Special Projects Cluster


The Special Projects Cluster houses a number of FPD innovation projects and loosely functions as a health think tank with the ability to pilot, evaluate and create awareness around innovative ideas. These include:

Conferences & Special Event Department

The Conferences & Special Events Department provide a macro meeting and events management service with skilled and experienced staff working on state-of-the-art project management systems. They offer their clients a solid partnership on all aspects of events and conference management, guaranteeing the successful roll-out of projects.

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Gender-Based Violence Project

This programme is a collaboration between FPD and a number of leading South Africa organizations, namely: the Soul City Institute, Sonke Gender Justice Network and the South African Medical Research Council. The aim is to enhance the role of Thuthuzela Care Centres of the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) in tackling South Africa’s epidemic of gender-based violence and sexual assault.

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NHI Pilot Project

This project that came to an end in December 2016, was implemented by a consortium of organizations, led by FPD, including: AHP, BroadReach, Wits Reproductive Health & HIV Institute (WRHI), Right to Care and Aurum Institute was designed to test a model of seconding doctors to provide PHC services in selected clinics in the NHI Pilot districts.

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Lighthouse Project

The Lighthouse Project aims to improve the healthcare and outcomes, protect people against catastrophic health expenditure and achieve a 10%-15% efficiency gain in healthcare. This will be achieved through pilot projects aimed at establishing significant integration of service delivery through utilising public-private-partnerships. A district system observatory making use of ICT systems and data analysis will guide the intervention and provide evidence of success. The Project will also use a collaborative consultation process to develop national consensus on priority health policy issues based on collecting and disseminating scientific evidence in support of innovation.

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Programme Evaluation Department

The FPD Programme Evaluation Department undertakes donor funded and commercial programme evaluations. The Department has since inception conducted evaluations for public and private organizations across Southern Africa. The Department does not follow a “one size fits all” approach to evaluations, but rather offer evaluations that can be customised to its clients’ needs and expectations. The Department has well-established national and international relationships with various universities and organisations and collaborate with its partners to conduct cost effective evaluations. As the Department uses a Rand-based overhead structure, it is able to conduct evaluations at a much lower cost than many international evaluators. The Programme Evaluation Department became commercially viable during 2015.

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National HIV Think Tank Secretariat

The HIV Think Tank (TT) provides a central place for all stakeholders (government, academia, NGOs, donors, community and implementers), under the chairmanship of the National Department of Health (NDoH), to review epidemiological, routine monitoring and economic evidence related to the HIV epidemic, identify priority gaps, and establish consensus on appropriate next steps, including research projects and pilots of new programs and policies. The TT will also think pro-actively about what evidence needs to be created and what pilot programs need to be implemented to respond to the questions that will arise three to five years in the future. Seventy-five percent of the funding received from the Gates Foundation will be reserved to undertake research and/or fund and evaluate innovative pilot projects to test bright ideas and inform South African Government (SAG) policy in support of the UNAIDS’s 90-90-90 goal. Through the Gates Foundation funding, a secretariat is hosted at FPD and consists of a Project Manager, Strategic Information Expert and a Project Coordinator. The role of the Secretariat is to convene the HIV TT meetings on a quarterly basis and Expert Working Groups (EWGs) on a monthly basis. They will further run the administrative duties of the HIV TT, engage with key players in the private health sector to better understand the current private sector activities, and to coordinate with other TTs such as the TB TT, to share best practices.

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Reading Support Project

The Foundation for Professional Development (FPD) has been awarded a Literacy Competency Component (LCC) within the Practical Education Research for Optimal Reading and Management (PERFORM) sponsored by the United States Agency for International Development in Southern Africa (USAID/SA). This four-year project was launched on 1 November 2016 and it is intended to improve language literacy skills at Foundation Phase level in South Africa’s Limpopo and North West provinces.

This system strengthening project will be implemented in partnership with a number of leading organizations: The Molteno Language Institute (MOLTENO), the South African Institute for Distance Education (SAIDE), Oxford University Press of South Africa (OXFORD SA) and an international partner, Voluntary Services Oversees (VSO). The ultimate aim of this project is to improve Foundation Phase learners’ reading skills in African Home Languages (AHLs) as well as in English as a First Additional Language (EFAL)

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Proposal Unit

The Proposal Unit coordinates all new grant, proposal and tender opportunities to expand outreach and growth opportunities and ensure sustainability for the future of FPD.

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