MANDELLA-SCHOLARSHIP

04/EEN/012

As part of our commitment to the future of South Africa, Unilever supports the ongoing education and training of some of the country's best young people.

Leadership development

Former business consultant Noxolo Kahlana realised she needed a solid grounding if she was to pursue her dream as a youth development specialist in her native South Africa.
With the help of Unilever's flagship scholarship programme, she was able to study for a Masters degree in social development at the University of Manchester. Noxolo is one of 106 young South Africans to have studied in the United Kingdom under the Nelson Mandela Scholarship programme.

Skills return

Launched in 1998 with a R30 million (approx £2.5 million) sponsorship from Unilever, and completed in 2008, the programme funded postgraduate studies for disadvantaged South African students at leading UK universities. The students were chosen from right across the industry spectrum, from speech therapists to chemical engineers. The only condition was that the recipients, like Noxolo, must return to South Africa to apply the skills and knowledge that they had gained abroad.

Future leaders

In 2008, we decided to shift our support to the Mandela Rhodes Scholarships Programme. These scholarships offer exceptional educational and leadership training opportunities in South Africa at Honours and Masters levels, and in all disciplines. We decided also to endow a Mandela Rhodes Scholarship indefinitely.
Gail Klintworth, chairman of Unilever South Africa, said: "We believe the Nelson Mandela Scholarships helped pave the way for the establishment of an Africa-based programme in Mr Mandela's name, and we are delighted to be involved with the Mandela Rhodes Foundation."