The evolution of Sentebale, our dressmaking grads, coping with the changing climate, and our continued focus on fighting HIV/AIDS

Welcome to our newsletter marking the halfway point of 2025, and a warm welcome to our new subscribers. We’re so glad you’re here.

Our last newsletter was shared in February 2025. Since then, we have made important strides in laying the foundation for future growth, deepening our impact, and rising to meet the challenge behind our call to action: potential is waiting and within reach of all children and young people. This newsletter offers a comprehensive update, including on the regulatory review, covers a refresher on our ‘why’, how we work within the region, and recent examples of our programming, to bring it all to life.

The world’s largest and fastest-growing youth population is in Africa: an overflowing pool of talent, ingenuity, and culture. Africa will be home to one-quarter of the global population by 2050. Meanwhile, rising inequality and climate change are two of the largest issues facing humanity and our global economy, with Africa disproportionately impacted. We need to address these problems head-on by activating the next generation of African leaders to drive solutions that ensure health and wealth while promoting equity, dignity and sustainability.

In response, we keep on doing what we do best: listening, responding, and building with purpose. Working alongside vulnerable young people and their communities, we are creating sustainable solutions that address issues of health, wealth inequity, and climate resilience in Southern Africa.

Our work centres on improving health and wellbeing, including ensuring the sustainability of HIV treatment and prevention work, strengthening support systems for families and communities, championing youth-led advocacy, and creating opportunities for education and sustainable livelihoods.

As the organisation approaches two decades of investing in youth in the Southern African countries of Lesotho and Botswana, we’re more focused than ever on building a stronger future alongside the young people of the region.

With warmest regards,
Carmel Gaillard
Executive Director

Sentebale’s transformation agenda, which occupied so much of our time and resources in 2024, is now largely complete in its core elements.

As announced in December 2024, our Executive Director Carmel Gaillard leads the team in further developing our presence in Southern Africa. We have concluded a restructuring of our operational teams globally as part of our planned 2025 strategy – a shift which is designed to bring greater efficiency and reflect an evolved way of working that is grounded in, and led from, the Southern African region we serve. This shift has resulted in a streamlined organisation with improved sector and geographic focus, stronger financial disciplines, and greater emphasis on efficient programme design and delivery – which in turn will lead to improved measurement of impact, and effective reporting back to our financial partners.

Dr. Sophie Chandauka MBE, our Chair of the Board of Trustees, continues to provide steadfast leadership and an unwavering commitment to Sentebale’s mission. As announced in March 2025, the composition of our Board has changed with the appointment of new Trustees – Iain Rawlinson, previously a strategic advisor to the Board, has now joined as a Trustee, bringing knowledge of the region, deep expertise in international governance and strategic development, finance, and non-profit leadership; and we are honoured to be working with Dr. Bhakti Hansoti, a leading voice in global emergency medicine and health systems, whose vast experience of working on the African continent with leading international institutions, will further strengthen our strategic direction and broaden our networks for collaboration purposes. Further appointments of Trustees will follow in the coming months.

We thank all the former Trustees of Sentebale who have served over the last 19 years and who have pioneered the early days of the charity – and we honour the vision of Prince Harry, The Duke of Sussex, and HRH Prince Seeiso of Lesotho who have relinquished their roles as Patrons, but will always be cherished as the Founders of Sentebale.

Regulatory developments

In April 2025, the UK Charity Commission announced a review of our governance compliance which, with the transformation well advanced, we welcomed. We have fully cooperated with the regulator, including sharing our own governance review, which was commissioned in mid-2024, and engaged in detailed dialogue and documentary disclosure to support the review process. We now await their conclusions and remain committed to operating firmly within the guidelines set by the Charity Commission.

The development landscape

With the unexpected and abrupt withdrawal in early 2025 of key US-based development funding in Africa, the development landscape has fundamentally changed, providing both very significant threats and potential opportunities for the future.

The threat of interrupted access to treatment for health and HIV-related programmes and related services has become all too real for the most at-risk families. Our role in catalysing, supporting and empowering these communities is more critical than ever. We will embed greater efficiencies through our recently completed team restructuring, strengthen our partnerships with national institutions, and sharpen our focus on young adults aged 18 – 24 whose aspirations and challenges often mirror our own.

Like the youth we serve, we move forward with great aspiration, clarity, courage, and conviction. We believe the result of this changed landscape will be that more solutions will be authored and designed from within the region, supported by local leadership – and this in turn will lead to engagement of new funding partners and other necessarily skills from within the region and internationally – a revised model for which Sentebale has been preparing throughout its transformation journey.

Sentebale’s strategic impact areas of health, addressing wealth inequality, and climate resilience are not only essential to empowering vulnerable children and young people, but are vital to sustaining national HIV prevention, treatment, care and life-expectancy outcomes in Botswana and Lesotho. Over the past 19 years, we have contributed to this effort not only through direct programme delivery but also through bold advocacy and thought-leadership on regional, continental and global platforms.

The future and thank you

We want to acknowledge how profoundly grateful we are to our long-standing donors and implementing partners, and to the many individuals around the world who have stood with us in words, deeds, and donations. Together, we continue to advance Sentebale’s mission – supporting access to HIV-related and holistic healthcare, building economic opportunity, and helping youth and their communities adapt to the realities of a changing climate.

Here’s what we know: Africa is home to the world’s fastest-growing youth population, bursting with potential. But to truly thrive, these young people need access to care, opportunity, and a voice in shaping their future. That’s what Sentebale has been building for nearly two decades, and the journey is far from over.

Thank you for being part of this movement.
Read below for spotlights on our programming.

In April, eleven young women from Butha-Buthe, Lesotho, graduated from Sentebale’s Socio-Economic Strengthening (SES) programme, delivered in partnership with Lehakoe Design and Garments. Over three intensive months, these young women (aged 15 to 24) were trained in dressmaking, gaining both practical skills and a renewed sense of purpose.

A year ago, these young women began their entrepreneurship journey with 200 other young women across the country. Unfortunately, the original training provider could not fulfil their commitment. Thanks to the unwavering support of donors who stepped in, these young women could complete their course at a new institution. The results were extraordinary: confidence, craftsmanship, and pride stitched into every garment they created.

With their new skills, several graduates are now interning with local small businesses, earning modest but life-changing stipends of M500 (c.$27 USD) – enough to access healthcare, contribute to household food security, and experience financial independence for the first time.

“This course has given us a legacy that no one can take away from us.”
Puleng, SES Programme/Lehakoe Design and Garments school graduate

Lesotho’s landscape is changing fast – severe soil erosion and land degradation are threatening the natural resources rural communities rely on for food, water, and income. In response, the Regeneration of Landscapes and Livelihoods (ROLL) programme, implemented by Sentebale and Avo Vision on behalf of Lesotho’s Ministry of Forestry and Agriculture, is helping communities build resilience in the face of climate change.

Since its launch in 2024, ROLL has trained more than 500 rural villages to develop enterprise plans that aim to empower themselves economically while regenerating their landscapes – from planting school gardens and protecting riverbanks to regenerating dams and introducing tiered farming. Youth are central to the efforts, making up 40% of all participants.  Our goal is to support four times as many rural community groups over the next two years.

With climate-related challenges on the rise, these grassroots efforts are planting the seeds for a more sustainable and self-reliant future.

“We were facing a water crisis due to the desertification of the area, but with the support and recommendations of the ROLL programme, we were able to harvest water and use it. Destructive trees and shrubs have been cleared, and a two-year ban on grazing in these areas has been put in place to prevent animals from trampling the land and undoing the progress.”
Khauta, Butha-buthe Community member

Thanks to decades of progress, HIV is no longer the death sentence it once was. In both Lesotho and Botswana, epidemic control has been achieved—meaning fewer new infections and more people accessing life-saving treatment. But sustaining this progress depends on continued support, especially as international funding across the HIV sector declines. Young people still face significant barriers to accessing care.

From January to April 2025, Sentebale’s work in Lesotho reached over 12,000 adolescent girls and young women (AGYW) with HIV risk-reduction education, linking nearly 4,000 to essential health services. We tracked and returned 99% of clients who had missed clinical appointments and placed AGYW in internships and vocational training opportunities. In Botswana, empowerment clubs supported 758 adolescents and young people, with over 97% achieving viral suppression. Youth were also connected to mental health support, caregiver sessions, and economic empowerment initiatives ranging from job shadowing to starting businesses in fields like retail and catering.

Together, we remain focused on protecting the gains made.

“Before coming to the club, I felt alone. Now, I have friends who understand me.”
Sentebale empowerment club member 

We are at a pivotal moment in our journey. Sentebale means “forget-me-not” in Sesotho – a powerful reminder to never forget the children and young people who need us most.

With unwavering commitment, our board, executive, country, and field teams are working tirelessly to ensure that vital programmes continue without disruption in Lesotho and Botswana. Your support today helps protect the futures of those who rely on Sentebale for health, hope, and opportunity.

Every act of support helps us keep the Sentebale promise: to never forget.

Please consider making a contribution.