The Child Health Policy Institute (CHPI) was established at the University of Cape Town in 1996 and grew from a staff complement of one to six by 2001. In this year the CHPI changed to the Children’s Institute, which took on a research focus broader than child health policy. Over the next five years, under the leadership of Prof. Marian Jacobs and Maylene Shung-King, the CI grew from a staff of six to the current 28 staff members.
Staff at the Institute come from a range of disciplines including medicine and public health, psychology, social work, sociology, anthropology, law, social science, education, political science, journalism, occupational therapy, library science, information technology, communication, administration and adult education. Their academic qualifications range from diplomas to doctorates.
At the end of 2006 the CI recruited a new director and two new programme managers. These three individuals join the CI’s management team in leading the Institute’s research and advocacy projects.
Sadly, but with pride, we also had to say goodbye at the end of 2006 to three staff members who have moved on to take up new career development opportunities.
New senior staff appointed
Director
It is an immense pleasure to announce the appointment of a new director of the Children’s Institute. Prof. Shirley Pendlebury, a Professor of Education and currently head of the Division of Curriculum at the University of the Witwatersrand, will take up her post at the CI on 1 April.
Shirley has a PhD in Education and is well-known, nationally and internationally, for her wide-ranging academic work in education. She serves on the editorial boards of several international journals and is widely published in international peer-reviewed journals and edited collections. Social justice and human rights in education have been a recurring theme in her research, publications, conference presentations, teaching and postgraduate supervision. Although her primary discipline is philosophy of education, she has a strong commitment to interdisciplinary, socially responsible research.
She brings to the position a network of interdisciplinary connections at universities across the country and internationally. Shirley also brings to the CI many years of management experience within a university setting, having held a number of senior posts within the Faculty of Humanities and the legacy Faculty of Education at Wits.
She began her education career as an English teacher and throughout her career has retained her passion for and interest in the philosophy of education and educating people. With the addition of her expertise in teaching students and providing academic mentorship, we look forward to new developments in the CI’s academic focus and outputs.
Child Poverty Programme manager
Dr. Johannes John-Langba took up the post as Child Poverty Programme manager in December 2006. He has many years of experience in the field of public health and social welfare and has worked in a number of African countries.
Johannes holds a PhD in Social Work and a Master of Public Health in Behavioural and Community Health Sciences. He also holds a Master of Social Work. Prior to joining the Children’s Institute, Johannes was a research fellow at the African Population and Health Research Centre in Nairobi, Kenya, where he managed the Nairobi Urban Health and Poverty Partnership, a Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights Research Programme, and an Orphaned and Vulnerable Children Project. Before his doctoral education, he worked in the Refugee Programs Division of the Migration and Refugee Services in Washington, DC.
Child Health Services Programme manager
Dr. Beverly Draper was appointed as the Child Health Programme manager at the CI in November 2006. She is a specialist in public health with significant experience in the field of child health and child health policy development.
Bev graduated with a medical degree and spent the early years of her medical career in rural hospitals in South Africa. She worked in occupational health and as a family practitioner for many years before moving on to school health. She specialised in public health at the School of Public Health and Family Medicine at the University of Cape Town and was posted to the provincial Department of Health as part of her training.
During these years she managed the Western Cape Province’s Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission Programme. She subsequently occupied a management position in the maternity services and worked on the Burden of Disease Project of the Western Cape Department of Health. She has conducted research mainly in the fields of HIV/AIDS and women’s health.
Saying goodbye
The Children's Institute celebrated its fifth birthday in 2006. This milestone was celebrated at the CI's year-end function, where we also said goodbye to acting director Maylene Shung-King before leaving for the University of Oxford. Here Maylene (on the right) is cutting the CI birthday cake with the Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences, Prof. Marian Jacobs.
Dr. Maylene Shung-King
“Growth means changing and changes”, we reminded ourselves as we said goodbye to acting director Maylene Shung-King at the end of last year. It was however also with a great sense of pride in her that we sent her off to England, where she has taken up the Oxford Nuffield Medical Fellowship for three years while pursuing a PhD in Social Policy.
Maylene started here 10 years ago in the days when the Children’s Institute was still known as the Child Health Policy Institute (CHPI). She played a tremendous role in the growth and development of both the CHPI and the Institute, first in her capacity as senior researcher in the CHPI, and thereafter as a co-founder of the CI in 2001. In the CI she led the Child Health Services Programme and filled the position of deputy director. In 2006 she stood in as acting director and ensured that the CI’s recruitment of a new director was well managed.
Shortly before her departure, Maylene completed a paper that reflects on the CI’s role in the development of key child health policies since 1996. The Ebb and Flow of Child Health Policy Development in South Africa (see new publications page) provides a good overview of the CI’s work on child health policy under her leadership of the Child Health Services Programme.
While she will be missed, we wish her the best of luck in her new endeavours, knowing that her passion for child health and child rights issues will cause our paths to cross again in the future.
Annie Leatt
Everyone who has come into contact with Annie knows the energy and focused leadership that she exuberates. In a short space of time, Annie led the development of two major projects that are now making ripples across South Africa. Under her leadership as Child Poverty Programme manager from 2004 to 2006, the Means to Live Project was conceptualised and implemented. This project has recently reported on their research on children and caregivers’ access to a range of poverty alleviation programmes in the South African Child Gauge 2006.
Children Count – Abantwana Babalulekile was another project which was developed by a team of CI staff under Annie’s focused leadership. The project tracks essential child-centred data to enable the monitoring of the State’s progress in realising children’s socio-economic rights.
Annie has taken up a research fellowship at the Wits Institute for Social and Economic Research (WISER).
The CI team
Directorate
Acting director/acting deputy director (general) – Paula Proudlock
(Prof. Shirley Pendlebury will take up the director post on 1 April 2007.)
Acting deputy director (operations) – Kevin Erntzen
Managers
Child Health Services Programme – Dr. Bev Draper
Child Poverty Programme – Dr. Johannes John-Langba
Child Rights Programme – Paula Proudlock
HIV/AIDS Programme – Wanjirũ Mũkoma
Communication – Charmaine Smith
Information and Technology – Kevin Erntzen
Executive Administrator to the Directorate – Zelda Warrin
Researchers and advocacy staff
Senior researchers and advocacy co-ordinators
Child Health Services – Kashifa Abrahams
Child Poverty – Katharine Hall
Child Rights – Lucy Jamieson
HIV/AIDS – Helen Meintjes
HIV/AIDS – Norma Rudolphs
Researchers
Child Health Services – Tasneem Matthews
Child Rights – Mira Dutschke
Child Poverty – Lizette Berry
Child Poverty – Double-Hugh Marera
HIV/AIDS – Sue Moses
Consultants
Advocacy – Sue Phillpott
Child participation – Gabriel Urgoiti
Communication and Knowledge Management staff
Information officer – Anthea Arendse
IT officer – Dino Maslamoney
Library assistant - Nobubele Tandwa
Materials development specialist – Jo Monson
Media 0fficer - Nazmeera Allie
Finance, administration and human resources staff
General assistant – Glenda Vena
Grants administrator – Isabbel Cooper
Human resources administrator – Denise Brown
Programme administrator (Child Rights) – Nobuzwe Ngqwemla
Programme administrator (Child Rights and Child Health Services) – Wendy Dien
Programme administrator (HIV/AIDS) – Zelda Warrin
Part-time secretary – Debbie Moodley
Secretary/programme administrator (Child Poverty and CKM) – Nobonke Ntlokwana
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