Africa KidSAFE is a network of national and international organizations in Zambia working with children who are found on the street (commonly referred to as “street children”) and children who are at risk of moving to the streets as a result of social and economic pressures. The network’s 22 member organizations operate autonomously, but work together in a spirit of collaboration, with common objectives, and under a set of shared guidelines. The network covers Lusaka, Copperbelt, Central and Southern Provinces. With support of the Displaced Children and Orphans Fund and PEPFAR, Project Concern International (PCI) provides coordination, technical support, training, and limited financial and material assistance to the member organizations.
As part of its prevention strategy, the Africa KidSAFE network engages in activities that include street outreach, mobile health, reintegration, residential care, and economic empowerment initiatives. The economic empowerment approach Africa KidSAFE employs focuses on caregivers, with the intent of strengthening the households into which street children are being reintegrated. This includes, but is not limited to, economic strengthening. In target areas, community capacities also need to be strengthened regarding prevention of unnecessary family separation, the identification of child neglect and abuse, and monitoring and support for reintegration.
PCI works in collaboration with, and has provided resources to the Christian Enterprise Trust of Zambia (CETZAM), leaders in microfinance for the poor in Zambia, in order to improve access to microcredit for an estimated 2000 volunteer caregivers who receive support from PCI and/or its partner organizations in the Lusaka and Copperbelt Provinces as part of Africa KidSAFE. Caregivers assist orphans, at risk youth, and people living with HIV/AIDS, and their work is critically important to the country’s public health infrastructure. Moreover, because caregivers are volunteers, finding affordable ways to motivate and incentivize them is crucial to their success and retention within the program.
PCI has identified the lack of microcredit and business training as major impediments to the livelihood security and retention of caregivers, many of whom are widows or women of otherwise limited means, who strain under the financial burden of caring for large numbers of children and/or HIV+ friends or relatives. Most caregivers currently undertake some informal microenterprise activity or small business, and PCI recognizes that there is a tremendous unmet need for microcredit lending among these individuals. With this need in mind, Africa KidSAFE is beginning a savings-led economic empowerment initiative in October 2008.
Project Concern International
info@pcizambia.org.zm
January 2005 to September 2010
Recognizing that the majority of orphans are cared for by family members, Project HOPE focuses on strengthening the capacity of caregivers to provide comprehensive care and support to improve the well-being of children. To address the increased economic needs of orphans and vulnerable children’s (OVC) households and assist in providing the means for sustainable, long term program impact, Project HOPE provides micro-loans and conducts savings mobilization for OVC caregivers to engage in small-scale income generation activities.
The project also uses the vehicle of these loan & savings groups to promote parenting training on the important domains of OVC care and support. Project HOPE developed an OVC-targeted educational curriculum covering essential OVC care and support. The training provides OVC caregivers with education and access to information and resources to help them support the needs of all children under their care, including orphans. This education encompasses a variety of domains including household nutrition, health, parenting skills, HIV prevention, appropriate protection, legal rights, and psycho-social support.
The economic strengthening activities are complemented by community outreach mobilization to further support the needs of OVC providers/caretakers and OVC. Project HOPE mobilizes a network of community based volunteers who are trained through a training of trainers (TOT) methodology on the specialized OVC educational curriculum. These volunteers will in turn identify OVC providers/caretakers within their community and provide home visits, training, counseling, and referral services for them to better improve the well-being of OVC under their support.,
Monitoring and evaluation are critical components of Project HOPE’s approach. Socio-economic profiles are collected on participants in economic strengthening activities to document changes in economic status. Project HOPE has also initiated low-literacy data collection tools that can be managed by the caregivers to empower them in knowing both current status and desired outcomes for the children under their care – referred to as a “parenting map”.
Project HOPE has documented increased income and improved financial resources for OVC caretakers, allowing them to better purchase school uniforms, pay school fees, buy an increased quality and quantity of food, and improve access to medical care. When combined with the increased knowledge about parenting and child-care issues across multiple domains of need, orphans and vulnerable children are shown to receive provide better care and support, and an improvement in their overall well-being.
The project is also active in Namibia and South Africa.
John Bronson
Director, Economic Strengthening Programs
jbronson@projecthope.org
April 2005 to April 2010
The RENDER project increased rural incomes in the target area by bringing together active and motivated associations to build economies of scale, increase marketing power, and facilitate business contracting. It enabled farmer-owned businesses to become a growing part of a dynamic agribusiness sector in Mozambique's Manica Province. The program analyzed market chains for key commodities, such as maize, beans, ground nuts, paprika, garlic and fresh fruits and vegetables, and then targeted technical assistance to address weaknesses in the farm-to-market process. RENDER staff taught new production and postharvest techniques; provided training in association development and better business management; and assisted farmers to market fruit and vegetables to high-end retail outlets, such as supermarkets in the provincial capital, as well as regional and extra-regional processors.
The Young Farmers Initiative, a sub-project of RENDER, established 13 students from the Chimoio Agricultural Institute (IAC) as commercial farmers. The program had four phases:
- Five-month internship with Zimbabwean farmers (January to May 2004)
- Thesis writing and defense and graduation from IAC (June 2004)
- Young farmers produce inside commercial farms (2004-2005)
- Young farmers begin producing for themselves on land legalized by DPA and have access for up to USD 30,000 in credit from GAPI (2005-2006)
During phases one and two, ACDI/VOCA staff provided monthly classes on agribusiness and basic computer skills to the students.
Paul Guenette
pguenette@acdivoca.org
October 2001 to January 2005
