DSD HELPS COMMUNITY ORGANISATIONS TO PROVIDE SOCIAL AND BEHAVIOUR CHANGE PROGRAMMES

By Sello Tang

• The Department of Social Development is conducting monitoring and evaluations on how non-profit organisations are implementing its compendium of social and behaviour change programmes.
• The department visited the Brothers Service Community Development NPO in Lillydale, Mpumalanga, on 13 March 2025.
• The compendium of social and behaviour change programmes seeks to contribute to the reduction of HIV infections and unwanted pregnancies, as well as mitigating the impact of HIV and Aids among individuals, families and communities, particularly the youth.

The Department of Social Development is conducting monitoring and evaluation site visits to non-profit organisations (NPOs) in Mpumalanga.

The department was at the Trust In God church premises in Lillydale village, close to Bushbuckridge, on 13 March 2025 to engage with the Brothers Service Community Development NPO.

The discussions, facilitated by the department’s director of the HIV and Aids Directorate Dr Luzile Nziyane, the department’s social and behaviour change project manager Lethabo Maredi, and the Mpumalanga Province’s HIV and Aids programme manager Huvy Mnisi, are part of the Department of Social Development’s campaign to empower and capacitate NPOs to correctly implement the HIV and Aids compendium of social and behaviour change programmes.

Dr Nziyane highlighted that the visit was not meant to judge the board of directors and managers at the Brothers Service Community Development organisation, but to ensure that they were utilising the government funding in the correct manner.

The Brothers Service Community Development provides a range of community programmes including on behaviour change, the prevention of HIV and Aids, tackling gender-based violence, and reducing teenage pregnancies.

“We would like you to be truthful and fair in the feedback you are going to provide us, because we are here to correct any wrongs you are doing and identify challenges you are facing as an organisation so that we will be able to capacitate you well,” urged Dr Nziyane.

The Department of Social Development’s compendium of programmes seeks to contribute to the reduction of HIV infections, and unwanted pregnancies, as well as mitigating the impact of HIV and Aids among individuals, families and communities, particularly the youth.

The compendium consists of a number of social and behaviour change programmes, including YOLO, ChommY, Boys Championing Change, Men Championing Change, Family’s Matter and the Rock Leadership programme.

YOLO is a programme for 15 to 24-year-olds that aims to build young people’s self-esteem, confidence, self-efficacy and resiliency to deal with adverse situations, while ChommY aims to provide knowledge, develop skills and empower children to make informed choices to reduce HIV infections, substance abuse and to prevent teenage pregnancies through the use of indigenous games.

The department funds NPOs in all nine provinces to implement these programmes.

To ensure the professionalisation of these NPOs, the department urges the organisations to appoint unemployed social workers and social auxiliary workers to implement the programmes.

The department also partners with NPOs that are not funded by the Department of Social Development to implement these programmes.

Brothers Service Community Development is currently receiving funding from the Department of Social Development to implement the social behaviour change programmes in the Bushbuckridge Local Municipality.

The organisation has 15 facilitators, one of whom is a former unemployed auxiliary social worker

Although the NPO was established in 2016, it only started operating fully in 2021.

It employs 31 people and provides a range of social and behaviour change services, in addition to psycho-social support, a gender-based violence programme, and skills development training.