Our Mission Statement
Effective promotion, protection and implementation of Human Rights through empowerment, capacity building, programmes, campaigns and education. Empowering victims of abuses and supporting people living with HIV/AIDS.
About Us
Qholaqhwe Advice Centre was formed in June 2000 by the concerned residents of the village. The main focus was to empower the community and educate them about their rights according to the Constitution. The organisation was registered as a non-profit organisation on 15 October 2001. On 1 September 2002 the organisation managed to receive a sponsorship for office rental payments from Teeren Trading CC.
In the 2002/2003 financial year, the organisation managed to receive funding for our Victim Empowerment Programme from Department of Social Development, which is to date still funding the programme. In November 2004 the organisation received funds for Access to Justice from Foundation for Human Rights which ended on 31 January 2006. In March 2005 the organisation received funding from Themba le Sizwe for Victim Support in four police stations in the Maluti A Phofung Municipality.
The organisation is presently providing paralegal services on a daily basis to community members and ensures that the principles of democracy are adhered to accordingly.
Achievements
- Running the Victim Empowerment Programme for the last 4 years as the only organisation to provide victim support services under the Department of Social Development
- We have managed to sustain the organisation for 6 years with same staff
- We managed to access funds from Foundation for Human Rights and were selected from 23 applications. From the top 5 we were the first application to receive funds
- We are the only organisation to be chosen to provide Citizen Participation Workshops in the Thabo Mofutsanyane District supported by EISA
- We are the only organisation to provide access to justice in the province according to the requirements of the Legal Resource Center
Programmes
- Access to Justice
- Victim Empowerment
- Women Development
- Childrens Services
- Citizen Participation
Formal Affiliations
- National Welfare Social Services and Development Forum (NWSSDF)
- Themba Lesizwe (SANTSEP)
- The Aids Consortium (AC)
Goals and Objectives
- To lay ways of discussing problems and legal strategies with organisations
- To simplify the law for people in the community
- To train and educate people in the community about their rights
- To give advice to people from the community on a daily basis
- To listen to peoples problems and help to solve those problems
- To do research on various problems especially regarding the needs of the community
- To expose matters that affect the community
- To bring problems to the attention of the authorities
- To direct people to other agencies and services for more specialised help
- To respond to day to day problems such as maintenance, pensions, consumer problems, violence against women, legal and social welfare problems
