Joint initiative shields vulnerable

Corporates, communities, researchers get together for solutions

CALLS for the private sector and the wider communities to step in and prevent violence against women and children have not fallen on deaf ears. Corporates, community leaders and researchers met at George to discuss sustainable initiatives in affected areas.

Seven Passes is a non-profit organisation started as a violence prevention organisation by farmers and concerned Touws ranten residents who were concerned about continuing gang violence.

Twilmi Dippenaar, director of the Seven Passes Initiative, said: “It started as homework clubs in the community with nine high school pupils and expanded to 340. Before the initiative and its programmes the community never had graduates but now there are 10 young people who have gone to university and many more who have enrolled at FET colleges. One of the graduated students is a school teacher sharing her skills and knowledge.”

“I was approached and we spearheaded the initiative .We understood the problems children faced and gave them the support we saw they needed to stay at school and pass. They also needed adults that could be their role models,” said Chandre Gould, senior research fellow in the Justice and Violence Prevention Programme at the Institute for Security Studies (ISS).

Gould says programmes such as in parenting , where mothers understand their children’s social needs and behaviours, are part of the critical factors for preventing violence.

“To reduce and prevent violence, the social, economic and psychological well-being of citizens must be addressed.”

On Wednesday Jet, the discount division of Edcon, launched a three-year, multimillion-rand commitment to the ISS and the Seven Passes Initiative to support interventions to reduce and prevent violence.

Elelwane Pahlana, Edcon general manager for Transformation, Sustainability, Enterprise, Supplier Development and Crime Scene Investigation, said: “Personal safety is a key concern for all South Africans, and especially low-income single mothers, who are among the most vulnerable and suffer the highest incidence of personal violence. Innovative solutions are required. We are honoured to be able to help.”

Part of the initial investment was used to fund the National Violence Prevention Dialogue Forum, which bridges the gap between government, academics and NGOs. Practitioners and officials are responsible for providing services to clients in communities around the country

IT STARTED AS HOMEWORK CLUBS IN THE COMMUNITY ... NOW 10 HAVE GONE TO UNIVERSITY