Heinrich Böll Stiftung

IN LONG Walk to Freedom, Nelson Mandela places enormous hope in education. “Education is the great engine of personal development,” he writes. “It is through education that the daughter of a peasant can become a doctor, that the son of a mineworker can become the head of the mine, that a child of farm- workers can become the president.” Many people know this quote.

Heinrich Böll is one of the most important and best-known writers of the Federal Republic of Germany. "Bound by the times and my contemporaries, to what my generation has lived through, experienced, seen, and heard," as he himself wrote, he was the critical chronicler of Germany’s history at mid-century.

Our main tenets are ecology and sustainability, democracy and human rights, self-determination and justice. We place particular emphasis on gender democracy, meaning social emancipation and equal rights for women and men. We are also committed to equal rights for cultural and ethnic minorities and to the societal and political participation of immigrants.

The Heinrich Böll Foundation has been active in Southern Africa since 1989. For many organisations and individuals, we have become a partner for civic education and formation of networks, provider of international contacts, observer and analyst in the region.

As the 2013 Zimbabwean elections are rapidly approaching, Zimbabwean feminist Rutendo Hadebe contemplates about issues of identity and how to create a Zimbabwe that is inclusive of all.

This video presents the events organised by Idasa's Electricity Governance Initiative South Africa which aimed to promote informed and sustainable engagement between parliament and civil society on energy and climate issues.

On March 21 about 15,000 to 20,000 learners, parents, community members and activists marched to Parliament to remind Minister Angie Motshekga about her promise of adopting minimum norms and standards for school infrastructure by 01 April 2011.

In February 2010 Equal Education (EE) made a written submission on the Basic Education Laws Amendment Bill in response to a call for public comments on the Bill. EE made eight specific comments and recommendations on the Bill. The amended Bill, now titled "Basic Education Laws Amendment Bill 2010" incorporated seven out of EE’s eight recommendations.

Today marks the 3rd anniversary of the founding of Equal Education (EE). In three short years EE has grown from a small organisation of a handful of committed members to an organistion with full-time staff, several thousand youth members and countless other South Africans who support and associate with it. See a message from their coordinator, Doron Isaacs on this auspicious occasion.