Synergos in South Africa

Background

South Africa commands much international attention because of its dramatic democratic transformation since 1994, as well as its growing commercial power and economic dominance in Southern Africa -- and in Africa as a whole. The country plays a crucial leadership role in such ambitious African development and integration projects as the African Union, the Southern Africa Development Community and the New Partnership for African Development. But after more than ten years of democracy, social inequality has grown and poverty is a pervasive reality for the majority of black South Africans. Transformation in South and Southern Africa remains a long-term endeavour.

Synergos' Role

Synergos works with partners in South Africa and other parts of the region to strengthen the capacity of grantmaking organizations, other bridging organizations and individual philanthropists to reduce poverty, increase equity and advance social justice. We also help build partnerships and collaboration among civil society, business, government, international agencies and philanthropists active in the region.

Two examples of our work at the country-level in South Africa are:

• efforts to increase capacity to address the HIV/AIDS crisis
• work to strengthen the lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans-gendered (LGBT) community, described below.

Information on other aspects of our work are described in the overview of Synergos in Southern Africa.

Partnerships to Improve HIV/AIDS Service Delivery

Synergos is engaged in a collaborative effort with the Development Dialogue Program of the Kagiso Trust (KT), a registered public benefit organisation. With KT, Synergos has undertaken a dialogue and research process in Greater Alexandra, Johannesburg, focused on the theme "strengthening community partnerships for HIV/AIDS service delivery." To promote the flow of resources and funds towards the HIV/AIDS crisis in Alexandra, Synergos and Kagiso Trust are:

• Conducting multi-stakeholder dialogues in the community to identify major community concerns
• Helping to formulate and support relevant development partnerships to ensure more effective and sustainable HIV/AIDS service delivery partnerships
• Exploring the feasibility of a multi-stakeholder trust or community foundation to support local HIV/AIDS service delivery.

Synergos is also providing some advisory and technical support to the African Leadership Initiative (ALI), to advance a multi-stakeholder partnership building process to generate innovation, leadership, and action around the complex problem of orphans and other vulnerable children affected by HIV/AIDS in South Africa.

The project employs an innovative approach based on decades of experience with multi-stakeholder dialogue, action-learning, systems thinking and leadership development. This approach, called the "Change Lab," moves significantly beyond a conference-based approach, in that it includes leadership development training elements as well as joint implementation of initiatives within the process itself.

LGBT Sustainability and Partnership Building Initiative

The broad goal of this initiative is to strengthen the lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans-gendered community in South Africa -- and specifically those from historically disadvantaged communities -- to take advantage of the rights andobligations guaranteed in the Section Nine of the South African Constitution.

In particular, the project aims to promote more effective networking and partnership building; improved fundraising and sustainability planning; better communications capacity; and an expanded outreach by LGBT organizations to the disadvantaged majority of LGBT people in South Africa.

Activities include training, capacity-building workshops and technical support consultancies. In addition, Synergos is exploring the feasibility of creating a "community foundation" to raise local resources and fund the public benefit work of LGBT organizations in South Africa.

March 2007