South Africa is living in a situation without precedent. Never before have so many children been orphaned, required to care for parents who are ill, afflicted by illness themselves, or obliged to care for siblings in child-headed households. One of South Africa’s most pressing systemic challenges is how to deliver on the rights of children promised in the Constitution and to provide a concerted response that can be both loving and sufficiently large in scale.
The LINC fellowship was initiated by Convene Venture Philanthropy, the South African Department of Social Development and the National Action Committee for Children affected by HIV and AIDS (NACCA) in 2006. It is a partnership between Convene Venture Philanthropy, Reos Social Innovation, and the Synergos Institute. The Department of Social Development and NACCA remain key stakeholders, with high level involvement in, and support of, the Fellowship. It provides a space in which leaders working with children can practice their leadership skills, enhance their collaboration with each other and explore ways of thinking innovatively around the challenges facing millions of South African children.
