mission

Our mission is to catalyse investment in community driven, quality Early Childhood Development (ECD). We want to see a fair start in life for children aged 0-5 years in marginalised communities.

the challenge

of children are developmentally at risk due to malnutrition and poor stimulation

of ECD centres operate from poor facilities with minimum resources.

of the women working in ECD centers lack income.

our Operations

Impande currently operates in all four municipalities in UGU District and Ubuhlebezwe and uMzimkhulu Municipalities in Harry Gwala District, KZN. In Eastern Cape we operate in Ntabankulu, Umzimvubu and WM Mandela Municipalities in Alfred Nzo District.

our approach

community

Local Staff and Network with Community buy-in

influence

Strong government relations and partnerships

sustainability

Investment unlocks government funding

data

System in place to map preschools and allocate resources

We will only see an equal tomorrow when children are given a fair start in life.

Research shows that the first years of a child´s life are crucial and that the effects of malnutrition and poor stimulation are almost impossible to repair.

South Africa continues to face systemic marginalization and dire poverty where children are stunted and unstimulated. Statistics show us that most poor children in South Africa continue to be in the former homeland areas of KZN, Eastern Cape and Limpopo provinces. Alfred Nzo district, the most recent area we have started working, is the poorest district in the country according to Stats SA multiple deprivation index and performs poorly (bottom 10 districts in the country) on pediatric health indicators in the district health barometer.

Good-quality early learning services are of particular importance when it comes to ensuring children from poor households are supported in their development and readiness to learn. The Thrive by Five Index show that 61% of South African preschool children from poor communities are behind or at risk in their development. This is of great concern as 90% of brain development happens before the age of 5.

We get communities, government and business working together to support early childhood development.

We build on what already exists by investing in existing grassroots ECD services.

If it was not for the 1459 centres currently in existence in the areas where we work, there would be no ECD services for children here. Despite their importance, ECD centres in marginalised communities remain unknown and significantly under resourced. This cements cycles of inequality for generations to come.

Whilst South African government policy is pro-poor, government regulations for support of ECD centres are such that more than 50% of ECD centres do not manage to access the ECD (partial care) subsidy, further disadvantaging the poorest children. In WMM Municipality the situation is even more dire, only 25% of ECD centres that exist have partial care registration. The majority of these centres operate from buildings that do not meet minimum standards. These centres run from makeshift buildings such as shacks and traditional mud structures and lack toilets facilities.

WE REACH THE MOST MARGINALISED AND ACHIEVE HIGH RETURNS BY DIRECTING INVESTMENTS AT GRASSROOTS

Experience tells us that isolated ECD services fail to progress due to lack of access to information and support.

Our work fits into the broader landscape by providing a strong response to the 2021 ECD Census. This was a process in which Impande was highly involved. It is the first time that a census of ECD centres has been done in South Africa and it has revealed there are a huge number of unsupported ECD centres in existence.

Impande works work closely with government, stakeholders and the private sector to drive investment in grassroots ECD. All our work is grounded in a solid ECD network to ensure community participation and effective resource allocation. The Impande journey represents a holistic approach to ECD. To ensure sustainable ECD programmes we work towards registration of more centres with the aim of increasing subsidies. We also see to immediate needs of nutrition, infrastructure and ECD resources. To achieve quality, we provide ongoing support and training to strengthen institutional capacity and classroom practice.

HISTORY

Interview with founding Chairperson, Nomkhosi Mdluli, talking about our history and why we started.

Impande Yotshani NPC (formerly Network Action Group or NAG) was established in the year 2000 by Nomkhosi Mdluli, a local woman in UGU District with a passion of facilitating social change in communities. Her vision in establishing Impande was driven by a need to create a platform for information sharing where local organisations could interact and deliberate on real issues affecting their communities. This became an appropriate platform for linking these organisations with various stakeholders including government, simultaneously building their capacity to manage and run community initiatives.

During its establishment, the majority of organisations that were affiliated to Impande focused mainly on HIV/AIDS which at that time was the major concern for communities in UGU District. With time, more organisations focusing in other areas of community development became members of Impande and a network organisation with multiple focuses on social initiatives was born. However, in the past seven years Impande has evolved and now works with organisations supporting children and youth. In other words, in order to service communities more effectively, Impande has refined its strategy to focus exclusively on strengthening organisations that are working with children from 0-5 years old.

meet the team

The people that work at Impande share the vision and values of grassroots development.

our board

Our boardmembers that share the vision and values of grassroots development.

Nozuko majola

Nozuko previously served as an advisor to the board when she was working for national government. She currently works for the South African National AIDS Council. In 2017 she joined Impande as Executive Director. Nozuko has vast government and civil society leadership experience with the Aids Foundation and the Department of Social Development. She is passionate about supporting grassroots organisations and comes from Alfred Nzo District Municipality in the Eastern Cape.

Brian Liggett (ex officio)

Brian has over ten years’ experience working with rural Community-based Organisations in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN). His undergraduate studies in human geography and postgraduate in rural development led him to pioneer Impande office and programmes over the last 9 years. He was a founding member of Siyavuna.org.za and Siyakwazi.org and sits on many government forums. Brian has knowledge and experience working with government and extensive government networks in KZN, Eastern Cape and at national level.

ADVISORY COMMITTEE

All our work is grounded in community participation. Our advisory committee comprise of elected representatives from grassroots organisations who drive our network agenda and inform what we do.