The Nelson Mandela Foundation
The Nelson Mandela Foundation (NMF) was established in 1999 to meet the immediate need of its Founder for a personal office on his retirement as President of South Africa. This role remains integral to the NMF, but following Mr Mandela's retirement announcement in 2004 the Foundation is in the process of converting its core function to that of a 'Centre of Memory' capturing in perpetuity the life and times of the Founder.
The Centre of Memory, which will become operational in the course of 2007, has four main aims as endorsed by its Board of Trustees:
- The collection and curation at Mandela House of Mr Mandela's personal and other related archives.
- The provision of an electronic portal to global resources on the life and times of the Founder.
- Provision of public access to these resources, and facilitation of related dialogues at Mandela House.
- The creation of a unique facility for researchers working on the life and times of the Founder.
The work of the Centre of Memory will complement that of the sister organisations, the Nelson Mandela Children's Fund and The Mandela Rhodes Foundation. The NMF will focus on memory and dialogue, and also reflect the focus of the NMCF (children and youth), and the MRF (leadership and capacity building). Together the three Mandela legacy charities will express in tangible terms the key aspects of Mr Mandela's legacy.
The NMF has, in its seven years of existence, also made programmatic interventions in areas of concern to the Founder. These include:
- HIV/Aids and health matters - initiatives include the 46664 campaign.
- Rural schooling - initiatives include the establishment of the Unit for Rural Schooling and Development based at the University of Fort Hare, and the 'Emerging Voices' project.
- Dialogue forums aimed at enhancing the understanding of social development challenges and finding appropriate strategies for meeting them.
These important interventions are currently undergoing structural review so as to fit into the new Centre of Memory model of the NMF.
