The collaborative Leave No Young Child Behind (LNYCB) initiative was launched in 2015 with the aim of implementing the National Integrated Early Childhood Development (ECD) Policy in two impoverished wards of Nkomazi. Over the past six years, the DO MORE FOUNDATION and its partners have been working together to promote universal access to a comprehensive package of quality services to meet young children’s developmental rights and needs in the area. Due to the success of the collaborative model and the impact it has had on young children in Nkomazi, the Foundation has now extended it to Pongola and Rustenburg, with more sites targeted in 2023. The results of a recent Early Learning Outcome Measure (ELOM) study in Nkomazi showed that young children benefiting from the LNYCB initiative performed at a level associated with learners in quintile 5 level (the best resourced schools), despite living in a resource-poor community. The study confirmed the positive impact of key ECD resources provided through the LNYCB initiative – including nutrition, trained teachers, toys, books, parental involvement through parenting programmes and government involvement.

In order to change the situation for young children in this area, we have embarked on a multi-stakeholder collaborative process. In line with the National Integrated ECD Policy, as well as scoping exercises conducted in this community, the team are working to deliver a broad basket of services to the young children of Nkomazi, focusing on:

• Maternal and Child Health

• Food security and Nutrition

• Child safety and protection

• Early Learning through play

• Infrastructure and Services for ECD

• Parental and Caregiver Support

• The first 1000 days

• Capacity building and leadership development (for ECD programme staff and ECD partners)

With over 42% of the South African population between the ages of 15 - 35 years (youth) and 70% of the unemployed being youth, we are facing a crisis in terms of supporting this younger generation. The Hammarsdale community in KwaZulu-Natal in particular has been hard hit by food insecurity caused by widespread unemployment in the area. When we started working in this community in 2017, our initial scoping exercise highlighted a critical need to invest in the creation of economic opportunities and skills development for the families of Hammarsdale. At the time our focus areas included the need to support families in addition to young children and this became a core focus of the #DoMoreHammarsdale initiative.

Jumping into action, our Foundation spearheaded the formation of this multi-partner Greater Hammarsdale Community Development Initiative, partnering with businesses, local authorities and Government to stimulate enterprise growth in the community. The Township Economy Programme model aims to address rising poverty levels among youth by uplifting a new generation of entrepreneurs who use local resources in their community to create business. This ready-to-deliver entrepreneurship training programme builds confidence and provides practical business skills to the youth (regardless of education or income levels), assisting them to help discover the leader within. Once beneficiaries are recruited from the community, they benefit from in-depth entrepreneurship training. They are then converted into small enterprises and provided with market linkages, practical support and mentoring, business administration skills and assistance with applications for micro-financing through the Township Economy Programme.

The Township Economy Programme assists small businesses and budding entrepreneurs to launch, grow, manage and sustain viable businesses. This multi-partner programme focuses on enhancing entrepreneurship and accelerating youth- and women-owned and managed enterprises in the community. Thus far, the programme has provided a kick start to numerous small businesses, equipping them with essential business skills including web design, business administration, market research, branding, marketing, access to micro-financing and market linkages.

Our approach is to work with families to use local resources in their community to create businesses. It is a model to end extreme poverty by uplifting a new generation of entrepreneurs. In addition to the Enterprise development programmes benefitting ECD Centres in the community of Hammarsdale, we are also focused on delivering a wider basket of services to help meet the rights and needs of young children:

• Food security and Nutrition

• Early Learning through play

• Infrastructure and Services for ECD

• Capacity building and leadership development (for ECD programme staff and ECD partners)

The community of Worcester is under threat from rising rates of poverty, crime and drug use. This has a negative impact on families, relationships, and the healthy development of young children in the area. In 2019, the DO MORE FOUNDATION co-created a vision for “Worcester - a place where young children flourish”. It is through this whole-of-society approach that the private, public and non-profit sectors have come together over the past few years to help vulnerable families and build some remarkable stories. In line with the National Integrated ECD Policy, as well as scoping exercises conducted in this community, the team are working to deliver a broad basket of services to the young children of Worcester, focusing on:

• Maternal and Child Health

• Food security and Nutrition

• Child safety and protection

• Early Learning through play

• Infrastructure and Services for ECD

• Parental and Caregiver Support

• The first 1000 days

• Capacity building and leadership development (for ECD programme staff and ECD partners)

In November 2020 the DO MORE FOUNDATION commissioned local partners to conduct a scoping report of the uPhongolo local municipal area to identify opportunities to promote and support the well-being of young children in the community as has been done by the Foundation in Worcester and Nkomazi. The #DoMore4Pongola project started from humble beginnings in 2020, supplying DO MORE porridge to 20 ECD centres in uPhongolo during the pandemic. Since then, the DO MORE FOUNDATION and Lulamaphiko (our implementing partner on the ground) has embarked on a long-term strategy to support as many young children as possible across the municipality.

We have focused on co-creating a comprehensive initiative for the future that promotes the wellbeing of young children in uPhongolo; establishing and strengthening partnerships with local government, civil society organisations, and ECD centres; gathering accurate data on ECD centres, their staff, families and young children to inform future plans; and working closely with ECD centres to improve the knowledge, skills and access to key resources and services. In line with the National Integrated ECD Policy, as well as scoping exercises conducted in this community, the team are working to deliver a broad basket of services to the young children of uPhongolo, focusing on:

• Maternal and Child Health

• Food security and Nutrition

• Child safety and protection

• Early Learning through play

• Infrastructure and Services for ECD

• Parental and Caregiver Support

• Capacity building and leadership development (for ECD programme staff and ECD partners)