Ensuring the greatest impact of Covid relief funds in SA
The Solidarity Fund was set up in March 2020 to fund a range of initiatives that addressed the Covid-19 crisis in South Africa. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) funded Genesis Analytics to provide extensive and wide-ranging technical support for the fund to ensure that the investments made by the fund had the greatest possible impact.
Some of the initiatives we supported included the following:
- We designed a voucher system to address food insecurity. It allowed recipients to buy food that was best for them. We were responsible for reaching 135,000 households with food vouchers totalling over R100 million
- We also supported subsistence farmers, mainly women in rural areas, with vouchers to buy the supplies and equipment needed for their farms. More than 47,000 small farmers will be supported to the value of R100 million
- We responded to the crisis of gender-based violence in South Africa. We designed a programme to support community-based organisations working in this field whose revenue had been severely affected by Covid-19. We have assisted the fund to allocate R75 million to an estimated 350 organisations in this area, across the entire South Africa
- Genesis is advising the fund on its new national media campaign, targeting important behaviours as we try to prevent a second wave of Covid-19
- Our Evaluation for Development team helped the fund to put in place processes and indicators to measure the impact that the Solidarity Fund was having in fighting the COVID-19 epidemic in South Africa.
Genesis’ involvement with the Solidarity Fund was due to end in 2020, but the BMGF and the fund have seen enormous value from the contribution of Genesis experts. As a result, our involvement will continue into 2021 through a new contract extension.
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