City of Cape Town collaborates with international organisation to end homelessness
The Mould Empower Serve non-profit organisation has applauded the City for joining a global initiative focused on ending homelessness. From left: Head of City's Street People Programme, Megan Pangni; Director of the City's community services and health directorate, Zukiswa Mandlana; and the chief executive of Institute for Global Homelessness, Julia Wage.
Image: Supplied
The Mould Empower Serve (MES) non-profit, which operates three branches that serve homeless people in the northern suburbs, has applauded the City for joining a global initiative focused on ending homelessness.
MES participated in the National Homeless Conversation last week, where the City signed a formal Memorandum of Agreement, joining 17 others working with the Institute for Global Homelessness (IGH) to reduce the number of homeless persons.
A series of plenary sessions, panel discussions, and workshops were held at the City Hall during the conference on Tuesday and Wednesday, November 4–5.
The institute launched the first Vanguard Cities cohort in 2017 to support expertise and innovation in addressing homelessness. Cape Town was the eighteenth city to join the programme.
The agreement was signed by mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis and other officials following the conference, which included contributions from organisations such as Cape Town Central City Improvement District, U-turn, Streetscapes, and The Haven, among other organisations.
Ilse Maartens, the branch manager of MES in Cape Town, said: “This partnership represents a vital collective step toward addressing homelessness in a coordinated, measurable, and sustainable way. We are proud to stand alongside our partners in creating pathways to dignity, work readiness, and community reintegration for those who have experienced homelessness.”
The mayoral committee member for community services and health, Francine Higham, said: "By joining this global network, we can share lessons from our experience of helping rough sleepers off the street, but also learn valuable lessons from other member cities."
In line with the agreement, the City has committed to:
* Annually measure the extent of homelessness in the metropole and report to the IGH
* Working with the IGH to set, and work towards accomplishing objectives specific to Cape Town
* Engaging with people of lived experience and committing to equity and inclusion practices
* Actively engaging in sharing Cape Town's perspectives and best practices with others in the Vanguard Programme
* Attending the annual Vanguard Summit
The mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis signed a formal Memorandum of Agreement, joining 17 others working with the Institute for Global Homelessness to reduce the number of homeless persons.
Image: Supplied