Page 269 - Demo

Department: Social DevelopmentNon-Profit Organisations A total of 1 251 NPOs were funded in line with the approved master list for the 2024/25 financial year. The department is mandated through the policy on financial awards to service providers to ensure that it provides support to NPOs in the form of transfers as a means of ensuring that services continue to reach the needy communities of the province. Furthermore,1 251 funded NPOs were monitored to ensure that funds transferred are utilized for the intended purpose and have added value to service delivery as outlined in the Transfer Payment Agreements (TPA) signed between the department and the entities. Poverty Alleviation and Sustainable Livelihoods As part of implementing the Food and Nutrition Security Strategy, 6 494 people accessed food through DSD Community Nutrition and Development Centre%u2019s ensuring access to regular nutritious hot meals to vulnerable individuals in all 6 districts and 2 Metros. In line with Integrated Food Security and Nutrition Policy 2000, 316 households accessed food through DSD food security programmes in all 8 districts. Provincial due diligence conducted to 14 household Food Gardens in preparation for funding and to verify feasibility and sustainability. Youth Development The department implemented skills development programmes by providing a foundation to 2 946 youth to enter a range of qualification-based training on community development methodologies and technical scarce skills, as a response to youth unemployment and to improve their skills and knowledge which will improve their ability to compete in the labour market and explore opportunities in establishing individual businesses. Women Development A total of 10 632 women were empowered on various issues including socio-economic issues, information sharing sessions on health issues and governance skills as follows: Gender Based Violence, Women Abuse, Crop production, Governance and Business Development, Business Plan Formulation, Organic Food Production, Basic Financial Literacy, Women`s Mental and Physical Health, Cooperative registration, Cooperative and NPO Acts. Recruitment of Social Service Practitioners There were 39 Social Service Professionals recruited to deal with the rising social ills. 2.2 Key challenges Rising social distress in families and communities There is generally increase in social pathology and social problems, such as substance abuse and escalating levels of crime and social violence which implies more services to be implemented by the department. Partial implementation of the Legislation The department is unable to implement completely the legislation in relation to Older Persons and Persons with disabilities due to limited equitable share allocation. This results in a lack of adequate funding for district operations, which included tools of trade and human capital provisioning (social workers and social work supervisors) Capacity constraints The recruitment of qualified social service professionals is of paramount importance to deal with the emerging social ills such as child malnutrition and gender-based violence. 248