Real Love life

loveLife's partners

loveLife was launched in late 1999 as a joint initiative of leading South African non-government organisations and the South African government, in partnership with several private foundations and private sector support. Amongst others the Henry J Kaiser family Foundation has been a lead funder and driver of the organisation. Primary funders in 2010 include the South African Department of Health, the Department of Social Development and Sports and Recreation South Africa. Additional funding and support is provided by South Africa’s corporate sector including Barloworld, Murray & Roberts, Independent Newspapers, Rapport, the National Lottery Distribution Trust Fund (NLDTF), the South African Broadcasting Corporation, Ster-Kinekor, VW and Anglo American. Large donors such as DfiD, the Henry J Kaiser Family Foundation, UNFPA and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation have also supported loveLife.

Since 2008, loveLife has received technical support from DED, the German Development Service (from 2011 on GIZ, Gesellschaft fuer Internationale Zusammenarbeit), with several advisors, volunteers and private public partnership funds.

  loveLife's standpoint

loveLife believes that young South Africans have adequate knowledge about HIV and how to protect themselves. However, HIV incidence rates show that youth still put themselves at risk.

loveLife believes that new HIV infections among young people are not a result of poor knowledge or the misinterpretation of safe-sex messages, but are due to individual, structural and social factors, namely: unemployment, gender inequality, poor individual outlook and self-worth, and little vocational opportunities, which constitute key drivers of high-risk behaviour.