WORTH

  • An innovative and game changing leadership training program in Africa. The program will be hosted by Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA)
  • The first cohort will walk through the doors on the 31st July 2014.

ELIGIBILITY

  • The YALI Regional Leadership Center West Africa is looking for young men and women between the ages of 18 and 35
  • From Togo, Nigeria, Ghana, Ivory Coast, The Gambia, Burkina Faso, Liberia, and Sierra Leone
  • Who are ready to embrace leadership and work hard to transform their countries.

DEADLINE: 12th June 2015.

To apply and for more information visit here.


CALL FOR NOMINATIONS: IJR RECONCILIATION AWARD

‘Confronting Exclusion’

The Institute for Justice and Reconciliation invites a call for nominations for its annual Reconciliation Award, for the period 2014/15.

Closing date: 30 June 2015

Background       

Since 2000, the Institute has afforded an annual Reconciliation Award to an individual, community or organisation in South Africa that has contributed towards reconciliation. Through this award the Institute acknowledges and showcases the recipients’ approaches and strategies to enable reconciliation, whether they originate in the spheres of politics, media, business, culture, sport, academia or community service.

The IJR Reconciliation Award 2014/2015 will strive to highlight the connection between reconciliation and inequality. This year’s Reconciliation Award will be given to an individual or organisation that has actively worked to overcome the exclusion of groups or individuals in South Africa. The selection criteria will focus on actions taken to ‘confront’ exclusions. These actions can involve activities, advocacy work, campaigns, empowerment, public awareness, direct change in legislation, achieving an institutional response to exclusion, as well as direct support to groups/individuals.

Exclusion refers to groups or individuals that do not have ease of access to social, political and/or economic rights within the South African context; lack or have been denied access to public goods and/or unequal treatment in terms of the South African constitution.

 “South Africa has made important political strides over the past two decades. It has created a framework of democratic legislative, executive and judicial institutions that mark a clear break from the apartheid past. In theory, they are inclusive and offer every citizen equal access to constitutionally protected rights. Their capacity to deliver, however, is coming under increasing pressure and, as this happens, citizen confidence in their efficacy is waning.

Much of the pressure, which ultimately may affect their legitimacy in the eyes of ordinary citizens, stems from the desperation and sense of economic exclusion experienced by those who find themselves at the wrong end of South Africa’s grossly unequal society. If this decline in trust persists, the cohesive effects of the country’s democratic institutions will diminish, and instability will become an increasingly common feature of political contestation.

An immediate, but only partial, remedy to the current state of affairs would be to prioritise transparency, accountability and leadership integrity within the system to restore trust in the bona fides of key institutions. The longer-term challenge will be to counter a growing sense of economic exclusion, where violent police action, rather than democratic process, is increasingly employed to stave off the manifestations of material anxiety experienced by struggling citizens.” Transformation Audit 2013: Confronting Exclusion

Previous recipients include, among others:

  • Symphonia for South Africa’s Partners for Possibility project – for enlivening reconciliation by helping to bridge the social, economic and geographical divides between the business and education sectors.’
    The Socio-Economic Rights Institute –
    for keeping the Marikana victims and their families on the national agenda.
  • Ms Olga Macingwane – for her continued commitment to community reconciliation.
  • Judge Albie Sachs – for realising reconciliation through his life and work.
  • Shine Centre – for helping, through volunteerism, foundation phase learners with literacy.

To view the full list of previous winners, please click here.

Nomination process:

Please complete the nomination (download it here) or complete it online, based on the following nomination criteria, by no later than 30 June 2015.

Nomination criteria:

1.)    The person/organisation nominations have to be based on the theme outlined in the call-out. The nominator needs to clearly state how the nominee links to the theme of the call-out.

2.)    The achievements accomplished or work done needs to include the previous year. This means it can span over a longer period of time but has to include the previous year (2014)

3.)    The achievements or work of the nominee has to be exceptional, and must have made a major contribution to reconciliation in the context where s/he is active. Exceptional means that it goes beyond the call of the person’s/organisation’s duty.

4.)    The person/organisation needs to be able to showcase the achievements made in terms of the theme ‘Confronting Exclusion’. The motivation needs to clearly state what actions were taken to ‘confront’ meaning highlight/expose exclusion. The nomination needs to also explain the form of exclusion that has been addressed by the organisation individual.

5.)    The nominee should provide a living testimony to the values of democracy, inclusivity and non-violence, in public and private life.

6.)    The nominee has to be based in South Africa and the reconciliation work has to relate to achievements in South Africa.

7.)     The person or organisation cannot nominate him/her/themselves. No Board members or staff of the organisation can nominate its own organisation.

8.)    The organisation/person shall not have received more than one award in the lifetime (for individuals post education achievements)

9.)    A completed motivation and application form needs to be submitted by the closing date.

Specific criteria for Individuals:

  • Age: 21 years or older
  • Maximum of one award received post education

Specific criteria for Organisations:

  • Minimum 3 years in existence
  • Maximum of one award received
  • Type = needs to fall into one of the following categories of NGO, Civil Society Organisation, public institution, academic institution, social movement

Timelines:

30 June 2015 – Close of nominations

30 September 2015 – Confirmation of finalists

26 November 2015 – Award ceremony in Cape Town

E-mail the completed form to: MNewman@ijr.org.za with “Reconciliation Award” as the subject line.

Or post to:

Institute for Justice and Reconciliation

“Reconciliation Award”

105 Hatfield Street

Gardens 8001

Or give us a call on 021 202 4071.

www.ijr.org.za

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Institute-for-Justice-and-Reconciliation

More Questions? Call Margo on 021 202 4086 or email her on Mnewman@ijr.org.za