FHI - Namibia OVC Program

Program details

DECEMBER 2003 — The USAID/FHI Namibia Program started supporting OVC in Namibia in early 2001 with funding from the Education for Development and Democracy Initiative (EDDI). The program supports a set of holistic activities implemented by government and NGOs in support of OVC.

At the national level, USAID/FHI supports the Ministry of Women Affairs and Child Welfare (MWACW) through a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to second a OVC Technical Advisor to assist the OVC Permanent Task Force and its subcommittees. Together, they will develop a national OVC strategy, a national policy, work plans, and budgets. Under the direction of the Namibian Cabinet, the MWACW reshaped the previously formed OVC steering committee into the OVC Permanent Task Force (OVCPTF). The OVCPTF has four working groups: Education, Care and Support, Health and Nutrition, and Child Protection and Human Rights. The Namibian Program of Action for Children consists of three components: OVC, Early Childhood Development (ECD) and Child Development.

The USAID/FHI Namibia program has supported two national conferences on OVC, which were instrumental by yielding a consensus on a nationwide OVC strategy, draft policy, and the establishment of a multisectoral permanent task on OVC.

The National Task Force through its subcommittees has provided support for advocacy on OVC and reform of OVC property rights and inheritance issues to improve knowledge of OVC policy, laws, and rights, including educational rights for OVC and most recently a National OVC Trust Fund. At the request of the subcommittee and with support from FHI, a national monitoring and evaluation tool has been developed, and the creation of an OVC identification system and database.

Namibia programs

National OVC Program of the Government of Namibia – a program overseen by the Permanent OVC Task Force resorting under the Ministry of Women Affairs and Child Welfare and supported by NGOs and donor agencies including FHI.
"Schooled for Success: Promoting Full School Participation by OVC" – a Catholic AIDS Action (CAA) program aimed at ensuring that OVC attend and succeed in school, to date incorporating a major campaign on the right of OVC to attend school, psychosocial support at the community level and the provision of school supplies and uniforms to qualifying OVC through a joint venture with the private sector.
Psychosocial Training for OVC – a Philippi Namibia program aimed at training peer counselors and identifying potential youth leaders for further training to provide care and support to OVC, including peer counseling and helping them to cope with their fears, grief and difficulties through experiential learning camps.
AIDS Law Unit of the Legal Assistance Center (LAC) – an advocacy project focusing on the rights of people living with HIV/AIDS and OVC. The ALU has been instrumental in drafting the national OVC Policy. In addition the ALU has drafted the National HIV Policy for the Education Sector, which was endorsed by both Ministries of Education and specifically speaks to the rights of vulnerable children and education.

National OVC Program of the Government of Namibia

Overseen by the Permanent OVC Task Force resorting under the Ministry of Women Affairs and Child Welfare (MWACW), the National OVC Program is supported by several NGOs and donor agencies including USAID/FHI.

The OVC Permanent Task Force is a product of Namibia's First and Second National Conferences on OVC held in 2001/02 and supported by USAID/FHI and UNICEF. FHI assists the MWACW and OVC Permanent Task Force through its secondment of a Technical Advisor on Orphans and Vulnerable Children and Children Affected by AIDS.

Under the joint leadership of Catholic AIDS Action (CAA) and Philippi Namibia, FHI has supported the drafting, field-testing, revision and finalization of a Psychosocial Training of Trainers Curriculum through pilot training exercises with staff of CAA, other faith-based organizations, NGOs and line ministries.

Several publications and training materials will be produced from the curriculum with FHI support, including a practical handbook published by CAA, entitled Resiliency Among Children Affected by HIV/AIDS, which will be translated into Afrikaans and Oshiwambo with USAID/FHI support, and a PSS support manual Psychosocial Support Training for Group Leaders by Philippi Trust.

National OVC Program of the Government of Namibia publications

First National Conference on Orphans and Other Vulnerable Children (OVC) – Windhoek, Namibia, May 8-10, 2001.

Second National Conference on Orphans and Other Vulnerable Children (OVC) – Windhoek, Namibia, June 25-27, 2002.

"Schooled for Success: Promoting Full School Participation by OVC"

This Catholic AIDS Action (CAA) program is aimed at ensuring that OVC attend and succeed in school. As a first step a campaign was conducted with the aim of educating community leaders, volunteers, and caregivers about the right of all children to attend school. The campaign was particularly prominent in the north of the country where over half of the OVC served by CAA live. Numerous introductory and advocacy meetings were held with school principals and political leaders, and motivational community meetings were held. As a result of meetings with principals, contributions to a "school development fund" were waived in over 70% of OVC cases.

To facilitate access to supplies and uniforms, CAA signed a national agreement of co-operation with PEP Stores.

Psychosocial training for OVC

This Philippi Trust Namibia training program is aimed at identifying peer counselors through listening and responding skills workshops, and training potential youth leaders to counsel and assist OVC to assist them to overcome their difficulties and fears through experiential learning at youth camps for OVC led by the youth leaders trained in the program.

This program is similar to that of the Salvation Army's Masiye Camp in Zimbabwe. It is run in two phases. Phase 1 consists of training for group leaders aged 16-21 in Listening and Responding Skills. The aims of Phase 1 are to train young people to listen and respond appropriately to peers in need, and to determine which of them have leadership skills or potential for further training as youth leaders. The training is very interactive with lots of group discussions, one-to-one listening exercises and feedback to plenary, and enables trainers to select participants for the next stage of training. Phase 2 of the program consists of a 6-day experiential learning youth camp for OVC aged 6-18. This training is geared towards counseling the participants and helping them to overcome difficulties and fears through experiential learning.

This program is guided by the above-mentioned Psychosocial Training of Trainers Curriculum developed under the joint leadership of Philippi Namibia and CAA and the manual produced by Philippi, Psychosocial Support Training for Group Leaders.

The handbook Building Resiliency Among Children Affected by HIV/AIDS published by CAA serves as a complement to the curricula, and is targeting teachers and caretakers of OVC, in addition to serving as a training resource in the program.

Other training materials

CAA: Psychosocial Training Manual for ToT, 2003

Building Resiliency Among Children Affected by HIV/AIDS. Windhoek: Catholic AIDS Action.

Psychosocial Support Training for Group Leaders (draft) by Philippi Namibia (2003).

AIDS Law Unit

The prevention and mitigation of the impact of HIV/AIDS and the reduction of vulnerability of children in the epidemic program is undertaken by the AIDS Law Unit of the Legal Assistance Center with support from FHI. It underpins and supports the other USAID-supported OVC programs and people living with and or affected by HIV/AIDS. It includes the non-discriminatory access of children orphaned by AIDS or living with HIV/AIDS to education, and access by caregivers of OVC to advice and information on their rights and entitlements under social security and welfare legislation. At the national level, the AIDS Law Unit is represented on the OVC National Task Force, and chairs the subcommittee on Human Rights and Child Protection. The ALU has been requested by the Ministry of Women Affairs and Child Welfare to assist with the finalization of the national OVC policy for Namibia. After several revisions, the national OVC policy should be ready for implementation in early 2004.