As part of the Child Protection Week activities, the Deputy Minister of Social Development, Mrs Bongi Maria Ntuli today, 2 June 2011 launch the Children Services Directory at the Gateway Hotel in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal province. The Deputy Minister will be accompanied by the MEC for Social Development in KwaZulu-Natal province, Dr Meshack Radebe and United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Consul General Ms Jill Dederian.
The Children Services Directory is intended to serve as a resource to individuals, families, caregivers and organisations working with children in South Africa. It contains about 4 000 names and details of registered community based organisations, faith based organisations and government institutions that provide a wide range of services to children.
“The diverse needs of vulnerable children and their families can only be addressed through a coordinated approach and strong partnerships between government and civil society organisations. At the heart of these partnerships is the need to have clear referral systems to enable children to access appropriate services. With this in mind, the Department of Social Development, with the assistance of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) embarked on a process of developing a directory of services for organisations providing services to vulnerable children and families” said Deputy Minister Ntuli.
“The Children Services Directory being launched today contains a wealth of information on available services for children from a number of organisations, including child protection services. Most importantly, this directory will enable local organisations to easily identify other organisations working in the same field, thus opening up opportunities for partnerships with other organisations committed to meeting the needs of children in a comprehensive, caring and effective manner. I urge all those with a genuine interest in the well being of our children to use this Directory, and I am confident that the directory will be of great value to those working to protect and better the lives of our children” added Deputy Minister Ntuli.
The Children Services Directory is routinely updated electronically to incorporate recent information on the service providers. The hard copy is linked to the web service located at http://www.dsd.gov.za which has this updated information.
The media is invited to cover the event.
Enquiries:
Abram Phahlamohlaka
Cell: 082 928 6590
