Campaign to end homelessness to be launched in the city
The campaign aims to empower the homeless community to get off the streets and end homelessness by 2030.
A global campaign aimed at ending homelessness was due to be launched at the University of Pretoria on Thursday.
The campaign aims to empower the homeless community to get off the streets and end homelessness by 2030.
Tshwane metro was said to have been among the first few cities to join the global movement of ending homelessness.
During the launch, the city was expected to announce its commitment to working with its local partners and the institute of global homelessness towards achieving “a place called home” for all those living on the streets.
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“In recent years, a social contract was entered into by the city of Tshwane, in partnership with the Tshwane homelessness forum, the University of Pretoria and the University of South Africa,” said community development services MMC Ntsiki Mokhotho.
Director of the institute of global homelessness Kat Johnson said: “The city of Tshwane is leading by example and will help other cities around the world to take action to end street homelessness.
“The institute of global homelessness will help these cities as they set goals, strengthen or develop their data collection systems and identify areas of improvement. They will take those findings and share them with other cities, with the ultimate aim of reaching 150 cities who will end street homelessness by 2030.”
“In recent years, a social contract was entered into by the city in partnership with the Tshwane homelessness forum, the University of Pretoria and the University of South Africa. This contract gave effect to a collaborative research project, titled Pathways out of Homelessness, and a policy and strategy on street homelessness was prepared for adoption by the city,” Johnson said.
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The strategy was expected to guide the process of the city working towards ending homelessness, reducing street homelessness, or ending homelessness in specific vulnerable populations.
“There is an emerging global movement to end homelessness, and A place to call home helps cities and countries to work collaboratively to tackle the problem worldwide,” Johnson said.
Mayor Solly Msimanga, during his state of the city address, said the Tshwane metro, along with its partners, had committed to implementing a strategy which would “advance the social, economic, spatial and political inclusion of street homeless people, thereby ensuring their enhanced and holistic freedoms”.
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