Regional Programs


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The Ubuntu Regional Programs are directly inspired by the role of culture, heritage and indigenous knowledge in the development sector.

We believe culture can be a driving force of development because an awareness of culture (norms, behavior, values) can help us find the underlying causes of problems. We can then design effective and sustainable interventions.

Unfortunately, many donors and planners overlook the importance of culture in the development sector.

Our programs provide various opportunities for partnerships to promote the role of culture in HIV/AIDS prevention and care, education, gender and women empowerment, economic development, human rights and youth leadership development.

The goals of the programs are:

  • To bring the role of culture in social development into the mainstream
  • To promote the concept of ubuntu, and its application in development worldwide
  • To scale cultural responses towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals in Africa

Vision

To create an environment where traditional, cultural and indigenous knowledge systems are treated with dignity and respect and contribute to social development.

Key Achievements

  • In 2007, the Ubuntu Institute convened a traditional youth leadership summit, with participants from the SADC region, and established a regional network of leaders (mostly youth and women) who can work with us on developmental projects in Southern Africa.
  • In February 2007, a charter was created by young traditional leaders and cultural leaders, committing them to combating HIV/AIDS, poverty and unemployment and striving to achieve the Millennium Development Goals in Africa. The vision is to take this commitment and partnership to the Pan-African level within two years.
  • In August 2007, the Ubuntu Institute created Africa-Asia partnerships in Bali, Indonesia to share best practices on how to successfully modernize and yet retain core cultural values. Countries that attended included Japan, Singapore and Taiwan.
  • The Ubuntu Institute conducted a qualitative research study (SADC wide), investigating the role of culture and more specifically, the role that traditional leaders can play in the fight against HIV/AIDS in the region. This program was supported by the Ford Foundation and the WK Kellogg Foundation.

Key Donors for our SADC Regional Programs

  1. Ford Foundation
  2. WK Kellogg Foundation
  3. Harvard University
  4. Umsobomvu Youth Fund
  5. Industrial Development Corporation of South Africa

We give thanks for support from the following organizations

  1. Steve Biko Foundation
  2. Youth Development Trust
  3. CONTRALESA (Congress of Traditional Leaders in South Africa)
  4. National House of Traditional Leaders in South Africa


“Economic development in Africa will depend – as it has elsewhere and throughout the history of the modern world – on the success of private-sector entrepreneurs, social entrepreneurs and African political reformers. It will not depend on the activities of patronizing, bureaucratic, unaccountable and poorly informed outsiders. Development everywhere is homegrown.�

– William Easterly,“The White Man’s Burden: Why the West’s Efforts to Aid the Rest Have Done So Much Ill and So Little Goodâ€? 

“Development ideas and actions not premised on the culture of Africa will not work.�

– Tony Blair, Commission for Africa Report, 2005, Chapter 3: Through African Eyes