Photo: UCT Brenton Geach Screenshot
“You have been a faithful support to me and my predecessors. You have stood with UCT at our most vulnerable times as our mother, our elder and our conscience. You have shared our anger and our joy. You are a woman of action and by your example and your encouraging words, you have called us to be active in our transformation as a university and as a society. Thank you for inspiring us”- Professor Mamokgethi Phakeng, UCT vice-Chancellor.
We close 2019 on a very high note, with inspiration and admiration of our Founder Graça Machel as she hands over her role as Chancellor of University of Cape Town (UCT). Her journey started in 1999 and came highly recommended by the then Vice Chancellor, Dr. Mamphela Ramphela who said “My job as then vice-chancellor was to transform the university, if I wanted to have a different profile of a chancellor, couldn’t find a better person than Graça Machel. She was a woman, an African woman, strong on education but also very personable.”
Chair of UCT Council Sipho Pityara commended Mrs. Machel for wisdom as a counsel, the contributions she made in raising funds and finances, as well as the leveraging of networks and contacts and support of students. For the past 20 years, Mrs. Machel’s leadership as UCT chancellor has inspired many who walked through the corridors of this well- established, esteemed and leading university in Africa.
Mrs. Machel bid farewell to the UCT fraternity during this years’ graduation ceremony in Cape Town where over 1900 students were honoured with, among others, Honorary doctorates, UCT Book Award and Creative Works Award.
Mrs. Graça Machel will be succeeded by highly qualified, extraordinarily and dynamic young African women, Dr. Precious Moloi-Motsepe and Vice Chancellor Professor Mamokgethi Phakeng.
Mrs, Graça Machel with Professor Mamokgethi Phakeng, UCT vice-Chancellor.
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.