World Speech Day South Africa

World Speech Day (WSD) serves to empower young people in over 100 nations by providing them with a platform to use their voices as catalysts for change. In South Africa, we offer several ancillary activities during the year to develop their confidence, communication and leadership skills. Our activities hone in on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals wherein we actively promote an awareness of the SDGs among youth to educate them on how they can contribute to making this world a better place and the pivotal role they play in realising these goals.

The youth that we currently engage with include those of the Tshwane Leadership Foundation Homework Centre, scholars from several schools in SA, the University of Pretoria Debating Union and the University of Pretoria United Nations Youth Association.

Our activities include the annual ‘Celebration of Speeches’ Event where our youth were joined by industry experts, academics, representatives of government and non governmental organisations, professional speakers, Toastmasters and Tedx speakers over the past few years. Nowadays, we continue the dialogue with Podcasts from individuals who seek to inspire others with lessons and insights from their own experience.

The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals Book Club is growing in importance as we seek to extend continuous support throughout the year. Through the WSD Youth Program, youth are offered communication, leadership and active citizenship workshops to complement our efforts to empower them to use their voices for change. This is further enhanced with opportunities to compete in the WSD British Council ‘Unexpected Voices’ Competition that was launched in 2019.

How long has your Organisation been operational?

WSD SA had its inception in 2016 and was registered as an NPO in March 2020.

Is your Organisation a registered entity? If so, please list your registration details below for eg: NPO Number, PBO Number, NPC Number etc

243-462 NPO

Planning to register as a PBO as soon as the lockdown period comes to an end.

Do you have a Wish List? If so, please post it below:

Snacks and items for goodie bags for 60 children attending the WSD ‘Celebration of Speeches 2020’ Event.

Shelf, chairs/bean bags and books for a reading corner at the Tshwane Leadership Foundation for the purposes of the WSD SA Tshwane Leadership Foundation United Nations Sustainable Development Goals Book Club.

IT Equipment – laptop, cellphone
Video recording equipment
For the purposes of strengthening our online presence as WSD strives to empower youth by offering them a platform especially online to share their thoughts and ideas for a better world.

Furniture – Office Desk and Chair

Where can we find your Organisation online? Please list links to your Website and Social Media Platforms here:

http://events.worldspeechday.com/south-africa-celebration-of-speeches-mar-2020 (currently under maintenance by Voxgig)

@worldspeechdaysouthafrica

Tweets by WSDZA

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/worldspeechdayza/

Which Cause achievement are you most proud of? Feel free to elaborate on why and include any links:

As South Africans, we were fortunate that the Global Citizen Campaign and Festival was hosted in our country in 2018. This provided a unique opportunity for us as ordinary South Africans to truly engage as a collective in campaigning to bring about positive change as a collective. Whilst active citizenship has always been in practice, this was an impactful way to demonstrate how easy it is for us as citizens to participate in bringing about change.

The heightened awareness of realisation of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which is the fundamental objective of the Campaign reached many South Africans. Centering our WSD activities around the SDGs seemed like the only logical way forward.

To this end, starting from the ‘Celebration of Speeches’ Event in 2018, all our activities are set against the backdrop of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. It is indeed a delight to see the children learning about and expressing their valuable insights on the SDGs.