South Africa has a constitutional responsibility to uphold children’s rights. The government does this in different ways, by setting laws, delivering public services, allocating funding from the national budget and by taking decisions that affect children’s lives. What’s been missing for a long time is a shared vision for all children and teenagers which effectively places their interests at the centre of government decision-making.

This is where the National Strategy to Accelerate Action for Children (NSAAC) comes in — a high-level, shared vision aimed at improving the wellbeing and life outcomes of all children and teenagers in South Africa, particularly in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic and lockdowns that disrupted public services and people’s livelihoods.

This new strategy can only succeed if everyone gets behind it, including civil society organisations, many of whom are already delivering services in areas where government capacity is poor or limited, reaching people in their homes and remote communities.

In this podcast, we explore the type of strategic thinking needed to galvanise different sectors of society behind a common vision, with Noxolo Gqada, Strategy Lead for the Hold My Hand Accelerator, a project that supports the vision and priorities of the NSAAC. She talks about how the Accelerator is thinking about fast-tracking change for children.

Visit www.dgmt.co.za/thinking-on-the-edge to read more and access the takeaway instructions.

The Learning Lunch podcast features three types of episodes: Deep Dives; Nourish & Flourish; and Best Bites.
Each podcast/learning lunch session is structured as follows:
The Main Meal - A ±30-minute podcast
The Takeaways - Instructions for a ±30-minute group reflection based on what you listened to.
To learn more about the work that we do, go to www.dgmt.co.za