The Ubusha Foundation (TUF) is a multifaceted nonprofit organization (NPO) with a mission of changing lives, improving livelihoods, setting platforms for socio-economic inclusion, and creating a culture of innovative problem solving. The Ubusha Foundation is registered in terms of the Nonprofit Organization Act of 1997 (Act 71 of 1997) and was entered into the register with the Department of Social Development on the 29th of January 2018, with registration number 202-631 NPO and Public Benefit Organization (PBO) number 930070401 from the South African Revenue Services (SARS). The organization has a focus on children, youths and women as beneficiaries, however, it expands its services beyond.
As a multidisciplinary organization, we are interested in different aspects and stages of social, economic, and political issues, which has resulted in developing the seven pillars of the organization, viz. education and skills training, health and wellbeing, volunteerism, creativity and innovation, social support, environment, and rural and urban agriculture. We aim to work towards achieving our mission and goals through through advocacy, psychosocial support, sensitisation, community outreaches, networking, educational support, environmental protection and conservation, and innovation. The bottom line is to create lasting solutions to poverty and unemployment, and training champions in the real world to become agents of change, entrepreneurs, and peace makers.
South Africa’s unemployment rate surged to the highest on a global list of 82 countries monitored by Bloomberg. In particular, unemployment continues to burden the youth with nearly two-thirds or 64.4% of those aged 15 to 24 unemployed and 42.9% of those aged 25 to 34 unemployed .The burden of unemployment is also concentrated amongst the youth as they account for 59,5% of the total number of unemployed persons. The unemployment rate among the youth is high irrespective of education level. The graduate unemployment rate was 40,3% for those aged 15–24 and 15,5% among those aged 25–34 years, while the rate among adults (aged 35–64 years) was 5,4%...
Some of these young people have become discouraged from participating in the labour market and they are also not building on their skills base through education and training – they are not in employment, education or training.Of the 10,2 million persons aged 15–24 years, 32,4% (approximately 3,3 million) were not in employment, education or training – implying that close to one in three young South Africans between the ages of 15 and 24 years were disengaged with the labour market in the first quarter of 2021. The NEET rate, seen in conjunction with unemployment rates over 60%, suggests that the youth face extreme difficulties engaging with the labour market in South Africa. (NEET).
Education and prior work experience play an important role in the labour market. Employers often prefer to employ those with previous work experience and a higher level of education. Unfortunately for the youth, lack of work experience is a stumbling block that results in them finding it hard to secure employment. Those with jobs are often concentrated in Trade, Agriculture, and Finance and other business services industries. Low and semi-skilled youth employment is concentrated in the Trade industry, while high-skilled youth employment is in the Community and social services as well as Finance and other business services industries. In most cases, these young people have contracts that have unspecified duration or the contracts are of a limited duration, and consequently do not have access to employee benefits such as medical aid, pension fund, paid sick leave and permanent employment.
Our vision is to inspire and nurture children, youths, and women to become independent, self-driven, motivated and willing to take part in socio-economic activities. We also envision a South Africa where the youths are innovators, problem solvers, initiators, and engaged in reducing poverty, while promoting social wellbeing and increased economic activities. We will achieve this by working towards the following seven goals and pillars:
1. Cultivate and implement training and skills development programmes.
2. Promote mental and physical health or wellbeing through psychological services.
3. Create opportunities for volunteerism and social awareness.
4. Stimulate creativity and innovation through implementation of new technologies.
5. Engage with less privileged, homeless, and destitute through food drives and other initiatives.
6. Include the principle of sustainable development and initiatives that protect and promote a healthy environment.
7. Improve livelihoods through rural and urban agriculture.
The Ubusha Foundation offers children, youth, and women that have been identified as ‘at-risk’, unskilled or uneducated, an opportunity to work with a caring mentor to develop a positive attitude towards their future. The long-term standing of TUF is to empower children and young adults to break free from bad habits that lead to troubled lives such as in schools and in the streets. The Ubusha Foundation establishes itself as a resource and training hub for young people (and disadvantaged adults), with a set of skills, education, and experience for the workplace and entrepreneurial skills to start own businesses. The following programmes and services are offered:
“You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.” ― Buckminster Fuller.
World Bank data show the country has an 87% adult literacy rate, ranking below countries such as Mexico (95%), Brazil (93%) and Azerbaijan (99.8%). The figure for South Africa represents a decline of around 7% in two years.
According to data released by the UNESCO(link is external) Institute for Statistics, literacy rates for adults and youth continue to rise. Young women aged 15-24 are making the strongest gains, but still lag behind young men. In 2011, 87% of female youth had basic literacy skills, compared to 92% of males. Overall, more than half of countries with data have youth literacy rates of 95% or higher.
Despite these gains, 774 million adults (15 years and older) still cannot read or write – two-thirds of them (493 million) are women. Among youth, 123 million are illiterate of which 76 million are female. Even though the size of the global illiterate population is shrinking, the female proportion has remained virtually steady at 63% to 64%.
Africa has the youngest population in the world, with 70% of sub-Saharan Africa under the age of 30. Such a high number of young people is an opportunity for the continent's growth – but only if these new generations are fully empowered to realise their best potential.
The ways food is currently produced, processed, distributed, consumed and wasted are widely recognized as unsustainable, from both ecological and social perspectives. Inequity and injustice are endemic in the ways costs, risks and rewards are generated and distributed within and by food systems (Akram-Lodhi, 2013), and there are many examples of environmental unsustainability in agriculture and agro-industry (Campbell et al., 2017)..
The programme seeks to address issues of youth unemployment, We also provide training and support to create rural & urban employment, Donors and development practitioners can join forces for advancing policies and programmes for creating more and better jobs for young people in agriculture.