Our Impact
We reach over 600,000 children and their caregivers annually across six countries in sub-Saharan Africa. We work with more than 90 local organizations, clinics, and local and national governments in Eswatini, Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zimbabwe.
Who We Are
We work to improve the lives of children and caregivers made vulnerable by HIV and poverty.
Our Approach
We work with governments and local organizations to provide the critical services that children need to grow and thrive.
Essential Gender-Based Violence Services and Prevention
Preventing and responding to school-related gender-based violence in Malawi.
Together for Girls: Gender-Based Violence Prevention and Response Program
Comprehensive community Gender-Based Violence prevention and response in order to build up girls’ social assets as a way of preventing abuse and provide post-GBV services.
Waache Wasome “Let them Learn”
Waache Wasome works to improve enrollment and retention of adolescent girls in secondary school and influence harmful negative perceptions about the value of girls’ education.
Leveraging Digital Technology to Increase Child Protection Response Time
Bantwana’s Better Outcomes for Children and Youth Project (Uganda) developed free Closed User Groups in partnership with MTN, connecting over 3,000 community and district child protection personnel to fast track services to over 19,000 critically vulnerable children in Eastern and Northern Uganda.
Bantwana’s Early Warning System Identifies Adolescents at Risk of Dropping Out
Across sub-Saharan Africa, adolescent girls and young women are among the most vulnerable: they are at the front lines of the HIV epidemic, suffer disproportionately from sexual violence and harmful gender norms, and are far more likely to drop out of school than their male peers. Across Africa, 49 million girls are out of primary and secondary school. In Zimbabwe, approximately 22,000 girls drop out of school each year due to pregnancy.
What if we had the power to help break this cycle of extreme vulnerability? In Eswatini and Zimbabwe, with funding from the DREAMS Innovation Challenge, we developed Early Warning Systems (EWS) that empower schools to identify adolescent girls before they drop out, and provide the necessary supports to keep them in school.
Breaking Complex Barriers to Care and Treatment for Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVC)
Children with disabilities are among the most vulnerable in their community. With poor living conditions, poor access to health services and environmental risks, many are unable to overcome these challenges and become active members of society. Added to this, many face stigma within their communities because their disability is seen as a curse that has been placed on their family, so they are either abandoned or treated poorly.
This was the case for Elisabeth before being part of Bantwana’s Força à Comunidade e Crianças (FCC) project. Through the project’s intervention, Elisabeth and her family were able to break the barriers they faced and see gradual improvement of their lives and livelihood opportunities.