TRAINING WORKSHOP FOR FAMILY’S MATTER PROGRAMME UNDERWAY IN EAST LONDON

By Sello Tang

• A training-the-trainers workshop is underway in East London, providing skills to enhance the national Family’s Matter Programme which aims to bring about social and behavioural change around sexual health and risk.
• Key to the Family’s Matter Programme is to promote strong parent-child communication on issues faced by each family including parenting practices, reducing sexual risks and creating supportive, safe family environments.
• The training workshop marks an important step in expanding the programme’s reach and impact across the country according to the Deputy Director: Policy Development within the HIV and AIDS Chief Directorate in the Department of Social Development, Maston Phiri.

A comprehensive training workshop for the Family’s Matter Programme – which tackles how adults can communicate with adolescents about critical social issues on sexual health, substance abuse, and gender-based violence and femicide – is currently underway at the Lalitha Guesthouse in East London, Eastern Cape.

The workshop, running from 27 – 31 January 2025, aims to equip facilitators with the essential skills to support the programme’s goals of enhancing parenting practices, reducing sexual risks, and promoting open communication about sexuality and sexual risk reduction within families.

Facilitated by Inguqu Communications on behalf of the Department of Social Development and commissioned by Beyond Zero, the workshop is part of a national initiative under the Global Fund Grant to roll out the Family’s Matter Programme across all nine provinces in South Africa.

The programme was first introduced to facilitators in September 2024 during a workshop in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, and is set to continue nationwide throughout the year.

The Family’s Matter Programme (formerly known as the Families Matter Programme) forms part of a broader social and behaviour change initiative that includes other programmes such as YOLO, ChommY, and Championing Change that all aim to foster healthier and more informed communities.

The objectives of the Family’s Matter Programme include promoting positive parenting practices, building closer relationships between parents and children, and encouraging parental involvement in their children’s daily activities.

These efforts are designed to create safer, more supportive family environments where adolescents feel comfortable seeking guidance on sexual and health-related matters.

The programme focuses on strengthening parent-child relationships, particularly in the context of adolescent sexual health.

It seeks to empower parents and caregivers to engage in meaningful, open discussions with their children about sexuality, sexual risks, and the importance of protective parenting.

The programme addresses the need for increased awareness of HIV risks in communities and stresses the role of parents in guiding their children through the challenges they face in today’s sexualised environment.

“The main goal of the programme is to help parents become more aware of the risks their children face, particularly when it comes to HIV and sexual health,” says Inguqu Communications’ master trainer Moeketsi Komane.

“By strengthening their ability to communicate openly with their children, we are equipping them to protect their children’s health and ensure their safe transition to adulthood,” Komane, adds.

By engaging parents and caregivers in these crucial conversations, the Family’s Matter Programme hopes to reduce risky sexual behaviour among adolescents and contribute to the long-term goal of reducing the spread of HIV.

Komane emphasises that the success of the Family’s Matter Programme depends on the active participation of parents and caregivers, who are encouraged to understand their unique role in shaping their children’s future.

“The training workshop in East London marks an important step in expanding the programme’s reach and impact across the country,” says the Deputy Director: Policy Development within the HIV and AIDS Chief Directorate in the Department of Social Development, Maston Phiri.

“Facilitators trained here will continue to roll out the programme in their respective provinces, ensuring that more families benefit from these vital resources and support,” Phiri adds.

The Family’s Matter Programme, through its wide-reaching training and comprehensive approach to family communication, “is poised to contribute significantly to the nation’s efforts to tackle HIV and ensure healthier, safer futures for South Africa’s youth”, Komane concludes.