Social Volunteers Against AIDS (SoVAA) Programatic Strategic Assessment

Background  
SoVAA campaign is currently implemented in 20 Village Development Committees (VDCs) in partnership with Gangotri Rural Development Forum (GRDF). Similar programme was also started in Jhapa and Morang in partnership with SoVAA Support and Coordination Team (SSCT)  – a well established network of SoVAA members which has been largely focusing on children and adolescents (14-24 years) to create new  SoVAA and thus intensifying its peer education and HIV awareness initiatives in schools and communities. The main thrust of the SoVAA approach is to enhance the spirit of volunteerism to support a social movement against HIV and AIDS for creating an enabling environment for children affected by AIDS (CABA), single women and infected people to improve their access to social resources and mitigate the social impacts of the epidemic on individuals, families and communities.

Purpose/objective  
The specific objectives of this assessment are:
• to assess the relevance and appropriateness of SoVVA programme in mobilizing community members (Children, youth and adults)  against HIV
• to assess the effectiveness and efficiency  of the program approach
• to document the lessons learned for further improvement in programming.
  
Methodology  
This assessment has mainly adopted a qualitative methodology to collect information about the project’s activities using key informant interviews, focus group discussions (FGDs) with SoVAA members and local stakeholders. There are 2-3 case studies from the field to generate practical evidences of good practices from SoVAA approach. Primary information was gathered during field visits to Achham in the far-west and  Jhapa and Morang districts for on-site observation and interaction with SoVAA members and a wide range of stakeholders at community and district levels. The programme assessment was conducted by a team of two consultants from the Development Resource Center (DRC) during December, 2011   

Key findings  
1. The project has successfully accomplished its strategic objectives by mobilizing more than 15,000 SoVAA networks in the project districts. More than 500 People Living With HIV and Aids (PLWHA), including Children Affected By Aids (CABA) and single women have benefitted from the project with counseling, referral and income generating activities for their better livelihoods in the communities. 
2. The capacity of SoVAA networks in terms of their knowledge and skills on HIV and AIDS prevention, treatment and care, counseling and referral services has significantly enhanced. With their efforts and determination, the vulnerability of women and children to HIV and AIDS has significantly reduced by empowering themselves to organize and advocate their rights to health and social services.
 3. The SoVAA networks have been successful in effectively mobilizing local resources from VDCs to support CABA for their education and health services. Some of the SoVAA members who belong to single women have started savings funds to help those who need immediate support for health, food or other emergencies.
 4. The SoVAA strategy and the social movement has been recognized and addressed in the strategic plans of DACC and DDCs with particular focus to support CABA and social protection for people living with HIV and AIDS. To this end, the periodic plans of DACC/DDCs have clearly articulated the commitment to support for HIV prevention initiatives by allocating resources for people living with HIV and AIDS.
5. The SoVAA approach has been inclusive in terms of gender, caste and ethnicity. More importantly, involvement of children and adolescents has addressed their rights to education, health and other psycho-social services.
6. The SoVAA strategy is in line with National HIV and AIDS Policy and the Strategic Plan (2011-2016) in terms of multi-sector response and focus on reducing stigma and discrimination. The strategic actions such as peer education, life-skills and behavior change communications have been included in the SoVAA campaigns in order to mobilizing a range of stakeholders such as children, adolescents, youth, single women and people living with HIV and AIDS. 
  
Recommendations  
1. The project now needs to further build and strengthen the on-going capacity building initiatives for SoVAA networks together with NGOs and VDCs/DDCs. This should be beyond HIV and AIDS and preferably should include issues around gender, human rights, child protection, and social inclusion which impact on HIV and AIDS
2. The project needs to strengthen a participatory planning and monitoring system with district stakeholders to promote institutional linkages and partnerships and, mobilize local resources to expand the coverage for HIV prevention, care and support services.
3. The project should focus on strengthening community support system for prioritized actions on CABA and single women in order to enhance their capacity for meeting their immediate needs of education, health, income earning opportunities and other livelihood options. 
4. There is an emerging need to ensure decentralized programmatic approach to SoVAA networks by partnering directly with district level SoVAA network for overall planning and implementation of the initiatives – rather than creating a PNGO as an intermediary partner to support implementation of the SoVAA strategies. In case of Achham, it is right time to have direct partnership with district level SoVAA network as they are registered and established in the district where as existing PNGO will have certain role of technical backstopping in planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the project activities. This will further enhance the capacity, motivation and ownership of SoVAA networks in continuing their initiatives in the communities.
5. In the process of phasing out the project, SC and PNGOs in particular should first plan for a district level stakeholders’ workshop where DDC, DACC, SoVAA networks, I/NGOs, NGOs and networks of PLWHAs in order to update the profile of networks, take stock of the progress made so far and, discuss both institutional and programmatic issues of continuity of this movement in the districts.
  
Comments and follow-up from the organisation, if any