during his early professional life after being exiled by the Apartheid government.  In exile he was awarded the Prix UNESCO award for his work in human rights, founded the British Anti-Apartheid Movement, and served as Chairperson for the Irish Apartheid movement.  When he returned to South Africa he became a professor of human rights at University of the Western Cape before he was tapped by the first democratic government to be the Minister of Water and Forestry and later as Minister of Education (a position for which he was appointed personally by President Nelson Mandela).  He was also involved in many other anti-racism and human rights commissions and movements throughout his life. 

Professor Asmal’s memoir will be released in August, and the official launch for the book will be in September at the Open Book Festival in Cape Town.

Full story

Filed under: Africa,Awareness,basic human right,better life for all,Breaking New Ground,civil society,community,Constitution,CREATIVE CONSULTING & DEVELOPMENT WORKS,democracy,DEVELOPMENT WORKS,education,election,ethical leadership,ethics,Family,Fatherhood,forgiveness,Government,History,Hope,identity,Inequality,legislation,nationhood,Parliament,Policy,politics,power,race,reconciliation,rights,social transformation,South Africa,TRC,Uncategorized — Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , — admin @ 3:39 pm

Social Media: Helping to Educate Mozambique

 

June 13, 2011

 

A new day is dawning in Mozambique.
After nearly many years of civil unrest, the small nation on South Eastern coast of Africa is starting to rebuild. The promise of limitless possibilities beams from the smiles of school children running to new or partially built schools. Unfortunately, these smiles often turn to tears as financial backers of many development projects are failing to meet their commitments. As the global financial crisis strikes panic in the hearts of funding institutions, money initially earmarked to help develop post war Mozambique has all but dried up. In response to the growing number of commissioned development projects losing financial backing, Celio Mondlane of Fundacao Joaquim Chissano and Minister of Education Dr. Zeferino Martins, have turned to social media to encourage wide spread investment in their county’s future as well as showcasing its success stories. Educate Mozambique is the blog platform where anybody can learn about and support education initiatives all over Mozambique. It is essentially a way of crowd sourcing new

Flag of Mozambique

 avenues of funding, empowering individuals with information about ways they can contribute. Now, instead of waiting for a massive check that may never come from a bank that no longer considers “charity” a priority, any number of concerned individuals from anywhere in the world can give a little bit of money or time to make a big difference in the lives of children in Mozambique.

Visit the site learn to more about how you can support Educate Mozambique!

Filed under: Africa,Asylum seekers,Awareness,basic human right,better life for all,blogging,Blogroll,Breaking New Ground,campaign,children,civil society,Communications,community,CREATIVE CONSULTING & DEVELOPMENT WORKS,development,DEVELOPMENT WORKS,developmental state,dialogue,donors,economy,education,finance,fundraising,Hope,inspiration,inspire,internet,poverty,recession,Social media,social transformation,South Africa,sustainable,Uncategorized,youth — Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , — admin @ 5:33 pm

Organisation Holds Zuma Accountable for Education Non-deliverables

 

February 16, 2011

 

Pupils raised their concerns during school library march.Photo:EE

Education was a focus in Jacob Zuma’s State of the Nation Address. In an interview featured on politicsweb.co.za he proposed focusing on the “Triple T,” which stands for teachers, text books and time. 

He emphasised that by law, teachers must spend enough hours teaching at schools and children must have access to books, therefore having time to deliver these necessities is crucial. 

Equal Education (EE), a community and membership-based organisation that is committed at achieving quality education in South Africa, is here to ensure that all the promises that are being made around educations are fullfilled. 

Doron Isaacs, Equal Education Director, said, for too long, South African education policy has been at war with the basics, including textbooks. He said, under Minister Angie Motshekga, this has thankfully changed and now the President is underlining that. But EE will not wait to see whether the President’s words magically deliver textbooks and teachers on time to every child. 

Isaacs said they will continue their daily campaigning work to make sure that this happens. 

“We will keep training learners, parents and community members to hold their schools accountable in these crucial areas. We will keep pressuring government to revisit the tendering process for textbooks to bring down the cost, and will pressure the publishers to stop profiteering at the expense of our education,” he said.  

Teachers and pupils at Masiyile High School were thrilled during library launch. Photo:EE
He also mentioned that school districts and provinces that fail to deliver on the President’s words will find themselves: on “our placards, in our petitions,” listed in the newspapers and “…in court”.
 
Equal Education has already spread their wings and are advocating on an large-scale level. Last year, more than 12,000 people took part in Human Rights Day in March, more than 5,000 fasted during Fast For School Library, and over 60,000 signed petition for 1 School 1Library 1 Librarian, to name a few.

In its 4th year of existence, EE will be marching on the 21st of March to demand basic infrastructure in all South African Schools. They are doing so to ask basic Education Minister, Angie Motshekga , to fulfill her promise of finalising Minimum Norms and Standards for School Infrastructure by the end of March 2011. 

They will host events geared toward people who care about education. The first is People’s Summit for Equal Education that will take place on 25-28 June at Khayelitsha and UCT. Later this year, EE will hold its First National Congress that will be open for EE members and will allow them to debate and decide upon the future priorities.  

Creative Consulting & Development Works truly see value in EE’s efforts and initiatives. In just three years, the organisation has mobilised the South African community and made great improvements on the education sector. We support EE, IkamvaYouth, and other organisations as they continue to improve the quality of education in South Africa. 

 
 

  

 

 

 

Filed under: campaign,children,civil society,community,CREATIVE CONSULTING & DEVELOPMENT WORKS,DEVELOPMENT WORKS,education,Government,initiative,media,NGOs,South Africa,Uncategorized — Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , — admin @ 4:20 pm

Government housing aims for stability and safety

 

February 14, 2011

Studies show that roughly 48,000 people migrate to the Western Cape each year. This influx comes from the Eastern Cape and is largely due to widespread poverty and a lack of employment opportunities.

Because of limited housing and space however, Cape Town is not very suitable for habitation, but people have settled here to be near jobs in the northern industrial areas. Without electricity and proper space, people live in inadequate housing conditions, leading to problems such as poor sanitation and an increase in fires. Without electricity, people utilise paraffin for cooking and to light candles, but would fall asleep without switching off the gas.

This carelessness would lead to house fires and would cause families who are already living under difficult conditions to now be homeless.

To provide safer living conditions, the government has begun building RDP houses. Though demand is high, those on the waiting list at least have electricity. Due to government efforts, people in places like Langa, Philippi, and Khayelitsha are very proud to have the best houses constructed by the government.

This development not only focuses within the housing sector, but also attends to disadvantage schools, such as Kwa-Faku primary school in Lower Crossroads. I was proud to hear that most of these schools are receiving free uniforms, as well. These efforts really show that the government is taking direct measures to support the housing and education sectors of the Western Cape.

References:

http://www.elementalafrica.org.za/index.php?include=projects.html

http://antieviction.org.za/2008/12/20/baby-from-cape-towns-worst-squatter-camp-treated-for-cholera/ that our government is trying its best to support all South Africans.

Filed under: Africa,CREATIVE CONSULTING & DEVELOPMENT WORKS,crime,economy,education,housing,legislation,politics,poverty,sanitation — Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , — admin @ 12:35 pm

Housing & Education enhanced through Joe Slovo Foundation

 

February 9, 2011

When the Joe Slovo Foundation launches in May 2011, the organizations will tackle issues such as shelter and education.

Joe Slovo, according to BusinessDay, was appointed housing minister by the former president, Nelson Mandela. Because of Joe’s achievements, a foundation was made in his name to commemorate his work.

Martin Dolny, the fund- raiser of this foundation and Slovo’s brother-in-law, said, “great number of people that includes comrades and colleagues of the late minister and African National Congress (ANC) hero, as well as political parties, labour and business are among those who are making the success of this foundation.”

In related news, SABC recently reported that thousands of children in the Eastern Cape struggle to go to school due to the suspension of the provincial scholar programme.

The Joe Slovo Foundation will ensure that solutions are implemented to solve such problems and to allow more children to stay in school.

Filed under: CREATIVE CONSULTING & DEVELOPMENT WORKS,DEVELOPMENT WORKS,education,Government,housing — Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , — admin @ 11:19 am
« Newer Posts — Older Posts »