Our Programs

The Litsemba Rising Project is a bold, three-year initiative (2023–2026) transforming Eswatini’s higher education campuses into safe, inclusive spaces where vulnerable children, youth, caregivers, and families are protected from sexual harassment and violence, anchored by the Campus Sexual Harassment Prevention Intervention (CSHP) and implemented in close partnership with Women Unlimited Eswatini and the University of Eswatini (UNESWA). Supported by the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) through the What Works to Prevent Violence: Innovation Grants (What Works 2 Programme), Litsemba Rising tackles sexual harassment and related forms of violence by shifting norms, policies, and behaviours among students and staff, strengthening institutional systems, and building a critical mass of trained campus champions. The project promotes the welfare and protection of vulnerable groups, improves campus climate, and generates evidence that can be scaled to other Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in Eswatini and beyond, with public and private donors invited to invest in deepening and scaling this systemic change so that every young person in Eswatini can learn, live, and lead free from violence and discrimination. 

The Youth Civic Engagement and Governance Strengthening Project (2024–2026), funded by the Commonwealth Foundation, is a strategic initiative empowering in-school youth in Manzini’s wards to actively shape local governance by revitalizing and strengthening existing engagement platforms in close collaboration with the Municipal Council of Manzini and the Ministry of Education and Training, using structured opportunities for genuine youth voice rather than symbolic participation. Through a detailed assessment of current participation levels and the barriers young people face, the project designs targeted, practical strategies to foster meaningful, sustained youth involvement in local decision-making, moving engagement beyond tokenism toward real influence and co-creation of solutions. A key innovation is a tailored curriculum, co-created from assessment findings, which builds the civic knowledge, confidence, and skills of both youth and the Municipal Council, and is reinforced through ongoing coaching and support so that the learning translates into action, institutional reforms, and a stronger, more inclusive system for youth civic participation in the Manzini region, aligned with emerging best practices in youth–local government collaboration.

The Read@Home project (2024–2025), funded by the World Bank and implemented in partnership with Eswatini’s Ministry of Education and Training (MoET), is a pioneering pilot intervention designed to transform early learning outcomes by introducing young children to books, empowering caregivers, and fostering rich home reading practices that strengthen school readiness across Eswatini. Grounded in robust global and national evidence showing that early access to books and interactive book-sharing significantly boosts language, cognitive development, and long-term literacy, the project aims to strengthen caregivers’ knowledge, skills, and confidence to support early literacy at home; nurture a sustainable culture of reading and peer learning among caregivers; expand access to culturally relevant, age-appropriate reading materials; promote children’s literacy, language, and cognitive development; and build teacher capacity to integrate literacy in early childhood education settings. Targeting children aged 0–5 years and their caregivers across four Tinkhundla (Maseyisini, Mayiwane, Mafutseni, and Sithobela) spanning all regions of Eswatini, the initiative uses a hub-and-spoke model that connects Grade 0 schools (hubs) with pre-schools (spokes) in seven chiefdoms while also reaching out-of-school children, ensuring that even the most vulnerable families are not left behind. To date, Read@Home has directly benefited 752 children and 610 caregivers, surpassing its original target of approximately 750 children, equipping families with books, tools, and practical guidance to nurture foundational literacy skills and support lifelong learning journeys, marking a major step forward in strengthening early childhood education and community empowerment in Eswatini.