Civil society refers to a realm of autonomous groups, unions, associations, NGOs, interest groups, clubs, families, so on and so forth, that are private and organised in pursuit of their interest. Civil society by its very nature seeks to influence public policy or legislation but not to take government control.
This passage is going to talk about Bulembu Ministries Swaziland (BMS), a childcare service provider which is part of the civil society of Eswatini as it is a non-profit organization. The passage will continue to discuss one of its social projects and explain the extent to which the ministry is able to influence institutional/policy agenda.
The main project of BMS is the childcare programme.
This programme, according the to the NGO’s website www.bulembu.org provides care to over 350 orphaned and vulnerable children, some of whom live with HIV, by using the established infrastructure, of what was known as Havelock Mine, to start up enterprises that help sustain the childcare programme.
Some enterprises that the ministry has established are the Bulembu Honey, which is the largest producer and processor of honey in Eswatini, Bulembu Water obtained at Mafini in eZulwini and the Bulembu Clinic, which serves the 350 orphans and vulnerable children which are part of the childcare programme.
The Bulembu Ministries Swaziland, non-profit Christian organisation, was formed in 2006. Weavind (2014) in the Guardian website says the organization was formed in a town that had been once a mine in the 1960s and had been left deserted after the mine liquidated and shut down in 2001 due to sicknesses that arose resulting from the asbestos there.
Neal Rijkenberg, who is currently the nation’s Minister of Finance and one of the directors of the Bulembu Ministries, working alongside Vernon Puttkammer, who now is the general manager, Andrew le Roux, who however is now a former executive of the ministry and many other international partners started an orphanage that would improve living conditions for orphaned children, vulnerable children, abandoned children and children living with HIV in the Kingdom of Eswatini.
According to Sakhile Gamedze, a male young adult who is a product of the ministry, the ministry’s mission statement and vision is:
·to raise leaders while restoring a town for sustainable Kingdom transformation by restoring hope, equipping lives and build families through Christ centred community care and community enterprises.
Bulembu Ministries is part of Challenge Ministries Swaziland (CMS) and serves Bulembu and Hawane homes by providing management of the family ministries’ child sponsorship program as well as administrative services and operational oversight. They all have a common vision which is to raise generations of Swazi leaders who will contribute to transforming their nation.
According to the IMF, close to 40% of Swaziland’s 1 million citizens are unemployed and the CIA’s Fact Book (2006) indicates that official government statistics show 55% of Swazi’s aged 15-24 are chronically out of work – yet while tens of thousands of youth enter the work force every year, few find employment.
This low uptake is largely due to a mismatch between the skills required by industry and the outputs of the education system. So to respond to this BMS was able to start a vocational training programme which has the overall objective to alleviate poverty and unemployment by providing vocational training and job-creation projects for unemployed young Swazi’s – especially those from historically disadvantaged communities.
The NGO helps the social welfare services of the Eswatini and the National Plan of Action for Children (NPA) to advocate for the protection and wellbeing Swazi children. It along with other orphanages in the country like SOS Children’s Village, Pasture Valley, Halfway House, and New Life Children`s Home, have the objective of strengthening Eswatini’s Child Protection System.
According to Long (2013:p16) the ministry does this by collecting data and putting it together into one overall protection picture, so the focus remains exclusively on ‘violence’ or ‘trafficking’ or ‘residential care’, without consideration of the multiple protection risks that an abused, trafficked or institutionalised child may need to be protected from, for the NPA to use to assess the child protection system of the country.
According to UNICEF report (2009) Swaziland has an extremely high number of children without adequate family care, largely due to the long-term consequences of HIV. 153,534 children have lost one or both parents, of whom 13,912 are due to HIV. One third of all Swazi children are not living with their biological parents. Therefore BMS has been successful in being an alternative care point for many homeless children in the Kingdom of Eswatini.
References
- Online content: www.bulembu.org retrieved 02 October 2019
- Sakhile Gamedze (2019) +268 78179263 interviewed: 14:15 Thursday 03 October
- Weavind T (2014) Playing in the shadow of asbestos mine dumps, 05 Sep, Guardian website retrieved: Oct 02, 2019
- Long S (2013) Protecting Swaziland’s Children: Strengthening Swaziland’s Child Protection system: Mapping and assessment study, Maestral International, LLC, United States of America
- UNICEF report (2009) Protecting Swaziland’s Children: Strengthening Swaziland’s child protection system: A mapping and assessment study CIA’s Fact Book (2006) The IMF (·)
- *Pinheiro PS (2006) World report on violence against children. Geneva: United Nations General Assembly.
- *Jones N. (2009) Promoting synergies between child protection and social protection: West and Central Africa. Overseas Development Institute/UNICEF West and Central Africa Regional Office.
- *National Children Coordination Unit (March 2010) National Plan of Action for Children 20011-2015
- *Department of Social Welfare & UNICEF (2013) Strengthening social welfare systems in Swaziland
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