Celebrate 57 years of service to South Africa’s children!

Tens of thousands of children have benefited from better nutrition, education, health, water and sanitation, child protection and community development in nearly six decades of World Vision’s work in South Africa.

As this phase of our work comes to an end, we celebrate two generations of hard-working staff who have made all this possible. Along with them, we thank God for sponsors and donors, corporate and private partners, local community leaders and government officials who made the work possible.

Above all, we give thanks for the children whose lives were touched, many of whom are now adults and, we trust, continuing to pass on the grace which was given to them.

Programmes close in World Vision South Africa 

The World Vision South Africa Board resolved on Wednesday 6 September 2023 to wind down its projects by 30 September 2024. As a result, World Vision South Africa is currently not running any programmes nor raising money in the country.

World Vision continues to provide support to vulnerable children in many other countries across the African continent. And we are ready to launch short-term emergency responses in South Africa if they are needed.

The Board made the challenging decision so that 57 years of successful work with South Africa’s poorest children could end in an organised and dignified way.

The conclusion recognises trends in philanthropic donation in South Africa and the difficulty of running large programmes with insufficient administrative funding. The presence of a thriving development sector in the country, which can offer similar services to communities, mitigates the impact of World Vision’s closure.

World Vision had already scaled back its operations in South Africa seven years ago, reflecting a shift toward supporting more fragile situations around the world with its global resources. It worked with staff to find a way to enable South African operations to be run with local funding, but the office has continued to rely on considerable external support.

“It is with a heavy heart that we have decided we cannot sustain this ministry in South Africa in this way,” said Sonja Nel, Chair of the Board of World Vision South Africa. “We have not taken the decision lightly. “Our first concern is for the children and communities with whom we worked, and we tried to ensure they are able to access other services and support once we left.”

World Vision has a world-class crisis response infrastructure which has the capacity to assist in climate emergencies, geophysical disasters, conflict and refugee situations. This infrastructure is still available to respond to crises in South Africa.

“We want to thank all those who have partnered with us in our work, especially over the last seven years while we were supporting the ministry with local funding alone,” said Ms Nel. “A huge amount of important work has been done in that time and many children’s lives have been changed.

“It is our prayer that these children will grow up to be courageous adults who will, themselves, continue to transform our nation.”

Any issues regarding World Vision in South Africa can be directed to us using the following email address: info@worldvision.co.za