Dr Mokhantso Makoae is a chief research specialist in the Developmental, Capable Ethical State (DCES) research programme. She holds an MSc in Social Research Methods from the University of Surrey and a PhD in Sociology from the University of Cape Town (2007). She specialises in sociology of health in relation to the second decade of life; HIV/Aids care and gender; adolescent healthy sexual development and reproductive rights; and child wellbeing focusing on the readiness of child maltreatment prevention systems; children?s rights to protection from violence in Southern Africa children and services for families of children with disabilities in South Africa.
Experience and special projects: She was formerly a chief researcher in the Child, Youth, Family and Social Development (CYFSD) research programme in the same organisation, a position which she held from March 2007 until 31 August 2007. She was a research specialist from August 2007 to July 2010, became a senior research specialist in Population Health, Health Systems and Innovation (PHHSI) research programme from 2010 to 2014 and an African Research Fellow in Human and Social Development (HSD) research programme from 2014 to 2017. She was a chief research specialist in HSD since July 2017. She was the country principal investigator (PI) for the World Health Organisation former Violence and Injury Prevention Department https://www.who.int/violence_injury_prevention/en/ developing evidence on the need for governments in low-and-middle income countries to promote human rights and prioritise prevention of violence against children. Multi-country teams developed tools for collecting adverse childhood experiences: http://www.who.int/violence_injury_prevention/violence/activities/adverse_childhood_experiences/en/index.html; and scales for measuring country?s and community?s level of readiness to implement large-scale child maltreatment prevention programmes: https://www.who.int/violence_injury_prevention/violence/child/cmp_readiness/en/ She has been a PI and co-PI for several projects in the HSRC including ?Integrating gender analysis into HIV programming for girls and women in South Africa Gender assessment in 2016 funded by PEPFAR CDC/USAID; Engaging young adolescents in improving sexual and reproductive health and rights in the context of national health system reform: Making Sexual and Reproductive Health & Rights Real in South Africa funded by AIDS Foundation of South Africa; National Rapid assessment of Adolescent and Youth Friendly Services in 9 Provinces, South Africa funded by the National Department of Health and the United Nations Children?s Fund (UNICEF) and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in 2014; and Advancing sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) of sexual and gender minorities in Gert Sibande district, Mpumalanga: a rapid ethnographic assessment commissioned by the AIDS Foundation South Africa. Recently she led a research team in drafting the South African National Youth Policy 2020-2030 commissioned by the South African Presidency and funded by UNFPA.
Before joining the HSRC, Dr Makoae spent 10 years as an academic during which time she taught mainly courses in research methods and sociology, including sociology of health and illness at the National University of Lesotho. During the past decade she has mostly conducted her research in the area of human development, population health and human rights. In particular, her research has focused on child wellbeing and influencing policy on the prevention of violence against children (VAC) and younger adolescent sexual and reproductive rights.
Publications: Dr Makoae has published 31 scientific articles in both local and international peer-reviewed academic journals, 45 research reports, 2 abstracts, and 3 book chapters. She has also presented more than 20 papers and posters at both local and international conferences.
