SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT CONDUCTS OVERSIGHT VISIT TO COMMUNITY-BASED ORGANISATIONS IT FUNDS

• The Department of Social Development is conducting oversight visits to community-based organisations that it funds to deliver social services.
• Among the services these organisations provide are psychosocial support to vulnerable children and families, HIV prevention, and teenage and unplanned pregnancies targeting children and young people.
• The Department of Social Development has developed a compendium of social and behaviour change programmes to help in reducing new HIV infections as well as mitigate the impact of HIV and Aids on individuals, families and communities.

The Department of Social Development is conducting nationwide oversight visits to various community-based organisations funded to provide social development services across South Africa.

The oversight visits form part of the department’s ongoing measures to build and strengthen the capacity of non-governmental organisations that render much-needed services to communities, including psychosocial support to vulnerable children and families, HIV prevention, teenage and unplanned pregnancies targeting children and young people.

South Africa remains the epicentre of the HIV epidemic and there is a great need to prevent and reduce new infections, with a strong focus on young people.

As one of the key departments in the HIV and Aids response, the Department of Social Development has developed a compendium of social and behaviour change programmes which seek to contribute to the reduction of new HIV infections as well as mitigate the impact of HIV and Aids on individuals, families and communities.

The compendium of programmes are: You Only Live Once (YOLO), ChommY, Boys Championing Change, Men Championing Change, Family’s Matter and the Rock Leadership programme, which specifically targets traditional leaders.

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.

Brother Services Community Development, in Bushbuckridge, Mpumalanga, is one of the organisations the department has already visited.

The organisation receives funding to prevent new HIV infections, child protection and teenage pregnancy in Lillydale and surrounding communities under the Bushbuckridge Local Municipality.

With a staff complement of 23 receiving monthly stipend and reaching over 5 000 beneficiaries through its various programmes, the organisation plans to expand its services by working closely with local schools.

A 2022 report by the Department of Health focusing on adolescent and youth district data shows that every year, young girls become pregnant, with Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, Gauteng, and Mpumalanga identified as teenage pregnancy hot spots.

Early pregnancies among teenagers present a myriad of long-term socio-economic challenges such as health risks for teenage mothers and their babies, perpetuating the cycle of intergenerational poverty due to early school dropout, the spread of HIV infections, and emotional, psychological, and post-natal depression, amongst others.

Social and behaviour change programmes are essential to HIV prevention and are one of the priority interventions highlighted in the National Strategic Plan for HIV, TB and Sexually Transmitted Infections (2023-2028).

Social and behaviour change efforts aim to reinforce protective sexual behaviour by addressing knowledge, attitudes, skills and social norms. 

In Limpopo province, the Deputy Minister of Social Development Ganief Hendricks visited the Nhlayiso Community Health Drop-in Centre, which provides care and support services to those living with HIV and Aids as well as psychosocial social support services to orphans and vulnerable children in greater Tzaneen under Mopani District.

The organisation also works with local schools and health facilities to prevent teenage pregnancy, gender-based violence, substance use, addiction, and other substance-related harms.

One of the key successes of the organisation is that it provides job opportunities for unemployed social service professionals such as social work graduates, social auxiliary workers and child and youth care workers.

In line with its developmental mandate, the Department of Social Development will continue with its oversight visits to funded community-based organisations to monitor the effectiveness of the compendium of social and behaviour change programmes, especially those targeted at children and young people.