Partners
We value our collaborative partnerships
Partnerships built on inclusivity, social awareness and a commitment to making a tangible difference have been at the heart of the Africa Centre’s operations from day one. Collaborating with others who have similar goals plays a critical role in problem-solving, innovation, impact and collective success. By bringing together different perspectives, skills, expertise and tools we can all achieve so much more than if we work in isolation.
International partners
About Caregivers Empowerment Network – Africa (CENetA)
Caregivers Empowerment Network – Africa (CENetA) is a regional non-profit organisation committed to advancing the rights, wellbeing and recognition of family and unpaid caregivers across Africa who support individuals with non-communicable diseases (NCDs), disabilities, age-related conditions or long-term illnesses such as HIV/Aids and TB. It was established in 2024 in response to the increasing burden of family caregiving in households, mainly undertaken by women and girls. Based in Kenya and active throughout sub-Saharan Africa, CENetA aims to centre caregivers as vital contributors to public health, community resilience and national development through a combination of policy advocacy, research, mental health support, capacity building and networking.
Collaboration with the Africa Centre
The objective of this partnership is to influence and advocate for policy changes, generate evidence and build capacity for unpaid family caregivers and their stakeholders in Southern Africa and beyond. This will be achieved by combining the academic and research expertise of the Africa Centre with the community-led, advocacy and global networks of CENet to promote joint research on unpaid care work (and disseminating this knowledge), strengthen caregiving capacity, co-develop advocacy strategies and policy briefs, facilitate joint events and mobilise resources for grants, student bursaries and community projects.
About Coalition Plus
Coalition Plus is an international coalition of community-based NGOs involved in the fight against HIV/Aids. The network is active in over 50 countries via more than 100 civil society organisations working across several HIV/Aids-related areas, including community screening, risk reduction, advocacy and capacity building. Coalition Plus focuses on the fact that HIV/Aids affects certain key populations more than others since the stigma these groups face acts as a barrier to testing and accessing treatment. Their motto – “Nothing for us, without us!” – aims to recognise the valuable expertise of people infected, affected or particularly vulnerable to HIV/Aids and the importance of community involvement.
Collaboration with the Africa Centre
The organisation’s experience in community health programming, peer education and community facilitation is the reason why Coalition Plus and the Africa Centre have partnered to jointly develop the centre’s new Postgraduate Diploma in Community Health Management (to be released in 2026).
About Global Black Gay Men Connect (GBGMC)
The GBGMC is a not-for-profit, community-led global network and advocacy organisation founded in 2018. It is committed to advancing the health, rights and wellbeing of black gay men and other key populations. The GBGMC aims to meet its objectives by empowering communities, fostering resilience against oppression and building a platform where the collective voices of all people can be heard, with an emphasis on black and brown LGBTQIA+ people.
Collaboration with the Africa Centre
About HospiVision
HospiVision is a non-profit Christian faith-based organisation (FBO) that was established in 1997 to support patients at Pretoria Academic Hospital, which has since been renamed Tshwane District Hospital. Today, it provides psychosocial and spiritual care, counselling and training as well as physical support at several public hospitals. Ownership by the community, church, family and individuals involved is encouraged. HospiVision promotes a culture of lifelong learning and high-quality, accredited education and training.
Collaboration with the Africa Centre
The partnership between the Africa Centre and HospiVision provides a unique opportunity at the nexus of spirituality and health management to engage society, support communities and health personnel, generate evidence and knowledge products and develop skills and capacity. Specific activities include joint research on spirituality and community health and wellbeing, community engagement and capacity strengthening (particularly in care and support services), policy and advocacy work to address structural barriers in health facilities, co-hosting events and mobilising resources for community health and skills training initiatives.
About the International Labour Organization (ILO)
The ILO is a United Nations agency whose mandate is to advance social and economic justice through setting international labour standards.
Collaboration with the Africa Centre
The Africa Centre and the ILO collaborate on an ongoing basis. One of the past highlights is a collaborative study conducted in 2022 on the effectiveness and relevance of HIV/Aids, TB and Covid-19 legislation, workplace policies and programmes in the context of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and UNAIDS FastTrack goals. The study was conducted across different sectors/industries, such as mining and transport, and focused on leading organisations in these sectors. The findings were as follows:
- Workplace policies that are aligned with national legislation are in place across sectors.
- Organisations have a desire to contribute and/or invest in the fight against HIV/Aids and TB.
- However, workplace policies are not always relevant or effective. This reflects a poor understanding and knowledge of how to create a supportive environment for HIV-positive employees and protecting their rights.
- In cases where policies are effective, a collaborative, multisectoral model is usually in place, indicating the importance of regulatory compliance and support.
About UNAIDS
As the joint United Nations programme on HIV/Aids, UNAIDS brings together the efforts and resources of ten UN system organisations to the global HIV/Aids response. It is leading the global effort to end AIDS as a public health threat by 2030 and is committed to strengthening support to community-led and people-centred responses. UNAIDS is the only United Nations entity with civil society represented on its governing body.
Collaboration with the Africa Centre
Considering the strong strategic alignment between the Africa Centre and UNAIDS, the centre collaborates with UNAIDS on an ongoing basis as opportunities arise. The Africa Centre also previously conducted a study commissioned by UNAIDS that aimed to generate empirical evidence for the role of people-centred and community-led HIV-related service delivery in the context of the universal healthcare coverage debate.
About World Vision
World Vision is a Christian humanitarian organisation that aims to address the causes of poverty and injustice by helping children, families and communities reach their full potential. WVSARO (World Vision Southern Africa Regional Office) has been partnering with government ministries, faith leaders and individuals in Southern Africa for over 50 years.
Collaboration with the Africa Centre
The Africa Centre and WVSARO are working together to develop research programmes (including evaluations and social impact assessments) and social impact development models. Together, we also provide training and conduct and share research on a range of humanitarian and community issues via, for example, conferences, webinars, internship opportunities and fundraising for grants and bursaries.
African partners
About the African Institute for Sexual and Gender Health
The African Institute for Sexual and Gender Health (AISGH), an official implementing partner of the World Association for Sexual Health (WAS) in Africa, aims to promote comprehensive sexual and gender health education, research, awareness and advocacy through collaboration among universities, healthcare professionals and communities across the continent.
Collaboration with the Africa Centre
The Africa Centre-AISGH partnership is based on a collective mission to empower and educate future generations of healthcare providers and managers to promote sexual and gender health in support of fostering the wellbeing of individuals and communities. This is achieved by combining the Africa Centre’s research and academic resources and infrastructure with the AISGH’s sexual health and gender expertise and its network of strategic local and international partners. In addition to teaching, learning and research, the collaborative activities cover the areas of community engagement and capacity strengthening, policy and advocacy, industry events and resource mobilisation.
About the DG Murray Trust"s Rethink Your Drink project
The DG Murray Trust (DGMT) is a public innovator committed to developing South Africa’s potential through strategic investment. The DGMT has identified 10 opportunities to enable South Africa to escape the inequality trap and build a thriving society. The Rethink Your Drink project falls under the opportunity of releasing systemic chokes that trap SA society in inequality. The project aims to reduce harmful alcohol use and its significant health, social and economic consequences as well as costs by challenging the norms, policies and industry practices that promote and normalise heavy drinking. Find out more.
Collaboration with the Africa Centre
The partnership between the Africa Centre and the DGMT’s Rethink Your Drink project involves collaborating on several initiatives in the spheres of education, research and community engagement on the theme of harmful alcohol use in the context of inclusive health management, including the impact on health systems and links with violence and mental health. These include developing and presenting short courses and webinars and incorporating themed course units into the centre’s PgDip and MPhil programmes; undertaking and publishing research; executing community programmes that drive positive social impact and policy changes; and conducting baseline studies and impact assessments.
About the Foundation for Professional Development (FDP)
FPD provides health sector professionals and managers access to affordable, accessible quality education through customised management and clinical skills development courses. The educational offering includes formal postgraduate qualifications, short courses, in-house courses and conferences. FPD is registered as a Private Institution of Higher Education and meets the international criterial of a research university.
Collaboration with the Africa Centre
The Africa Centre and FDP are collaborating on several educational courses. These include jointly offering a range of online short courses and developing a new PgDip in Public Health Management based on selected advanced FDP certificate courses, to be presented by the Africa Centre. In addition, FDP will be hosting the 16th World Conference on Injury Prevention & Safety Promotion in Cape Town, South Africa in September 2026 and have invited the Africa Centre to be part of the national coordinating group.
About the Koketso Rakhudu Foundation
The Koketso Rakhudu Foundation (KRF) is an accredited community education and training centre committed to bridging traditional heritage and modern educational practices. It is situated within the Royal Bafokeng Nation (RBN), a historically rich community of 150 000 people in North West in South Africa. The key programmes the KRF offers include skills development workshops tailored to practical, job-aligned skills, youth empowerment initiatives encouraging leadership and teamwork and small business and entrepreneurial support. The KRF is a division of the Office of Kgosana Dr Koketso Rakhudu, a pioneering traditional and developmental governance institution aimed at fostering community-led growth and resilience in the greater RBN.
Collaboration with the Africa Centre
The KRF’s partnership with the Africa Centre extends the centre’s applied research and social impact footprint at a community level and empowers the KRF to strengthen its programmes, promoting community health and wellbeing. In practice, this involves conducting joint research, engaging and empowering community groups through training and mentorship, investing in local talent and skills, undertaking joint public outreach, research and advocacy, facilitating research events, disseminating knowledge and mobilising resources for student bursaries and projects.
About Men Engage Africa (MEA)
MEA was established in 2008 and is a member of the MenEngage Global Alliance, an international network of organisations that engage men and boys in the objectives of achieving gender equality, promoting health and reducing violence. Member organisations are all in some way involved in transforming patriarchal masculinities and working toward advancing gender justice, human rights and social justice in key areas, including sexual reproductive health and rights, gender-based violence and HIV prevention as well as children’s rights and positive parenting. MEA’s secretariat, Sonke, provides technical support to the member networks on communications, advocacy, movement building, research and knowledge management.
Collaboration with the Africa Centre
The Africa Centre is a founding member of MEA’s South Africa chapter and supports MEA SA’s activities and calls for gender equality and men’s involvement in gender and health-related issues on an ad hoc basis.
About the Organization of African First Ladies for Development (OAFLAD)
In 2002, first ladies of Africa came together to form African First Ladies against HIV/Aids (OAFLA) to be a united voice for Africa’s most susceptible citizens. They became an institution that can offer continent-wide leadership in terms of advocacy in the areas of HIV/Aids and a broad range of maternal and child health interventions. OAFLA was later named the Organization of African First Ladies for Development (OAFLAD), through which first ladies of Africa seek to leverage their position to advocate for policies that make health services accessible, with laws that boost women and youth empowerment.
Collaboration with the Africa Centre
The Africa Centre’s partnership with OAFLAD is based on collaboration around the African Research Universities Alliance (ARUA) universities and African First Ladies Research Roundtable project. The pilot initiative is informed by the role and key mandate of African universities as hubs of generating knowledge products through research, teaching and learning, combined with community engagement for societal impact. The Africa Centre also serves on the OAFLAD health working group and the education working group.
About St John of God College of Health Sciences
St John of God College is a private college that was established in 2003 under proprietorship of the Roman Catholic Church. The college is committed to contributing to the development of health professionals in Malawi by being a centre of excellence in education, research and training for quality mental health services in the region. Just like the Africa Centre, the college structures their activities on the three pillars of teaching (via several diplomas, degrees and training programmes), research (including publishing research to influence and inform policy) and community engagement (focusing on community activities that improve the socioeconomic and psychosocial circumstances of community members).
Collaboration with the Africa Centre
The partnership between St John and the Africa Centre involves joint research and research grant mobilisation as well as supervision, academic writing and publishing support from the Africa Centre, with a focus on issues relating to mental health, HIV/Aids and climate vulnerabilities.
About the Students and Youth Working on Reproductive Health Action Team
The Students and Youth Working on Reproductive Health Action Team (SAYWHAT) is a Southern African advocacy institution based in Zimbabwe that works with children, teenagers, tertiary students and young people to advance global objectives for better health (including sexual and reproductive health), education and welfare outcomes and to cultivate a strong sense of personal and collective responsibility among youth. SAYWHAT focuses on creating secure environments for young people to enhance their access to healthcare and education and ensure the full realisation of their rights and potential.
Collaboration with the Africa Centre
The purpose of the partnership between the Africa Centre and SAYWHAT is to influence and advocate for policy changes, generate evidence and build capacity for youth in Southern Africa and beyond. The two institutions are joining forces in various aspects of supporting youth health rights, including undertaking research and developing research training programmes, conducting advocacy work and producing policy briefs, co-hosting international and regional events and fundraising.
About the Society for AIDS in Africa (SAA)
SAA was founded in 1989 at the fourth International Symposium on Aids and Associated Cancers in Africa (now ICASA) held in France, by a group of African scientists, activists and advocates. The establishment of the SAA was the result of calls by African scientists for the conference to be organised on African soil, since it had until then been organised outside the African continent. The SAA is non-governmental and not-for–profit.
Collaboration with the Africa Centre
The Africa Centre has an ongoing agreement with SAA whereby the organisations work together to facilitate and promote the development of research and social impact programmes as well as HIV/Aids-related publications.
About the Western Cape Department of Health and Wellness (DoHW)
The Department of Health and Wellness (DoHW) aims to deliver equitable access to a range of quality, people-centred health services and continually works towards a well-managed health system that benefits all Western Cape residents. The DoHW’s services include child health, emergency medical services, family planning, forensic pathology services, women’s and men’s health, TB and HIV/Aids services, psychiatric services and home-based care.
Collaboration with the Africa Centre
The partnership between the Africa Centre and the DoHW involves joint initiatives across the spheres of health management research, training and community engagement. These include promoting joint research relating to community health and wellbeing; strengthening the capacity of clinical committees and community health groups through fellowships, training and mentorship; co-developing advocacy strategies and policy briefs to influence key decisionmakers; facilitating joint events; and disseminating knowledge through publications, academic articles and community-led reporting.