The DG Murray Trust (DGMT) and Tshikululu Social Investments have this week announced that the call for proposals for Round III of the Vaccine Challenge Fund is now open.
In order to assist with the largest vaccination rollout in South Africa’s history, DGMT and Tshikululu joined forces last year to establish the Vaccine Challenge Fund. This initiative provides funding to qualifying NGOs and community-based organisations to increase access, facilitate local planning and co-ordination as well as increase COVID-19 vaccination awareness and education. Subsequently, the Discovery Fund and the Hotazel Manganese Mine Education Trust (HMMET) also joined the initiative to provide additional funding.
With the threat of COVID appears to be waning, the COVID-19 vaccination remains a safe and effective way to build protection, even as new variants emerge.
“Ultimately, the national vaccination programme will succeed if every adult in South Africa, regardless of income, social status, disability, place of residence or nationality, has the specific knowledge, motivation, and capability to receive a vaccination against Covid-19,” says David Harrison, CEO of the DG Murray Trust, who reiterates that this challenge requires a collaborative effort.
In August last year, 47% of adults over the age of 60 had not yet received one vaccination.
Fast forward to 3 December 2021 and this number had dropped to 34%.
While this initial success cannot be attributed solely to the Fund, it remains undisputed that NGOs within the communities are providing valuable assistance when it comes to increased coverage.
Round I of the fund saw 32 organizations within 54 districts, including metropolitan areas, awarded grants across all nine provinces. Round II targeted NGOs within 55 sub-districts countrywide.
Round III seesnon-profit organisations invited to apply for a R100 000 grant to help enable their participation in local coordination and mobilisation for the COVID-19 vaccination programme.
The difference this time is that these grants will be awarded to organisations working within 10 identified priority health sub-districts.
“Round III of the Vaccine Challenge Fund is specifically targeted at the sub-district with the highest number of unvaccinated people in each of the top 10 health districts with the highest number of unvaccinated people in the country,” explains Graeme Wilkinson, a Social Investment Specialist at Tshikululu Social Investments.
He explains that the purpose of this round of funding is to support the participation of civil society organisations in area-based teams, comprised of local leadership drawn from across the public, private and civil society sectors. “We would like to strengthen local linkages, by providing limited funding to help facilitate the participation of local NGO capacity in their local area-based team,” he says.
Sub-districts which have been identified for Round III funding are:
- eThekwini MM SD within the KwaZulu-Natal’s eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality (with an unvaccinated population of 2 175 882)
- Johannesburg D SD in Gauteng’s City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality (with an unvaccinated population of 971 981)
- Tshwane 1 SD in Gauteng – City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality (with an unvaccinated population of 641 016)
- Ekurhuleni South 2 in Gauteng’s Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality (with an unvaccinated population of 482 269)
- CT Eastern SD in the Western Cape’s Cape Town Metropolitan Municipality (with an unvaccinated population of 389 954)
- Rustenburg LM in the North West’s Bojanala Platinum District (with an unvaccinated population of 385 182)
- City of Mbombela LM in Mpumalanga’s Ehlanzeni District (with an unvaccinated population of 356 873)
- Emalahleni LM in Mpumalanga’s Nkangala District (with an unvaccinated population of 340 088)
- King Sabata Dalindyebo LM in the Eastern Cape’s OR Tambo District (with an unvaccinated population of 247 539)
- Govan Mbeki LM in Mpumalanga’s Gert Sibande District (with an unvaccinated population of 172 039)
(Figures correct as at 17 March 2022)
Qualifying NGOs who are selected will be able to use this funding to engage with community organisations and networks to promote the uptake of vaccination and help address the challenges of accessing vaccination sites, by providing transport or by mobilising local transport providers to get involved, for example.
“Our country remains large, and resource constrained. We hope that this effort will go some way in bringing together local partners, on whom the success of the COVID-19 vaccination programme ultimately rests,” Wilkinson says.
NGOs falling within the above listed districts interested in applying for a Vaccine Challenge Fund grant are urged to go to www.tshikululu.org.za and to click on the Request for Proposal tab.
Deadline for application is 12:00 on 28 April 2022.
