TRAINING FACILITATORS SET TO BUOY UP IMPLEMENTATION OF FAMILY’S MATTER PROGRAMME DESPITE UNCERTAINTY IN GLOBAL FUNDING

By Sello Tang

• Social intervention programmes must continue, despite global economic pressures on aid budgets, according to the head of implementation of the Family’s Matter Programme, Maston Phiri.
• The Family’s Matter Programme is rolling out a train-the-trainers workshop in East London from 27 – 31 January 2025 to equip as many auxiliary social workers as possible, particularly in rural areas, to continue implementing the programme.
• The Family’s Matter Programme aims to equip facilitators with the skills required to help parents improve their parenting practices and promote open communication about sexuality and sexual risks.

The future looks bleak for non-profit organisations and their invaluable contribution to poor communities, with international funding for social and behaviour change programmes and others dwindling rapidly due to the negative global economic outlook, along with political landscape changes in the administration of some powerful nations.

“However, all is not lost,” said the head of implementation of the Family’s Matter Programme run by the Department of Social Development, Maston Phiri.

The Family’s Matter Programme is working hard to train as many auxiliary social workers operating mainly in rural areas as possible to empower them to continue implementing the programme during difficult times, Phiri said, adding that its importance could not be overstated.

He highlighted the importance of the programme to many families in the country, saying it would not be fair to allow it to stop because of the “bleeding coffers of the funders”.

The current implementation of the revised programme showed a distinct change from the original implementation of the programme in previous years, Phiri noted, emphasising that the training of auxiliary social workers was the backbone of the implementation of social development initiatives in communities.

A participant in the training-the-trainers workshop taking place in East London from 27 – 31 January 2025, Sandile Khanyile from Gqeberha, expressed his appreciation of the course, saying it would help participants to be more effective in their work guiding parents and children on sex education and safe sex practices.

The Family’s Matter Programme aims to equip facilitators with the skills required to help parents improve their parenting practices and promote open communication about sexuality and sexual risks.

“This training on the revised version of Family’s Matter will definitely improve my knowledge of the programme and I am confident that I am now better placed to provide advice to troubled families in an appropriate manner,” said Kukuru Adonisi, an auxiliary social worker from Port Saint Johns, close to Mthatha.

Adonisi highlighted that the knowledge she had gained from the training would help her to deal with complex issues, including extreme cases of sexual harassment. “I am working with families in the village and they believe in cultural and traditional ways of resolving issues with the children, without following the appropriate legal process,” she said.

A case in point was a recent intervention Adonisi undertook on the rape of a minor, where the parents of the child who was raped had not considered the feeling and views of their daughter, but went ahead and resolved the issue by accepting a cow as compensation from the family of the rapist.

“I felt that I was not sufficiently armed to guide them correctly,” she said, adding after the training course she felt empowered to be able to resolve similar cases effectively in the future.

While the Family’s Matter Programme seeks to address child sexual abuse and gender-based violence among young girls and boys between the ages of nine and 12, it has also proved to be a beneficial intervention for parents communicating with older adolescents between the ages of 15 to 18.

The training advocates for the use of updated approaches, including non-violent discipline and building stronger parent-child relationships, to mitigate social ills within communities. The programme also attempts to assist children to learn about the consequences of sex and avoid contracting sexually transmitted diseases, HIV/Aids, and unwanted teenage pregnancies.

The Department of Social Development and its partners constantly review the Family’s Matters Programme to adapt the programme to current social challenges, such as gender-based violence, unsafe sex practices, bad digital media influences, and harmful traditional practices.