Our Mission
To improve the wellbeing of vulnerable children and their caregivers and families affected by HIV and AIDS and poverty

Our Vision
We envision a world where all children are healthy, secure, and can reach their full potential.

What We Do

We work with dedicated and innovative community leaders and organizations to build, strengthen, and
sustain the services and systems that care for children.

Technical Overview
The convergence of poverty, HIV, and gender-based violence has deepened vulnerability for children, adolescents and families across Africa, especially adolescent girls. The Bantwana Initiative delivers comprehensive, integrated programming that addresses the complex realities and needs of these children and young people. Central to our approach is ensuring access to social and child protection resources; education services; and health, HIV/AIDS and post-abuse services.

Bantwana programs work closely with individuals, families, communities, and governments to respond to these critical needs, while addressing the structural drivers of HIV (including harmful gender norms and poverty) to increase resilience and decrease the risk for and impact of HIV/AIDS. In the process, we build the capacity of communities, civil society, and governments to coordinate and deliver integrated, comprehensive services to vulnerable children and their families within a community referral network and case management approach to strengthen access to health and social protection across the HIV continuum of care.

Building from the principles of human-centered design (HCD), Bantwana’s technical focus today incorporates both cross-cutting and specialized strategies that address:
Capacity development and systems strengthening and institutional capacity building
Inclusion, access, and quality of formal and alternative education options
Positive youth development, with an emphasis on adolescent girls and young women
Livelihoods, economic resilience, and work-readiness for young people and adults.

Across our programming, we utilize visually dynamic, and interactive communications technologies to bolster and improve training delivery and service tracking — which has proved especially relevant within the evolving COVID-19 pandemic context.