“Each of you young people is doing amazing work, but alone you are a drop. You must join with others to become a river and then an ocean.”- Graça Machel.
On the 1st of December, 2018 Mrs. Machel gave an interview to Loyiso Madinga at the Goalkeepers event. The interview session titled “The role of young people in driving progress” happened during her participation in the Goalkeepers event in Johannesburg. Mrs Machel was privileged with the opportunity to engage with global leaders that are driving progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals and to build enthusiasm for what young people can achieve when they have the voice and the power.
She led one of three key sessions at Goalkeepers which focused on movement building and she spoke passionately about what it means to be a Goalkeeper in Africa. This inspired the young leaders to take action and be proactive in their roles as advocates for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). She told the Goalkeepers that they must create change, but the change cannot be created alone and added that movements of young people that are pushing the SDGs should be built. She also encouraged everyone to become a Goalkeeper to ensure that SDGs are achieved highlighting that this also requires partnerships, political will, innovation, and disruptive but constructive activism by all especially the youth and women.
“Society leaves girls and women behind; it is like killing half of a person’s body. We are crippling our societies. This generation of young people can change that.”- Mrs. Graça Machel.
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation started the Goalkeepers as a catalyst for the action towards the Sustainable Development Goals to achieve a better world by 2030. Goalkeepers bring together global leaders to accelerate progress towards ending poverty and fight against inequality, highlight progress achieved towards achieving this, hold governments accountable and bring together a new generation of leaders to address the world’s major challenges. Welcoming the delegates, Mark Suzman, chief strategy officer and president of global policy and advocacy at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation said the event has taken place in New York and in a number of other places but the place that matters most is Africa, and added that “We have to take this from being abstract goals to something that feels very concrete to every individual.”
UN deputy secretary-general Amina Mohammed, was also present at the event and she said “When we came to design the sustainable development goals, we looked at what we can do differently. The process was inclusive and everyone participated.
Learn more about the Trust here
The Trust supports and mobilises civil society networks on issues of ending child marriage, ending violence against children, ending female genital mutilation and promoting children’s rights, to carry out advocacy and action across Africa. Special focus is placed on Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania and Zambia where child marriage continues to be a problem largely driven by poverty, gender inequality, harmful traditional practices, conflict, low levels of literacy, limited opportunities for girls and weak or non-existent protective and preventive legal frameworks.
Education is a fundamental right for all children, which is also a vehicle for social, economic and political transformation in communities, countries and the African continent at large. Recent studies indicate a lack of progress in some of the critical commitments aimed at improving education quality, access, retention and achievement, particularly for girls. In most African countries, girls may face barriers to learning, especially when they reach post-primary levels of education. By implementing multi-dimensional approaches to education which includes core education, personal development, life skills and economic competencies, the Trust partners with funding partners, governments, civil societies and the private sector to improve education access.
The Nutrition and Reproductive, Maternal, New-born, Child and Adolescent Health and Nutrition, (RMNCAH+N) of the Children’s Rights and Development Programme aims at promoting the Global Strategy for women, children and adolescents’ health within the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) agenda. The strategy emphasises on the importance of effective country leadership as a common factor across countries making progress in improving the health of women, children and adolescents.
Through its Early Childhood Development (ECD) plan, The Trust will seek to put into action the new science and evidence Report that was presented by Lancet Series on Good and early development – the right of every child. This will be achieved by mobilising like-minded partners to contribute in the new science and evidence to reach all young children with ECD. The Trust’s goal is to be a catalyst for doing things differently, in particular, to rid fragmentation and lack of coordination across ECD sectors. In response to evidence showing the importance of political will in turning the tide against the current poor access and quality of ECD. Even before conception, starting with a mother’s health and social economic conditions, the early years of a child’s life form a fundamental foundation that determines whether a child will survive and thrive optimally.