SEARCH RESULTS

In 2025, Save the Children South Africa deepened its commitment to putting children first. Through innovative programmes, strong partnerships, and community‑driven action, we expanded opportunities in education, health, and employability. Despite challenges, our work delivered measurable impact and amplified children’s voices across the nation.View our full 2025 Impact Report here.

In 2025, Save the Children South Africa amplified its reach and strengthened child‑focused initiatives nationwide. Through strategic partnerships, innovative programmes, and community‑led action, we empowered children and youth with education, health, and employability opportunities. Our efforts ensured children’s voices influenced national platforms. Despite funding challenges, we delivered measurable impact and reaffirmed our promise to place children at the centre of change.

The 2025 financial report provides a transparent overview of income, expenditure, and investments made to advance children’s rights and wellbeing.

This piece explores why community investment should go beyond delivering social outcomes to intentionally creating work opportunities for young people. It highlights how embedding youth employment into project delivery can strengthen communities, support families, and help address the country’s youth unemployment crisis.

At Save the Children South Africa, we believe that meaningful change happens when young people are not only beneficiaries of programmes but active partners in shaping solutions. Through our Skills to Succeed and Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) programmes, of young people were equipped to make informed choices, build their confidence and access opportunities that support their future.

The South African National Child Rights Coalition (SANCRC) has issued an open letter to the President urging careful consideration in appointing the next Minister of Social Development. The coalition highlights the need for strong, specialised leadership to advance children’s rights, reposition the Department’s mandate, and ensure effective implementation of national child rights strategies.

In 2025, over 19,500 children and youth were supported to lead, deliver, and participate in advocacy and campaigns through Generation Hope.

Human Rights Month may have ended, but the values it celebrates, dignity, equality and freedom, must endure every day. These rights, enshrined in our Constitution, are meant to protect everyone. Yet for many children in South Africa, they remain out of reach.

Save the Children South Africa (SCSA) proudly celebrates six remarkable young people from our networks who sat for their matric exams in 2025, and every single one passed, with several earning distinctions. Their academic success is a testament to resilience, determination, and the support of families, communities, and partners who believe in children’s rights.

Become a regular giver and save a child’s life today.

At Save the Children South Africa (SCSA), we are committed to creating a world where every child has the chance to thrive. In 2022, we embarked on a powerful partnership with Clarins to address the pressing issue of food insecurity in Early Childhood Development (ECD) centres. Implemented across multiple provinces, including Mpumalanga, KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo, and Gauteng, our partnership is bringing vital support to vulnerable children across these regions. Child hunger affects millions of children in South Africa, with far-reaching consequences for their health, education, and future prospects.

By Gugu Xaba – African women have long been at the forefront of philanthropy in their communities, exemplifying “love in action” through courage, cultural integrity, and care. At a recent Adɔyɛ Dialogue hosted by Wits University’s Centre for African Philanthropy and Social Investment, we celebrated iconic women leaders – like Dr. Barbara Masekela and Ms. Sibongile Mkhabela – whose legacies light the way. Their example inspires an Adɔyɛ (an Akan word meaning “love in action”) ethos that views philanthropy as an expression of care, solidarity, and service. It was a great honour to join them in conversation and reflect on how African women’s purpose-driven leadership is transforming society.

2024 Integrated Annual Report

Virgile Madua KIKAYA is a seasoned public health leader and program manager with more than 20 years of progressively responsible experience in MNCH – FP, HIV/TB, Malaria, NTDs, Global Health Security (GHS) and program management across several countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. Dr Kikaya serves currently as Jhpiego Country Director in DRC and its Global Technical Director for GHS. Throughout his career, Dr Kikaya has demonstrated leadership, innovation and program implementation successes in introducing new public health approaches. Dr Kikaya work includes the introduction and expansion of community-based treatments for NTDs and Malaria in pregnancy, of HIV prevention services for males including VMMC and of competency based maternal and neonatal capacity building around day of birth. More recently, Virgile has been focusing on improving countries capacities for International Health Regulations and GHS. Virgile’s work has been published in peer review articles and highlighted in various media. Dr Kikaya passion remains improving locally led public health initiatives and contributing to social development on the continent. Dr Kikaya has collaborated and worked successfully with various donors and UN technical agencies including WHO, UNFPA, UNICEF, USAID, US-CDC, the Global Fund, The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, UNITAID and GAVI. Virgile obtained a medical degree from the University of Lubumbashi, DRC, a Master’s in Public Health from the Free University of Brussels, Belgium, and a Master of Science in International Development and Management from Lund University, Sweden. Virgile is a board member of the Global Health Security Network, the convener of the Global Health Security Conference.

Over the past three decades Tanya Abrahamse has participated in, advised on, and led a range of local, national and international initiatives, processes, organisations and institutions in the spheres of environment, natural resource management, biodiversity, tourism, climate change, knowledge management and science and development. She has sat on a number of formal boards and committees in the private and public sector giving her insight into the optimum roles and responsibilities of board members for good governance to build robust organisations and institutions. In the past five years she has been the Chair of the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), a panel member of the UN Environment International Resources Panel (UN -IRP), an advisory board member of the UN Institute for Advanced Studies (UN-IAS). In South Africa she sat on the Women’s Development Bank (WDBT) advisory board and was a founding member of the Mapungubwe Institute (MISTRA) - a think tank. Previously she sat on the transitional task team to form Future Earth - a global platform of science for society and sustainability, and was a member of the inaugural Science Advisory Board of the UN Secretary General (UNSG -SAB). After her formal education she carried out natural resource management, land use and agricultural projects and research at local levels including in Zambia and Zimbabwe, and on her return to South Africa worked for an environmental NGO that engaged in a number of rural projects. After South Africa’s democracy in 1994 she became chief director in the Presidency on the implementation of the Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP), and later deputy DG in the national environmental department responsible for Resource Use covering biodiversity, heritage, marine and coastal management and tourism. Between 2000 and 2006 she was CEO of the Tourism Business Council of SA (TBCSA) and from 2007 and 2017 she led the South African Biodiversity Institute (SANBI) whose mandate included leading the biodiversity information management system, heading the human capital and job creation effort for the green sector and initiating and running the implementing entities for the Global Adaptation Fund (GAF) and the Green Climate Fund (GCF) for South Africa. Now retired from formal employment, she is keen to use her long experience and knowledge to support institutions and organizations that have a mission to overcome the challenges to sustainable development.