The Board of the Graça Machel Trust wishes to announce the resignation of our much-respected CEO, Melizsa Mugyenyi, who came on board in 2021 to lead the Graça Machel Trust (GMT) and drove its turnaround process following the challenging COVID period.
In her two years at the Trust, Melizsa has achieved a phenomenal amount, including a remarkable increase in the organization’s annual budget and bringing on new partners and donors, securing a strategic and multi-year new grant with the Mastercard Foundation. Melizsa also spearheaded an extensive and rigorous consultation process that has resulted in a new Strategic Plan (2023- 2027) as well as leading the work to consolidate and make more efficient internal GMT operational processes.
Picture: Mrs Graça Machel and Ms Melizsa Mugyenyi
While we are sad to see her go, we are grateful to Melizsa for her sterling leadership during a globally challenging period for not-for-profit organisations and for the Trust. Her safe and trusted hands have served GMT well, and we wish her all the best as she undertakes her new career journey.
Our focus for the coming months will be to finalise arrangements for a leader who can work closely with the Trustees to implement the new Strategic Plan. The recruitment process is led by the Trustees, while our longstanding Board member, Ms Theo Sowa, will step in as interim CEO from July 2023 to oversee the work of GMT’s seasoned senior leadership team. Theo is a widely-respected institution builder and leader who has worked to advance women’s rights, children’s rights, and issues of social justice for over three decades.
Picture: Ms Theo Sowa
As we continue to climb to new heights, we thank Melizsa for her leadership, and we look forward to informing you of our continued efforts to advance women’s economic agendas and amplify the voices of African women and girls.
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.