Country Context

South Africa (SA) might be classed as a middle-income country but it is also the fourth most unequal country in the world, with 14m South African children living in poverty. The HIV epidemic is growing at one of the fastest rates in the world, and the social and economic consequences for children and their families are devastating. It is estimated that one in six children will have lost a parent to AIDS by the age of 14. Although the State’s leading policy objective is for social and economic transformation, public services are under skilled and urgent support is needed to improve co-ordination and delivery of basic services. Poor housing, youth unemployment, children living on the streets, drugs, child abuse and sexual exploitation appear to be on the increase. The province of KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) has one of the highest incidences of HIV and AIDS in the country, a phenomenon that has disproportionately impacted children and young people and their carers. The region accounts for nearly a third of all HIV infections and a third of all orphans in the country. Children and their families affected by HIV and AIDS, living in the most deprived communities, are struggling to access information and services on health care, housing security and welfare assistance that they are entitled to.

The Project

ChildHope is working with 4 multidisciplinary local NGOs, including CINDI, a consortium of over 100 civil society and government agencies working with orphans, vulnerable children and their families in KwaZulu-Natal. This 3 year multi-sectoral initiative (2006-2009) is enabling children and their families/caregivers that have been affected by HIV and/or AIDS to access their rights and appropriate services more effectively.

This is being done by:

• Developing and assessing programmes to assist children infected/affected by HIV and AIDS, and collating this information.
• Establishing and running 2 Community Advisory Services staffed by a coordinator and trained volunteers who offer advice on how to access information, support and services.
• Enabling communities to access legal support through the Community Advisory Services.
• Advising local government and governmental officials, through workshops and other relevant events, on how to bridge policy implementation gaps in KZN, thus enabling them to better respond to the demands of children and families affected by HIV and AIDS.
• Establishing a task team of local government officials and Community Based Organisations (CBOs)
  to share information and explore strategies for improving communication with and within government departments.
• Undertaking capacity building for local NGOs in advocacy and lobbying skills and training local community and social workers on topics such as sustainable livelihoods and food security.
• Establishing a database where local organisations working with children and the community can access useful information, including learning from the project.
  
  In its first year of implementation there has been tremendous progress towards supporting children and their carers to access their rights. Furthermore, the project is also making good headway in improving policy and practice by local Departments of Health, Housing, Home Affairs and Social Welfare to address the rights of children infected/affected by HIV and AIDS.

Challenges and lessons learnt so far:

• 
  Developing a relationship with the community is vitally important to the success and effective execution of the activities: HIV and AIDS are still an unspoken topic for many who live in the community, and hosting community workshops/public audiences on HIV & AIDS actively assist in developing discussion.
• Effectively engaging with both national and local government officials is proving to be a constant challenge. Although many of them express their willingness to take part, there are always time constraints and other priorities in the agendas. Experience is showing that all it takes is one Official to display an interest in the project, and others are quick follow.
• Difficulties are constantly faced when trying to provide services to children who are being abused and/or sexually exploited in the community. This is because of the fear felt by the person who reports these offences, and the reprisals that could follow.