Mandela Day: towards eradicating homelessness

Earlier this year, when uGogo May Bhengu was told that the Nelson Mandela Foundation, in collaboration with Habitat for Humanity, would be building her a home, she did not believe it.

"I've been promised a home so many times by the government and they still haven't arrived." said uGogo Bhengu.

Today we handed her a home, restoring pride and dignity to her and her family!

On the 22nd of May 2019, the Nelson Mandela International Day initiative launched its new strategy, Mandela Day: The Next Chapter. In responding to Goal 3 “Providing Safe Shelter”, we partnered with Habitat for Humanity to build safe homes and restore dignity. The partnership ran a pilot project in KwaZulu-Natal, uMgababa, where we not only sought to provide homes but to understand the impact that is created for the beneficiaries of the homes.

Part of the new Mandela Day strategy is the piloting of models of best practice in collaboration with other social justice organisation, government and the private sector to take #ActionAgainstPoverty. One other intervention of the new strategy is the facilitation of the Nelson Mandela Day Global Network: a community of organisations, government, corporates and individuals that partner with the Foundation to drive Mandela Day and pursue its objectives. It is a base for the strategic partnerships of organisations with common goals aimed at globally coordinating efforts, sharing information and linking the needs to resources.

"The Community of Mbumbulu is amongst the many communities in KwaZulu-Natal that have seen the change in their lives through the work of Habitatat for Humanity. The Foundation continues to engage communities like this one to understand the shift that is important in eradicating poverty and building a society that cares and is involved." said Yase Godlo, director of Mandela Day and Special Projects at the Nelson Mandela Foundation.

Today was the last handover of houses and the last community engagement for the 2019 Mandela Day pilot project. The initiative will now be monitoring and evaluating the impact created by the homes towards a model of best practice that can be used by other organisations and governments to eliminate homelessness.

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