ChildSafe board chairperson Eleni White
The board of ChildSafe has worked hard to ensure the organisation's sustainability following several resignations.
This was the message of board chairperson Eleni White at its annual general meeting held on Thursday September 29. ChildSafe is a NPO and BPO child accident prevention unit based at the Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital.
Ms White said 2021 and 2022 saw a few changes to the board with resignations from Frans Bicker-Caarten and Professor Ashley van Niekerk. Thilda Nel held the role of interim executive director until the appointment of Zaitoon Rabaney.
“Ms Rabaney has more than 25 years experience in the NGO sector and 10 years in executive leadership. Zaitoon is a gift to ChildSafe as she has high regard for robust governance processes and guidelines as the foundation for courageous, out-of-the-box strategic thinking.”
Key interventions and programmes included home and child safety training; upskilling of Early Childhood Development (ECD) centre practitioners and teachers; training of ECD practitioners and teachers in Paediatric First Aid; encouraging safe and responsible driver behaviour through the Safe Travel to School programme; and contributing to the United Nations Global Plan – Decade of Action for Road Safety 2021-2030 through the Walking Safely to school programme for pedestrian safety and education.
The Safe Travel to School programme aims to encourage scholar drivers to install a tracking device that helps them check four key driving behaviours, namely: braking, cornering, accelerating and speeding.
The Home Safety Programme (HSP) works to create safe environments for young children under six years in and around the home through education.
“Children under the age of six are most at risk of preventable injuries such as burns, falls, poisoning, suffocation, drowning, choking, and electrocution. The HSP collaborates with caregivers, parents, child health and community workers, as well as early childhood development practitioners to build knowledge, education, and capacity to prevent future injuries,” said Ms White.
The programme also works closely with different wards of the Red Cross War Memorial Children's Hospital to ensure that caregivers of children who were admitted for preventable injuries are provided with education and counselling before the child is discharged.
Ms White also thanked the board and the ChildSafe team for holding the ship afloat during and post Covid-19.
“The board’s expertise has been felt in the many contributions from the sub-committees including HR policies and processes, finance systems for compliance and control, and the careful stewardship of donor funding. During the transition of executive leadership, several board members leaned in to supply extra support and I thank them for their contributions.
“As ChildSafe emerges into our new post-Covid world and the effects that it had on the traditional workplace, I want to thank the team for their resilience and fortitude in continuing to get the job done despite the trying circumstances.”
Ms Rabaney said a new strategy was planned for the immediate future, building on the new opportunities and diversifying income towards a more sustainable platform to ensure financial security for the future.
“We look forward to engaging with our partners, donors, supporters, and stakeholders as we plan to put the building blocks in place for the strategic focus areas for the next five years.
“Organisations must remain relevant and agile in an ever-changing environment, which are hallmarks of sustainable organisations.”