The Southern Africa Youth Project (SayPro) has received R300,000 for finishing first in the Excellent Monitoring and Evaluation category of this year’s MTN Award for Social Change.

Development Diaries learnt that the award ceremony was held virtually on 13 and 14 October.

‘The award means a lot to us, especially after surviving the challenges of operating remotely during the Covid-19 lockdown. This has had a significant impact on our reach’, SayPro General Manager Clifford Legodi said.

‘Winning the award comes at the right time as we are also celebrating the official launch of our online programmes.

‘SayPro can now cater to beneficiaries who have access to smartphones’.

Legodi also said the non-profit organisation was planning to use the money to improve its monitoring and evaluation systems.

‘SayPro also has a division that provides support and capacity to other non-profit organisations and this award will enable us to reach people that are within the development space and in need of support and resources to help improve their work’, he said.

‘We will also improve our online communications systems to ensure that we reach out to desperate and underprivileged young people.

‘Furthermore, we plan to implement programmes to improve access to primary healthcare services, ICT-based work, and life readiness skills, including technical and vocational skills for decent employment among disadvantaged and vulnerable young people aged 15 to 35 years old’.

Source: Four Ways Review

Photo source: Four Ways Review