Final report; Strengthening Community Support for Orphans and Vulnerable Children

Background   
In 2002, Save the Children partnered with the Department of Social Services and eight local authorities in a pilot project aimed at mitigating the impact of HIV AIDS through strengthening community structures to care and support OVCs, strengthening community coping mechanisms and increasing knowledge to the 15-24 year age group. The design of the project was centred around addressing the prevailing gaps in the response arising from brain drain as proffessionals were leaving the country at a time when OVCs increasing in numbers and extended families were overwhelmed. The project therefore say the need to involve communities to take responsibilities in caring, protecting and supporting  OVCs.

Purpose/objective (including evaluation questions)    
 To document processes that contributed to effective CPCs in Mberengwa and draw good lessons   that can be shared with partners and stakeholders and also for internal learning. The documentation is therefore a lessons learnt study.

Methodology   
The evaluation exercise was done in Mberengwa and Matobo districts, the two districts which SC was interested in learning from and sharing lessons. The study population within these districts included CPC groups, community members, children and community and district leadership. Since the coverage of the support was at district level, the full list of wards in the district was used as a sampling frame from which six wards per district were selected using simple random sampling (SRS). The study was mainly qualitative in nature. However, wherever relevant and feasible, the review utilized quantitative data in project reports to triangulate qualitative data on the implementation and perfomance of the project. PRA techniques used in data collection included the community mapping exercise, timeline reconstruction of events, Focus Group Discussions, Key informant interviews, Obervations, MSC  and Photography.

Key findings    
The programme indeed has played a critical role in the collective mitigation efforts and several elements have been noted to exist in the trajectory of the results chain:

Coverage in education support – CPCs distributed uniforms and stationery and also paid schools fees to various schools in their wards and there is strong evidence to suggest they will continue to do so. Some of the children previously supported are now successful in their career and leadership. In one site, reference was made to a local policeman who was once a beneficiary as well as another individual now working for the government.

Reduced stress among children- Stress related to looking different among other children by ensuring that each child has a uniform and attends school like all others.

Reduced OVC separation by supporting them in their households ensuring that the siblings grow up together.

Improved awareness on child rights and abuse – This has resulted on reduced incidents of child abuse. Their existence has played a critial role in the reduction of child abuse cases. Community is aware that someone is watching.

Enabled children to take first steps towards claiming their rights through ensuring they are fully informed of their rights and responsibilities as well as the available support mechanisms.

Recommendations   
The project can and should be replicated, maintaining the design and institutional arrangements. Of particular note, the partnership with local rural councils facilitates ownership and a locally relevant approach in the approaches used in project design.
There is need to make use of a standardised training manual for CPCs which can be adapted at the various levels. The use of a training guide will help in ensuring that there is standardised and accurate information dissemination regarding child protection and safeguarding.
There are opportunities to strengthen the monitoring and evaluation of the programme to facilitate community level learning and focus on results; and understand the dynamics of change for future programming. It is worthwhile to consider a greater role and participation of community in M&E. This can be achieved through intergrating M&E with CPC training but making sure that it is maintained at a simple level.
Although the capacity building activities as well as the current strategies to ensure ownership all contribute to the likely sustainability of the initiative, it is important to note that the regular supportive visits from district and national levels were noted as one of the key factors contributing to the success of the project. It is therefore strategic that the local councils adopt the positions of the district coordinators. In addition, the technical and funding support through national programmes, particulary the NAP 2  should recognise the strengths of having the local partners as local level coordinators in the institutional arrangements.