by Katy Link
South Africa is often referred to as ‘the world’s most unequal country’, where a large part of the population lives without basic amenities such as access to clean and safe water. Cape Town’s Environmental Monitoring Group (EMG), a legacy grantee of 11th Hour Racing Team for The Ocean Race 2022-23 campaign, is committed to closing the equality gap and building social and economic justice, the foundation of a sustainable society.
Worldwide, one person in four does not have access to a clean and safe source of water and one in three lives without sanitation. In South Africa, described as “the world’s most unequal country” by the World Inequality Lab and World Bank, these numbers largely relate to the predominantly black population, living in vast townships which form a sharp contrast to the country’s elite, which is small in numbers, but large in wealth.
Cape Town’s ‘Environmental Monitoring Group (EMG)’ is committed to challenging this equality gap. The NGO, which has over 30 years of history addressing inequality, is joining the 11th Hour Racing Team as a legacy grantee for The Ocean Race 2022-23 after already collaborating with skipper Charlie Enright’s crew at the race’s last edition in 2017-18. The Team’s grant is part of its title sponsor’s global network of programs where local solutions address the global problem of climate change by advancing innovative projects that improve the health of our oceans and address the dynamic environmental challenges impacting our environment and communities.
“We believe that sustainable development is inextricably linked to economic and social justice. You cannot separate environmental issues from the social system,” affirmed Mandy Moussouris, Director of EMG. “The grant from 11th Hour Racing Team allows us to foster our vision of a free, equal, and ecological society where unity between people and nature ensures justice and equity for all living things.”
Creating access to clean water is one of the key pillars of this new grant project. Focusing on the riverside area of Makhaza in Western Cape Town, the initiative also provides ecological education enabling residents to grow food in communal gardens, use different tools and techniques to clean the Kuils River, and reinvigorate indigenous knowledge by growing and making use of medicinal herbs and plants.
South Africa is often referred to as ‘the world’s most unequal country’, where a large part of the population lives without basic amenities such as access to clean and safe water. Cape Town’s Environmental Monitoring Group (EMG), a legacy grantee of 11th Hour Racing Team for The Ocean Race 2022-23 campaign, is committed to closing the equality gap and building social and economic justice, the foundation of a sustainable society.
Worldwide, one person in four does not have access to a clean and safe source of water and one in three lives without sanitation. In South Africa, described as “the world’s most unequal country” by the World Inequality Lab and World Bank, these numbers largely relate to the predominantly black population, living in vast townships which form a sharp contrast to the country’s elite, which is small in numbers, but large in wealth.
Cape Town’s ‘Environmental Monitoring Group (EMG)’ is committed to challenging this equality gap. The NGO, which has over 30 years of history addressing inequality, is joining the 11th Hour Racing Team as a legacy grantee for The Ocean Race 2022-23 after already collaborating with skipper Charlie Enright’s crew at the race’s last edition in 2017-18. The Team’s grant is part of its title sponsor’s global network of programs where local solutions address the global problem of climate change by advancing innovative projects that improve the health of our oceans and address the dynamic environmental challenges impacting our environment and communities.
“We believe that sustainable development is inextricably linked to economic and social justice. You cannot separate environmental issues from the social system,” affirmed Mandy Moussouris, Director of EMG. “The grant from 11th Hour Racing Team allows us to foster our vision of a free, equal, and ecological society where unity between people and nature ensures justice and equity for all living things.”
Creating access to clean water is one of the key pillars of this new grant project. Focusing on the riverside area of Makhaza in Western Cape Town, the initiative also provides ecological education enabling residents to grow food in communal gardens, use different tools and techniques to clean the Kuils River, and reinvigorate indigenous knowledge by growing and making use of medicinal herbs and plants.