Report from evaluation of the HIV/AIDS prevention project of the New Life Community (NLC) Ethiopia

Background

In 2003 NLC started a project targeting young women and with a focus on HIV/AIDS, through funding from FOKUS (and NORAD) and with the following objectives:
• Increasing the level of HIV/AIDS awareness of the communities (on mode of transmission, preventive methods/strategies, stigma and discrimination etc) living in 5 selected Kebeles of Gulele, Mekanisa and Akaki Kaliti sub city by the year 2005.
• Provision of short term training for unemployed and /or school drop out women living in Gulele and Akaki Kaliti sub city.

The project has focused on:
o Skill training of women
o Establishment of trained women with the help of income generating activities
o Awareness raising of the youth by engaging them in youth club activities
o Workshops for community

Purpose/objective

New Life Community Ethiopia has received support from New Life Community (NLC) Norway through FOKUS, Forum for Women and Development, since 2003. Final year for support is 2005.
The overall issues to be reviewed:
• the goal of the project against the funding that has been given from NLC.
• how this project has affected the situation for women who has been given training.
• the organisation of the project and long term planning for sustainability.
• the cooperation process between Ethiopia and Norway.

Methodology

The main method during the field visit was interviews with different groups of people. Interviews were sometimes conducted in groups, sometimes with individuals. The interviews were based on a list of questions prepared in advance, but they were conducted in an unstructured manner, following the flow of the conversation and with open-ended questions.Discussions were held with the top management of NLC to get additional information and also validate information and impressions. A debriefing session was held on the last day, to give feedback based on the team discussions.

Key findings

The NLC in general comes across as a "traditional" service-provider organisation, with working priorities geared towards key obstacles in the community, such as lack of access to education and basic social services. Providing training and schooling seems to be the general answer from NLC to the local challenges, including in relation to HIV/AIDS. More focus may be needed to foster transformation and personal growth in addition to providing concrete skills (and certificates).

Working with the community is important in development projects, and to some extent NLC does that, through consulting with the Kebele and Sub-city, plus other local leaders. However, not least for the HIV/AIDS prevention project, the organisation seems to lack competence in relation to facilitate processes, and in including the target group more systematically in developing local responses. The ownership of the projects rest with the NLC management, and does not seem to be shared to a large extent with the various target groups.

HIV/AIDS is covered as a subject in the school and training, and a special event was organised for World AIDS Day. Except for that, there is no specific internal HIV/AIDS policy or programme. In general the organisation does not seem to have a high level of gender or HIV/AIDS competence. There is a need to analyse how HIV/AIDS may be influenced by the different aspects of the projects, and how the epidemic can influence the organisation and the work.

Recommendations

On organisational level/ general
1. The organisational strategic process should continue, and efforts should be made to get staff in strategic and managerial positions. An affirmative action policy may be followed to secure that more women come in leadership positions at all levels. It may also be necessary to review the salary and incentive structure to attract personnel with adequate competence. Job descriptions should be worked out with the professional staff, so that the responsibilities of the different staff members are clear for all staff.
2. It is important to increase ownership and participation from all levels in the organisation, not least in relation to project development. Project proposals and other important communication with Norway (or other donors) should be written in English, to improve transparency and openness, and in a process with involvement from the target groups and the technical staff.
3. As an organisation who works with HIV/AIDS, it is necessary for NLC to become an organisation which practices the principle they teach. Therefore, gender and HIV/AIDS issues need to be mainstreamed in the organisation and in the various activities of the organisation. Workplace policy and programme on HIV/AIDS should be developed, to cover all workers. All staff may need training in gender competence and mainstreaming in addition to HIV/AIDS competence.
4. The micro-credit scheme should analyse how HIV/AIDS affects the work and how their activities may influence the HIV situation in the communities, and develop measure to make sure the schemes address HIV/AIDS related challenges. This may mean introducing general insurance systems to cover loss in case clients or their families experience serious health problems. One should take measures to ensure that clients from families affected by HIV/AIDS can be included in the schemes.
Specifically for the HIV/AIDS prevention programme
1. Follow up of trainees from the vocational programme may be done in a way that utilises and develops the women's centre. On may gather former trainees regularly; facilitate sharing of experiences, and perhaps ongoing learning. As their working situation change, so will their susceptibility for HIV, and it may be useful to address how the women may protect themselves. The women involved in the training may become a core group in building up women's centres, and this may in turn attract other women or young women who may want to enter into the training.
2. More women are needed in key positions, especially to work with young women (youth clubs). Gender competence is needed in addition to HIV/AIDS competence.
3. It is advisable to research new kinds of vocational training, based on market assessments and interest of the target groups.
4. Developing project plans and proposals should take place in a participatory manner, involving the target groups, the local and top level staff.
5. Investment should be done in developing facilitation skills to promote participation and partnership among the target groups. This may be done through sending staff to relevant training, and also through getting hold of relevant training resources (manuals, handbooks etc).
6. NLC should be more involved in collaboration and networking with other agencies to do regular experience sharing, and to learn from the experience of others, and to send staff to relevant training.
7. NLC should seek funding from different sources to increase the sustainability of the projects.
8. NLC should develop the HIV/AIDS project into a more holistic project addressing issues linked to support and care for those infected and their families, not least in relation to orphans. This should be done gradually and in cooperation with stakeholders, both local and international.