Speaker
Prof Shane Norris
Director
University of the Witwatersrand
Social sector systems strengthening for better child-well-being outcomes: Lessons from a South African case study
Biography
Prof Norris is Director of the DSI-NRF Centre of Excellence in Human Development and Director of the MRC/Wits Developmental Pathways for Health Research Unit, Department of Paediatrics at the University of the Witwatersrand. He is a co-principal investigator of the Birth to Twenty Plus Cohort study and principal investigator of the Soweto First 1000 Days cohort. His research interests include child growth and development, obesity, and inter-generational risk of metabolic disease
Prof Leila Patel
SARCHI (Chair)
University of Johannesburg
Social sector systems strengthening for better child-well-being outcomes: Lessons from a South African case study
Supporting Document
Biography
Leila Patel is professor of Social Development Studies and holds the South African Research Chair in Welfare and Social Development, University of Johannesburg. Leila is the founding director of the Centre for Social Development in Africa (CSDA) from 2004 -2018. She has published widely on issues of social development in South Africa and internationally and is the recipient of both national and international awards. In 2020, she received the National Research Foundation’s Science for Society Gold Medal Award (2020) and Katherine Kendell Memorial Award (2020) for distinguished scholarship and for her contribution to social work education and social development. Her research interests include social welfare policy, poverty and hunger, social protection, gender, care, the social services and children, youth and families. She has wide experience in academia, research, teaching and fulfilled various roles in government, civil society and private sector social involvement initiatives. She was South Africa’s first director general of social welfare after apartheid and has played a leading role in the development of welfare policy in South Africa. Her forthcoming edited volume will be published by Edward Elgar titled Social Protection and Social Development in the Global South.
Prof Amesh Telukadare
Professor and Research Chair
Postgraduate School of Engineering Management
Social Sector Systems Strengthening for Better Child Well-being outcomes: Lessons from a South African Case study
Biography
Professor Arnesh Telukdarie is a professor at the Postgraduate school of Engineering Management, UJ. He is also appointed as an adjunct Professor at Johns Hopkins University and as a visiting Scholar at London South Bank University.
He has held various academic and industry positions including and most recently Senior Manager at Sasol, where he headed up Sasol’s Global Manufacturing Systems team. Prof Telukdarie has consulted on various large projects including a Mine in Namibia, Transnet, ArclorMittal, Johannesburg Water, over 50 metal finishing companies, the textile cluster in Durban and to the CSIR. He has held various projects with the Danish government and UNIDO. Projects include systems design and integration together with optimization and cleaner production. He has completed various industrial projects and currently has a research chair with the Food and Beverage Manufacturing SETA.
His research interest focuses on modelling and optimization of businesses, this includes large corporates, and Small, Medium and Micro enterprises. He has various projects internal to UJ and externally focusing on a variety of areas from business, mining, water, health, childhood development, petrochemical, manufacturing, waste and recycling.
Prof Jace Pillay
South African Reasearch Chair In Education & Care in Childhood
University of Johannesburg, Faculty of Education
Social sector systems strengthening for better child-well-being outcomes: Lessons from a South African case study
Supporting Document
Biography
Prof Jace Pillay’s experiences in the last 30 years as a teacher, school counsellor, school psychologist, the head of school psychological services, HoD for educational psychology and Vice-Dean of the Faculty of Education at the University of Johannesburg (UJ) shaped his academic career. Currently, he is the South African Research Chair in Education and Care in Childhood in the Faculty of Education at UJ. His research focus is on child and youth mental health and psychosocial support for schools. Prof Pillay has supervised numerous postgraduate students, published many articles in highly reputable journals, and has several strong national and international research collaborations. He is a registered educational and counselling psychologist and currently he is the chairperson of the Education, Training, and Registration Committee for the Professional Board of Psychology in the Health Professions Council of South Africa.
Dr Hanrie Bezuidenhout
PDRF
University Of Johannesburg
Social sector systems strengthening for better child-well-being outcomes: Lessons from a South African case study
Biography
Dr. Hanrie Bezuidenhout is a postdoctoral fellow in the Faculty of Education at the University of Johannesburg. She earned her PhD in Childhood Education in 2019 and was appointed as a postdoc research fellow in 2020. Her research focuses on early mathematics, and how young children learn elementary coding and robotics skills. She also studies how language influences young children’s learning. The overarching aim of her study is to develop two dialogue reading programs which can be used to develop children’s mathematics and coding skills.
Dr Alida du Plessis-Faurie
Lecturer
University of Johannesburg (UJ)
Social Sector Systems Strengthening for Better Child Well-being outcomes: Lessons from a South African Case study
Biography
Alida is a lecturer at the University of Johannesburg. She obtained her Bachelors in Nursing in 1997 from the University of Johannesburg. Her Master research was completed (cum laude), at the University of Pretoria (2008). She completed her PhD at the University of Johannesburg in 2020, with the title: ‘A model for nurses to facilitate mothers’ caring of their preterm infants in an informal settlement, Gauteng’. Alida received various national and international awards on presenting her research. She lectures Community Nursing in the Undergraduate B. Cur programme, involved in the Riverlea Community Clinic project and supervise several Master study students and one PhD student. She published in an accredited national journal. Alida was involved with the development of the GDoH Standardized Neonatal Intensive Care and –Highcare Chart in 2017. Alida is a Neonatal Nursing Consultant and has broad experience in mothers and infants in the community.
Prof Katja Joronen
Professor in Nursing Science
University of Turku
Social sector systems strengthening for better child-well-being outcomes: Lessons from a South African case study
Biography
Professor, RN Katja Joronen holds a PhD in Health Sciences and she is currently working as a professor in nursing science, with the main emphasis on the health choices of population and health promotion, at the University of Turku, Faculty of Medicine, Finland. Joronen’s research expertise on health and health promotion of children, adolescents and their families spans more than 15 years. Further, her research has been focused on multi-agency services of children and young people. Joronen has 218 publications, with 1528 citations and h-index 17 in Google Scholar.