Human and Social Development

This all-encompassing concept focuses on assisting and enabling the most vulnerable population groups to emerge from poverty, deprivation and insecurity while attempting to reduce inequalities within society.

Khulisa’s work in this area focuses on improving services for orphans and vulnerable children and improving society’s capacity to support and care for vulnerable populations, particularly children that are at risk of trafficking and other forms of child labour. In addition, Khulisa’s projects have provided policy input on addressing broader community vulnerabilities.

Poverty makes communities more vulnerable

Due to the impact of poverty, many individuals are faced with limited economic options and are desperate for solutions to meet their basic human needs. As a result, they may be easily allured into false promises of better life opportunities. Khulisa conducts research on instances of such exploitation, including human trafficking, as well as impact assessments of implementation activities to improve the livelihoods of vulnerable communities.

Human and Social Development is closely linked with Khulisa’s other areas of expertise, especially health and education.

Health

Children affected by HIV/AIDS are particularly vulnerable to exploitation. There is often a lack of sufficient resources available in their communities to provide the support and care required to protect children and their families. Children may be obligated to drop out of school to provide income and resources for the family or care for younger siblings.

Education

Khulisa’s work with vulnerable children has focused on increasing access to education as a vehicle for reducing the risk of children being exploited. This has encompassed providing psycho-social support to vulnerable children and strengthening the ability of organisations and government institutions to care for vulnerable children.