The Government of South Africa has made the needs of all vulnerable children a priority by mounting a multi-sectoral response that involves most government departments, civil society and international donors to ensure that appropriate mechanisms and services are in place to offer concrete support to vulnerable children. The estimated number of children who have become orphaned and vulnerable in South Africa stood at 1.5 million as of October 2008. There was a total of 18.6 million children in South Africa in 2012. Nineteen percent of these children were orphans who had lost a mother, father or both parents; 23% of children do not live with either of their biological parents; and 0.5% of children lived in child-only households. Orphaned and vulnerable children experience a wide range of challenges due to poor health, poverty, inadequate care, lack of social support and many other reasons. Access to quality services and support is critical to their survival, protection and development. In 2011 the Department of Social Development (DSD) launched the Children’s Services Directory (CSD) which is a resource of provincial organizations serving orphans and vulnerable children. Aquity Innovations, formerly known as University Research South Africa, was awarded a contract by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID. in June 2012 to provide technical support to the DSD to update, maintain, develop DSD capacity to sustain the CSD, making it a viable, fully functional national resource that is actively enabling vulnerable children to access services they need. The specific objectives of the CSD Project are: • To provide support services to the (DSD) for the Children’s Services Directory • To promote the maintenance and sustainability of the Children’s Services Directory; and • To increase the prognosis for sustainability of the CSD.
in collaboration with the national Department of Social Development (DSD) to raise awareness of the public on the CSD and increase local capacity to use the CSD through networking and targeting services for vulnerable children and their households.
Includes service providers registered with the Department of Social Development as non-profit organizations. These are organizations that provide services and support to vulnerable children in each district,
The CSD is a Directory that contains information of non-profi t organisation registered with the Department of Social Development (DSD) which offer services and support to vulnerable children.
read moreThe government has made the needs of all vulnerable children a priority. The DSD is working with other government departments, civil society and international donors to ensure that services are in place to offer concrete support to vulnerable children. This directory is being developed to make available services known and accessible to children and their caregivers in times of need.
The process involves the verification of the NPO information as registered with the Department of Social Development. This is followed by field visits and engagements at local level in collaboration with provinces,districts and local municipalities to ensure ownership and sustainability of the process.
The Directory is an important reference for members of the public and concerned citizens wanting to assist children in need within their communities :
If you know of a child who is in need of help, use the CSD to refer that child to the relevant organisation...
The directory can be identified by the large logo on the cover page and the message “Know where to go – for our children, our future”
If you are a registered NPO providing services for vulnerable children, ensure that your organization details are on the directory from the Department of Social Development’s website. If your organization is not listed, please notify the department by email provided below.
All provinces will be educated on the CSD and ‘Know your Signs’. Eventually, the CSD will be rolled out in all provinces. Watch out for news/announcements of different provincial release dates
Conclusion of training of DSD officials on how to update, maintain, sustain and ensure effective usability of the system is a critical component
read moreThe verification process involved a system of checking and observing whether Organisations were providing the services they were listed as providing. About 4242 organisations working with children nationally were verified. They will appear in 9 different Provincial Directories
Successful upgrade of the CSD electronic system. The CSD has been successfully deployed into the DSD’s integrated IT System. User Acceptance Testing (UAT) was successfully undertaken. The CSD is thus available on all 3 platforms, USSD, website and hard-copies.
