Partnerships , the key to social upliftment
By Lebogang Tsotetsi , PPS Communications Manager
Months after the pandemic , as the world slowly awakened from what felt like a slumber where it had the opportunity to regenerate – came new perspectives . In moments of isolation and social distancing , the world received the healing it never knew it needed ; people used what seemed like a long pause to make sense of living in the new normal .
The changes the world saw over the past two years meant finding ways to reconnect or provide at least one aspect of psychosocial support to others under unique circumstances . The work to positively influence the world could not stop either – if anything , in 2021 , we needed more of it , no matter the scale . Humans are social beings , not meant for long periods of isolation from each other . Without the “ social ” aspect in many spheres of our lives , there are many changes , which are mostly not good . Since the start of the COVID-19 outbreak , there was a shift in corporate social responsibility work . This refers to what it looked like in the context of a pandemic and how projects were executed to
effectively address social biases or ills within the communities we exist and operate .
Trialogue , a CSI consultancy , says education remained the most popular cause , benefiting mainly previously disadvantaged students who were the hardest hit by the pandemic . The pandemic , related lockdowns and physical distancing measures caused unprecedented disruption in the provision of education and training and catalysed innovation in distance learning . While access to learning was maintained in some contexts through a rapid shift to distance learning in universities , the pre-existing social and digital divides deprived the most marginalised groups of continued learning . They put them at risk of falling further behind . Following the rapid shift of in-person interactions to the use of virtual systems to contribute to the sustainable development of underprivileged and underserved communities , people and organisations had to reconsider ways to give back to society . Volunteerism activities , where like-minded individuals and organisations collaborated for common causes , needed to be reshaped to solve societal issues .
The United Nations has devised a strategy to address 17 Sustainable Development Goals ( SDGs ) by 2030 . It includes critical priorities such as ending poverty
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