Working to support orphans and vulnerable children in southern Africa pdf

Working to support orphans and vulnerable
children in southern Africa
A reflection on values, principles and organisational issues
Donald Skinner, Alicia Davids, Tsela Matlhaku,
Reba Phakedi, Phomolo Mohapeloa, Sonja Romao,
Tshepo Mdwaba, Nene Kazi & Jephias Mundondo
CHILD PROTECTION
NETWORK
NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANISATIONS COALITION
ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD
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Published by HSRC Press
Private Bag X9182, Cape Town, 8000, South Africa
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© 2006 Human Sciences Research Council, Family AIDS Caring Trust, Nelson Mandela
Children’s Fund, Masiela Trust Fund, Foundation for Community Development, Child
Protection Network,
Non-Governmental Organisations Coalition on the Rights of the Child
First published 2006
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in
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CONTENTS
Acknowledgements v
Executive Summary vi
Chapter 1: Introduction 1
Background to the project 2
Methodology 3
Chapter 2: Results 5
Agreed values and principles 5
Decision-making processes and criteria 10
Conclusion 12
Appendix 1:
Values and principles of each of the grant makers 13
Appendix 2:
Decision-making process and criteria used when deciding on a project
to support by grant makers 19
References 25

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iv
We would like to thank the WK Kellogg Foundation for providing the funding for
the project.
We would like to acknowledge the contributions of:
• The Masiela Trust Fund (MTF), Botswana
• The Non-Governmental Organisations Coalition on the Rights of the Child (NGOC),
Lesotho
• The Foundation for Community Development (FDC), Mozambique
• The Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund (NMCF), South Africa
• The Child Protection Network, Swaziland
• The Family AIDS Caring Trust (FACT), Zimbabwe
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
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v
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
In 2002 the HSRC received funding from the Kellogg Foundation to develop and
implement a 5-year intervention project on the care of orphans and vulnerable children
(OVC) as well as households and communities coping with the care of affected children
in Botswana, South Africa and Zimbabwe. The project comprises two components, firstly
funding and technical assistance directed at interventions to assist OVC, and secondly
research to develop a better understanding of the situation of OVC and towards the
development of best practice approaches for interventions.
The establishment of clear base values and principles of working with the target
community is fundamental to the establishment of congruent intervention strategies. These
are often hidden assumptions in the work that we do, but appear as the intervention
develops. By adopting a shared set of values and principles the project should be able to
offer a more congruent set of services and interventions.
The organisations participating in the study are:
• Masiela Trust Fund (MTF) in Botswana;

• Non-Governmental Organisations Coalition on the Rights of the Child (NGOC) in
Lesotho;
• Foundation for Community Development (FDC) in Mozambique;
• Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund (NMCF) in South Africa;
• Committee on OVC in the Ministry of Education in Swaziland;
• Family AIDS Caring Trust (FACT) in Zimbabwe.
Two sets of documents were drawn from each of the participating organisations.
Additional materials were drawn from the discussions at a previous workshop on best
practice approaches in Mutare.
Key themes that were raised as part of the agreed values and principles included:
• The needs and rights of children should be a core focus of work.
• The need to look beyond orphans in all contexts that put children at risk
was highlighted.
• All the grant makers should take a child-centered approach for their OVC programme.
• The grant makers should oppose discrimination in any form. Social justice is implicit
as a value in every intervention.
• Gender sensitivity is an area of social justice that requires particular attention.
• Core to all work and interventions has to be a respect for the community.
• Interventions should be based within communities, preferably using resources from
within.
• It is of central importance to get community members involved in both the
development and ongoing functioning of the interventions.
• Use and prioritisation of indigenous knowledge is required.
• The realities of the lives of community members in the context of their communities
need to be acknowledged and respected.
• Respect for the dignity of individuals is crucial.
• All services, interventions, interactions and decisions should reflect compassion
and care.
• Sustainability is a core ideal for all projects, for funders, intervention agents and
those receiving services.

• Interventions should be holistic and at multiple levels.
• Accountability, transparency and integrity are key.
• Best use must be made of resources and there must be professionalism in delivery.
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vi
For the second portion of the document specific processes need to be considered when
making decisions about which interventions they would support either with financial or
technical assistance. A similar structure would be used for the evaluation of interventions
developed internally and those developed externally, with some obvious variations for
those proposals developed internally. A structured approach is required.
Some crucial capacity indicators included:
• Project management capacity;
• Financial management capacity;
• Technical knowledge in the intervention areas;
• Community participation.
Supporting OVC in southern Africa: values, principles & organisational issues
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1
CHAPTER 1
Introduction
The current situation of children in sub-Saharan Africa requires the development of
powerful and effective solutions. The HIV/AIDS epidemic and the number of orphans
and vulnerable children is increasing the problems faced by children. The prevalence of
HIV/AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa is estimated at 25.4 million infected persons at the end of
2004 (UNAIDS, 2005). According to a national population-based survey for South Africa
in 2002, 3% of 2–14 year olds had lost a mother, and 8.4% had lost a father (Shisana and
Simbayi, 2002). This would not be exclusively due to HIV/AIDS, but the disease is the
major contributor to the high percentage of parental loss. Internationally the figures are
also extremely high: it is projected that by the year 2010, 25 million children under the
age of 15 years are likely to be orphaned world wide (UNICEF, 2005).

Vulnerability is not limited to orphanhood. While HIV/AIDS is not responsible for all of the
problems listed below, the epidemic has certainly contributed to their severity (Andrews,
Skinner and Zuma, 2005). The situations that make children vulnerable go beyond the loss
of their parents to include children who are affected in the following ways:
• Material problems include access to money, food, clothing, shelter, health care and
education.
• Emotional problems include the lack of experiencing care, love, support, time to
grieve and having to contain emotions.
• Social problems include the lack of supportive peer groups, of role models to follow,
of guidance in difficult situations, stigma, and risks in the immediate environment.
(Skinner et al., 2004)
It is clear from the magnitude of the problems faced that particular efforts and attention
are required. With the complexity of the problems and the need to mobilise large-scale
resources, there is a danger that these resources may be abused or the groups identified
could be stigmatised. Already the identification of the children as vulnerable has lead to
stigmatisation, both in communities and among policy makers and academic researchers.
The money made available also opens the space for people to establish organisations
to take advantage of these resources, and there is the risk of poorly constructed
interventions being established and financed. Part of the checks on this is a clearly
established set of values, principles and criteria for supporting interventions. It was out of
the need for standardising and understanding this process that this report originated.
The establishment of clear base values and principles for working with the target group
of OVC is fundamental to the establishment of congruent intervention strategies. These
are often hidden assumptions in the work that we do, but appear as the intervention
develops. By adopting a shared set of values and principles, the project should be
able to offer a more congruent set of services and interventions. All the organisations
participating in this project looking at providing care for OVC have a set of values that
guide their work. Outlines of these are provided in the appendices.
The values and principles of an organisation are the set of beliefs to guide the work
and behaviour of the organisation and its members. While these are fundamental and all

people live by a set of such beliefs, for a project such as this OVC one, there are benefits
in coming to a common agreement on these principles and elucidating them further.
Inevitably there is considerable overlap as these values and principles are listed and they
do tend to feed into one another.
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Supporting OVC in southern Africa: values, principles & organisational issues
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2
To develop a better understanding of the process of decision making when allocating
resources and assistance for the implementation of projects and interventions, this
paper compares these practices of all the grant-maker organisations from the countries
participating in the WK Kellogg Foundation (WKKF) OVC project. The two criteria
looked at were the values and principles of the six grant makers in the project, and their
decision-making processes and criteria used when deciding on a project to support.
There is very little material on the guidance of values and principles in the published
scientific literature. This is a separate discussion to that of ethics, which has received
more coverage. Many of principles will overlap, such as attention to patient autonomy,
informed consent and beneficence (O’Hare, 2003). Core to both sets of principles
is respect for the patient or the recipients of services (O’Hare, 2003; Cimino, 2003).
Another basic principle that has emerged is the importance of the cost effectiveness
of standardised interventions, which has in turn raised concerns about the interaction
between cost and quality of care (American Academy of Pediatrics, 2001). Another
response to the standardised interventions is a growing recognition of the need for
adaptive interventions that allow for treatment or intervention components to be adapted
to the patient/recipient or context (Collins, Murphy and Bierman, 2004)
Background to the project
In 2002 the HSRC received funding from the Kellogg Foundation to develop and
implement a 5-year intervention project on the care of OVC, as well as households
and communities coping with the care of affected children in Botswana, South Africa
and Zimbabwe. The project comprises two components, firstly funding and technical

assistance directed at interventions to assist OVC, and secondly research to develop
a better understanding of the situation of OVC and towards the development of best
practice approaches for interventions. The HSRC is collaborating with research institutions
in Zimbabwe and Botswana, and with non-governmental organisations (NGOs) that
would act as implementing partners for the interventions. In South Africa the Nelson
Mandela Children’s Fund (NMCF) was chosen to work with the HSRC as an
implementing partner.
As an implementing partner, the NMCF will work with and direct project funding to
various community-based organisations (CBOs) and faith-based organisations (FBOs) in
the intervention areas to deliver necessary services to those who need them. The project
will also work in partnership with all levels of government in each country as well as
with the local communities at the various sites to ensure that the intervention programmes
continue after the project officially ends in December 2006.
The ultimate goals of the project are to develop, implement and evaluate some existing
and/or new OVC intervention programmes, in order to:
• Improve the social conditions, health, development, and quality of life of vulnerable
children and orphans;
• Support families and households coping with an increased burden of care for
affected and vulnerable children;
• Strengthen community-based support systems as an indirect means of assisting
vulnerable children;
• Build capacity in community-based systems for sustaining care and support to
vulnerable children and households, over the long term.
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3
The original structure of the OVC project included the countries of Botswana, South
Africa and Zimbabwe. In each country there are two partners, focusing on research
and intervention. This has subsequently been extended to Lesotho, Mozambique and
Swaziland, although the focus in the latter three countries is more directly on intervention.
The list of grant makers and intervention leaders are provided in Table 1 below.

Table 1: List of grant makers involved in the WK Kellogg Foundation Project for Orphaned and
Vulnerable Children
Botswana
Masiela Trust Fund (MTF)
Lesotho
Non-Governmental Organisations Coalition on the rights of the Child (NGOC)
Mozambique
Foundation for Community Development (FDC)
South Africa
Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund (NMCF)
Swaziland
Committee on OVC in the Ministry of Education
Zimbabwe
Family AIDS Caring Trust (FACT)
Methodology
The information used in this report was drawn from two particular sources. The first
was discussions held at a workshop directed towards the development of best practice
approaches held in Mutare, Zimbabwe in August 2004. There was no formal process at
the workshop for drawing out the common values, but during the discussions on best
practice approaches for caring for OVC these values and principles emerged from the
discussion. After the workshop they were captured into a single document that formed
part of the basis for this report.
The second component of the methodology was an analysis of the values and principles,
and selection processes and selection criteria for deciding on which intervention projects
to support, of all of the grant-maker structures in the project. The principal author
requested this information from all the grant makers, and details were forwarded. The
team working in Swaziland did not feel able to advance a specific set of documents
outlining their values and principles and selection critieria at the time of writing this
report, as the intervention partners were still being drawn together. However, those
working on the project agreed with the principles outlined. The values and principles

submitted are all outlined in Appendix 1, and the decision-making processes and
criteria used when deciding on a project to support can be found in Appendix 2. The
information on values and principles and on selection processes used was integrated
using a content analysis method. References are made to documents from the grant
makers where useful and illustrative of the points needing to be made.
The analysis is divided into two phases: firstly, an account of the values and principles
held in common within the project; and secondly, an account of the decision-making
processes of the different grant makers, including additional factors that are considered
at this point over and above the values and principles. This document was distributed
for review among all the partners in the project for comment. A process of editing and
review was used to generate the final version. Particular effort was made to obtain critical
comments and agreement from all the grant-maker structures, by following up with all the
grant makers until agreement was reached on the content.
Chapter 1
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5
Results
Agreed values and principles
The values and principles of the organisation were agreed to explicitly or implicitly by all
the grant-maker organisations. Any points specific to one organisation are listed as such.
The points have been organised both regarding priority, and development of a narrative
picture of the overall decision criteria.
Children’s rights
The needs and rights of children need to be a core focus of work. Basic sets of rights
are well known and have been publicised. These are described in more detail in the
UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), the African Charter on the Rights
and Welfare of the Child (ACRWC) and Conventions from the International Labour
Oraginsation (ILO). No interventions should in any way contradict these rights or have
a secondary effect that may impact on the child’s rights. It further implies that the needs

of the child must be the fundamental consideration in all interventions, even if the initial
target is not the child itself, but its carers or a community structure.
There needs to be preparedness for and a history of taking up issues and advocating
children’s rights, especially around stigma and discrimination. Education needs to be
done in the community around current legislation that protects children, and advocacy
needs to be done in the community to ensure that these rights are upheld. Targeting key
stakeholders such as educators, health workers, traditional leaders and religious leaders
should be part of this direct intervention.
The Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund illustrates this perspective:
…facilitate change through the work of societal norms and practices that force
children to focus only on their basic needs. The absence of hunger, abuse,
exploitation and homelessness are basic conditions that all children should
enjoy. The programmes of the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund’s partners
should enhance the rights of children to reach their full potential; and promote
best practice, encourage professionalism and be oriented towards achieving
measurable results. (See page 16 of this report.)
Need to look beyond orphans to look at all contexts that put children at risk
The focus should not only be on orphans, but on all vulnerable children. This requires
advance recognition of who and where these children are and planning to reach them.
The report on the definition of vulnerability refined in the introduction to this report
provides a starting point for identifying children.
Poverty has a significant impact on children, particularly in concert with HIV\AIDS, and
is highly prevalent. Eradication of poverty was a core issue for some organisations. For
example the FDC stated as their mission to ‘Strengthen the capacity of underprivileged
communities to eradicate poverty and promote social justice in Mozambique.’ Key within
this is the strengthening of the role and position of women and youth. Further community
CHAPTER 2
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Supporting OVC in southern Africa: values, principles & organisational issues
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threats include child abuse, crime, violence, availability of drugs, gangs, poor housing and
resources, lack of facilities etc. All of these can increase children’s vulnerability, alone and
in conjunction with HIV\AIDS.
HIV/AIDS prevention still requires specific attention. Agreement existed about the need
to raise awareness about the causes, effects and prevention of HIV/AIDS infection; offer
a counselling and testing service to people infected with HIV and their families; and
to address the emotional, physical and spiritual needs of HIV-infected persons and
their families.
Child centred
All the grant makers recommended a child-centred approach for their OVC programmes,
meaning that children need to be the core focus of the intervention work. Partnerships
with communities should empower and improve the well-being of children and youth.
This implies that the needs of the children should be considered before the other
potential beneficiaries, and should be the focus of interventions. Basic to this was the
respect of the dignity of the child.
Social justice
The grant makers should oppose discrimination in any form. Social justice is implicit
as a value in every intervention. This should include opposition to discrimination on
the basis of gender, culture, ethnicity, age, physical capacity, religion, economic class,
political party or social status. People need to be accepted as individuals and as part of
communities. Where this discrimination exists, it should not be supported and advocacy
against discrimination needs to be practised.
Gender sensitivity
Gender sensitivity is a particular area of social justice that requires individual attention.
Sexism needs to be opposed and the rights of women and girl children enhanced. Girl
children are often particularly vulnerable in the contexts outlined in the introduction
to this report, particularly to sexual abuse and neglect. So special emphasis needs
to be placed on protecting and providing the girl child with the opportunity for her
development as a full member of society. Having stated this, boy children are also victims
of sexual abuse, and this must not be ignored.

Core values of respect, empowerment and consultation
Core to all work and interventions has to be a respect for the community. This is
fundamental to many of the other principles below and so will be represented in different
forms under subsequent headings. The community representatives and target group
drawn into the intervention must be seen as whole people who need to be accorded
full respect as thinking persons with emotions. Respect as a person includes requesting
permission to enter their community and work with them, consulting with the community
representatives as to what they want within the constraints of the study, and involving
them in the implementation of the work. Respect also has to be shown to what is found
in their community context, culture and language. The community representatives, OVC
and their carers are not simply disadvantaged people who need us to be able to survive,
and do not have to just accept with gratitude anything we want to implement in their
communities.
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7
Regarding interventions, this principle means that consultation about any activities that
take place and the use of interventions to empower community members are fundamental
considerations that must be maintained at all stages of the work. This does not mean that
the fundamentals of the project should be changed on request, but that these constraints
should be made known early and fully, and that open negotiation is held within these
structures. Control over interventions has to go eventually to the community members,
who need to participate in making core decisions about what services get delivered, how
often and how to provide them.
Work should be done in solidarity and should aim at the reducing of dependency. The
knowledge required for the intervention, the resources used and the capacity generated
should be shared with the communities, with the aim of strengthening communities,
families and individuals. Where possible, all resources that come into the community
through the project should remain there.
The power and capacity of the local NGOs and CBOs should be increased via the
interventions. By extension, the power and capacity of the entire community should

be enhanced by these processes. Part of this extension of power and capacity is the
provision of knowledge and technical skill. These interventions should leverage the core
competencies of stakeholders and mobilise resources to provide financial support to
interventions enhancing community development and project sustainability.
Community based
Interventions should be based within communities, preferably using resources
from within. This means working with the CBOs and FBOs that already exist in
each community, or working with local representatives to develop these structures.
Partnerships need to be used and developed between those in need and those with
resources to ensure transfer of resources and the development of communities. Working
from a community basis is fundamental to the project being owned by the community,
having a better understanding of what is needed and how best to deliver it, and to the
intervention reaching as many people as possible.
All community members should have access to the services. Nobody should be precluded
from services on the basis of distance from services, religion, ideology or political
affiliation.
Community involvement
It is of core importance to get community members involved in both the development
and ongoing functioning of the interventions. This is important for incorporating
local knowledge, generating community ownership, and extending the access of the
intervention into the community.
It is particularly important to incorporate the involvement of children. Effective methods
for involving children need to be attached to all interventions. This involvement should
go beyond their participation as recipients of the service. These involvements have to
be appropriate and should incorporate the children and youth taking responsibility for
aspects of the intervention. This includes giving specific platforms for children to express
their own needs. Children need to be empowered to protect and look after themselves.
Chapter 2
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8
Use and prioritisation of indigenous knowledge
Since the programmes target vulnerable communities, it is important to highlight the use
and understandings of indigenous methods and their application in African families and
communities. A wealth of knowledge exists in Africa about care of children, families and
communities, and the survival of disasters. Indigenous knowledge should be applied by
communities and accepted as part of good practice and be included in the comprehensive
or holistic approach. These may interact with programmes guided by the knowledge from
other parts of the world as part of developing a comprehensive system.
Role of volunteers and/or community workers
A particular discussion was held at the Mutare workshop, but did not achieve full
resolution, on the use of volunteers and/or community workers. The major differences
of opinion centered on whether these workers should be paid. Those in favour of
payment felt that it was abusive not to pay people for work and that this was an effective
method of moving resources into communities. The need for payment was emphasised
in situations where the volunteer work actually cost the volunteer, for example, paying
for transport or for food for a person they are assisting. A counter perspective was that
this would break the volunteer spirit, and that people would take on the roles for money
rather than out of a commitment to the issue and this would create employment issues.
Organisations using volunteers also have to be careful not to exploit their volunteers and
expect them to work beyond the hours that they can reasonably afford, given their other
responsibilities and work.
Respect of context
The community members live their lives in the context of their communities. The realities
of their lives need to be acknowledged and respected. Aspects of context include
lifestyle, culture and cultural tradition, language, social systems, values, religion, and the
physical structure of the community and surroundings. This does not mean that situations
that induce risk or vulnerability cannot be challenged.
Cultural processes of care are important, particularly in the context of OVC. There is
general recognition of the power of the extended family in Africa and the capacity of this

structure to absorb a large number of additional children. This should constitute a focus for
intervention. Culture can however be confronted on crucial issues, for example, inheritance
rights that rob children of their property, unequal position of women, rights of children etc.
Respect for the dignity of individuals
The context in which people live and things that have happened to them, including
illness and death of family members, should not rob them of the dignity and respect
of others. Emotions, life prospects and a person’s vision for the future should not be
compromised by the interventions implemented. FACT takes a particular perspective in
relation to people living with HIV. They see their role as ‘To have empowered people
living with HIV/AIDS (PWAs) and autonomous support groups involved in decision-
making, advocacy and service provision at all levels of HIV/AIDS interventions.’
Compassion and care
All services, interventions, interactions and decisions should reflect compassion and care
on the part of the grant makers for difficulties faced by the communities that they serve.
This should not be translated into paternalism, which can in its own right be destructive.
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9
Sustainability
Sustainability is a core ideal for all projects, for funders, intervention agents and those
receiving services, so this must be part of the aims of the interventions developed. Core
to sustainability is the development of a sound financial and knowledge base. It needs
to be recognised that many of the projects are unsustainable in the long term without
outside support. This applies particularly to service providers, structures that distribute
resources or food, or those that have regular paid employees, including feeding schemes,
crèches and home-based care support. Some of these can and need to be supported by
local government structures such as primary health care clinics. Clear systems of support
are needed to maintain interventions in the long term.
Need to intervene holistically and at multiple levels
In most communities multiple problems exist so interventions are needed at multiple
levels. Multi-faceted problems need multi-faceted solutions with as many sectors as

possible being involved. A holistic response is required to create an environment
conducive to the development of children. This can create a synergy that will allow for
greater changes to happen than just the resources put in.
Accountability, transparency and integrity
Lines of accountability within the intervention and the organisation implementing the
intervention need to be clear, both to the community and to the project leadership. This
will contribute to a project reaching its goal and ensuring that resources are not wasted or
abused. The grant makers are the custodians of people’s resources so have an obligation
to ensure that it is the wishes of the community that are delivered. Community members
should have open access to the functioning and decisions of the grant makers so that
decisions and actions can be effectively examined and if necessary queried. Integrity is
also fundamental and implies that grant makers are trusted by the communities that they
serve, and that this relationship of trust is crucial to the operations of the organisation.
Best use must be made of resources and there must be professionalism in delivery
Decisions on programmes and how to implement them should be based on evidence of
effectiveness rather than personality or ideology. Established best practice approaches
should be used where these are available and are applicable to the context. There must
also be an openness to new and creative ideas, especially those that can open and
unleash individual and community potential.
The interventions should make efficient use of resources and be as cost effective as
possible. Focus of services should be on those in greatest need and those who can best
use the services.
Where interventions work there needs to be the capacity and the will to contribute these
to policy frameworks at a broader level. Thus community development and assistance to
impoverished communities can happen beyond the site of immediate intervention.
Religious focus
FACT draws on a religious framework, which is core to its operations. In addition some
of the intervention structures within communities operate from a religious base. Religious
belief can be a solid basis for intervention, as long as it does not lead to exclusion.
Included in FACT’s approach is a specific focus on ‘sexual abstinence outside marriage

Chapter 2
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Supporting OVC in southern Africa: values, principles & organisational issues
10
and faithfulness within marriage’. They do not however exclude any persons from
services and this principle does not result in any conflict with any of the above principles.
Decision-making processes and criteria
In addition to the overall values and principles that guide grant makers’ decision making,
there are specific processes covering decision making that need to be considered
when considering which interventions they would support, both financially and with
technical support. A similar structure would be used for the evaluation of interventions
developed internally and those developed externally, with some obvious variations for
those proposals developed internally. The differences related mainly to the nature of
the investigation of the intervention structure that would be provided, as these answers
would be available internally, and the need to advertise externally and call for the
submission of interventions for funding and support. Most of the grant makers followed
a common process in considering grants, so comments from all organisations will not
be incorporated. Rather examples will be drawn from two grant makers who presented
well laid out and typical approaches. The method below used by the Federation for
Community Development in Mozambique is typical of those used. The decision-making
processes and criteria used when deciding on a project (any, including OVC) to support
are as follows:
FDC identifies specific zones (geographic) and thematic areas to intervene, for each 5-
year period, based on analysis of the situation. For each thematic area and/or zone, they
develop proposals (programmes or projects) and mobilise funds. After this, the stages are:
1) Identification of potential partners. This is announced in the newspaper as well
as going to the field (usually to give an opportunity to small organisations to be
included in the process).
2) Invitation for submitting proposals. For the tender there are different categories, in
order to guarantee fair competition among organisations of different sizes.

3) Evaluation and selection of good proposals by a committee (besides FDC staff
members, we include external people: AIDS council, Ministry of Education, etc.).
Good proposals are evaluated based on criteria established in an evaluation form
(for each criterion marks are defined), and essentially they look for coherence of
definition of the problem and the strategy to address that problem. Other important
criteria are the experience and reputation of the organisation.
4) Pre-award survey (programming, finance and governance) of the pre-selected
partners. This process helps to identify the situation of the organisation for decisions
during selection as well for capacity-building purposes.
5) Checking references in the places where they implement projects.
6) Final selection of the partners.
The criteria used in the evaluation of the proposals for interventions by grant makers
were essentially the values and principles described above. The additional factor that
was raised by many was the capacity of the organisation to take on the prescribed
intervention. This involved the management ability of the structure, including the capacity
to manage the funding provided, the technical skills to complete the tasks, the staff
capacity to do and maintain the work, and the fixed assets required to do the work.
Some history of doing the work that is being proposed was considered important. This
would support the claim to having capacity to run the intervention.
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The Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund sets out some crucial capacity indicators that they
use in their assessments:
Project Management Capacity
The organisation running the intervention needs to have adequate capacity for project
management. The set of criteria given are that they need to have:
• done work or be doing work that focuses on the development of children and
youth, families and communities;
• an established presence in the site mentioned above, able to identify with the
community, have credibility in the eyes of the community;

• an understanding of HIV/AIDS issues and the impact of HIV/AIDS on children;
• experience in implementing programmes of HIV/AIDS;
• been currently engaged in development work that falls within HIV/AIDS area and
currently working in that area;
• established systems and tools for programme planning, implementation and
monitoring;
• an ability to document and report on work adequately and timeously.
Financial Management Capacity
The organisation driving the intervention must have an established financial accounting
system and must have dedicated staff for financial monitoring and reporting.
Technical Knowledge
In terms of technical knowledge the organisations must have:
• Capacity to provide basic services to OVCs, families and households;
• Ability to adopt and apply new approaches to OVC programmes;
• Demonstrable knowledge and understanding in OVC programming and care;
• Minimum research technical skills;
• Ability to facilitate interventions.
Community Participation
The organisations should have established links and collaboration with existing
government structures, NGOs/CBOs, private sector and mining sector, children, youth
and women.
Further core criteria include:
• There is a need to provide direct and focused services. Small CBO and FBO
structures need to maintain a focus, both regarding services and geographical
impact, if they are to survive.
• Given the shortage of resources it is important that interventions are not duplicated.
• Organisations running interventions should have some capacity to do their own
evaluation and to document the interventions that they are implementing.
• The project should also already have presence in the site and be recognised by the
community members and stakeholders.

Core, particularly within the framework of this project, is that the principal beneficiaries
should be OVC. This may not apply to all work of the grant-maker structures as
many have target groupings beyond OVC. In the same vein there should be a good
understanding of the HIV/AIDS epidemic and its impact on communities and particularly
children. Experience both in working with children and with HIV/AIDS is an important
consideration.
Chapter 2
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Supporting OVC in southern Africa: values, principles & organisational issues
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Some of the grant makers demand that the intervening organisation, even if small and a
CBO, must be registered on a state registrar of societies and have a constitution.
If some of these criteria do not exist in the initial phase it will be part of the grant
maker’s role to facilitate their development over the initial phase of the intervention
support. The emphasis shared amongst all appears to be on the development of
interventions and the structures to run these interventions.
Conclusion
The context of many children in South Africa, particularly given the HIV epidemic,
creates the situation for the generation of vulnerability. It is therefore important to find
best practice approaches for assisting these children. In the development of these best
practice approaches it is crucial as background to have the key principal areas that
underlie interventions of any type. These include the values and principles underlying
an intervention and the essential organisational criteria that need to be in place to run
and manage an intervention. As would be expected there was considerable overlap
between the organisations and agreement with the international human rights documents
mentioned in the reports. The key values and principles centered around respect for
children’s rights, working with communities and families to ensure that holistic and
adequate interventions happen, maintaining respect for people, communities and their
cultural bases, and making efficient use of resources. The criteria raised as part of the
decision-making process when selecting interventions for support centered on the

intervention agencies having the required skills, resources and management capacity to
ensure that interventions happen and that resources are used effectively.
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13
APPENDIX 1
Values and principles of each
of the grant makers
Masiela Trust Fund
Vision
We will be the standard bearer in the delivery of orphan care and support.
Mission statement for MTF
To mobilise resources to address the challenges facing orphans and enable them to
realise their full potential. We achieve this through supporting individuals, organisations
and institutions that care for orphans.
Objectives of MTF
• To raise funds for financial aid of orphans;
• To meet the immediate needs of orphans;
• To manage the assets donated to or inherited by orphans;
• To cooperate with and/or assist any person and agencies to advance the objectives
of the Trust.
Values
Respect for human dignity
Principle: Orphanhood does not deprive one of human rights.
Action: We will advocate for equal opportunities for orphans.
Integrity
Principle: The success of MTF is dependent on being trusted by the stakeholders.
Action: What we say is what we do.
Compassion and care
Principle: MTF mission is a ministry of compassion and calling.
Action: We will always make choices based on this.

Transparency
Principle: MTF is a custodian of people’s resources who has an obligation to ensure that
their wishes are delivered.
Action: We will be accountable to stakeholders for all our actions.
Professionalism
Principle: MTF has been mandated to execute its mission and deliver value for all
concerned.
Action: We will embrace all principles that are required for effective delivery of mission.
Expected outcomes:
• Improved quality of life for OVC;
• Consolidation of community resources for OVC;
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• Integration of OVC in the society;
• Creation of non-threatening environment for OVC.
Non-governmental Organisations Coalition on the Rights
of the Child
Our vision:
All children, in spite of their differences and diverse conditions, will live in an inclusive
and non-abusive environment that enables them to fully develop holistically, in keeping
with their human rights.
Our mission:
• We are a non-governmental organisations coalition on the rights of the child in
Lesotho. Our business is to work with and for children in the promotion and
fulfilment of their rights.
• We collaborate with all relevant and strategic stakeholders including children,
government, civil society, faith-based organisations, private sector, development
partners, regional and international networks, to create an enabling environment for
holistic growth and development of children.

• We advocate, lobby and enhance capacity in the areas of their participation,
protection and service provision in a transparent, reliable and accountable manner.
Objectives:
The NGOC was established to fulfil the following founding objectives:
• To promote the rights and responsibilities of children;
• To advocate for changes in policy and practice with and on behalf of children on
key issues which impact directly or indirectly on their lives;
• To promote meaningful participation of children in decisions affecting them and
responsibilities thereof;
• To advocate for the production and service provision of children in all areas of
their need;
• To enable the improvement of NGOC members’ development practice and capacity
through learning, information exchange, support, training and monitoring;
• To provide a forum and mechanisms for networking amongst NGOC members and
other likeminded organisations nationally, regionally and internationally;
• To encourage transparency and accountability amongst members;
• To ensure that members comply with national plans, policies and legislation as well
as standards set out in the regional and international conventions, including optional
protocols on the rights of children and when necessary to intervene in others to
ensure member compliance;
• To monitor the implementation of national plans, policies and legislation as well as
regional and international conventions.
Values and principles:
Our values and principles are guided by the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child
(UNCRC) (UNHCR, 1990), the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child
(ACRWC) (OAU, 1999) and other international instruments such as the ILO Convention to
which Lesotho is a signatory. Protection, Provision and Participation are key in our work
for and with children.
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15

Foundation for Community Development
FDC Vision
Mozambican communities capable of leading their own development processes,
promoting dialogues and partnerships and strengthening the role of women and youth
towards the goal of poverty eradication.
Mission
Strengthen the capacity of underprivileged communities to eradicate poverty and promote
social justice in Mozambique.
Values
Respect for others: We honour each person’s rights and contributions, traits derived from
one’s culture, upbringing, beliefs and religion. Emotions, life prospects and vision of
the future should never be compromised in the course of FDC’s work. They should be
honoured as contributions to development efforts of the Mozambican society.
Solidarity
FDC is guided, in all its endeavours, by a spirit of solidarity aimed at reducing
dependency and sharing visions, resources, capacities and knowledge that strengthen the
efforts of Mozambican communities, families and individuals to eradicate poverty and
promote social justice.
Social justice
FDC confronts discrimination of any kind. We consider social justice as a value that is
intrinsic in every individual and organisation. This value should be shared with others and
translated into balanced social relations between persons of different genders, cultures,
ethnic origins, religions, economic power and social status who are united by their
human nature as social beings.
Transparency
FDC is guided by the principle of accountability to communities and partners. We fulfil
our mission in an open and transparent manner that respects ethical and moral principles.
Initiative
FDC excels in devising and implementing creative, sustainable solutions that unleash
individual and community potential to undertake result-oriented initiatives.

Core business
Devise and facilitate the implementation of community development projects that
leverage the core competencies of stakeholders. Mobilise resources to provide financial
support for the development of rural communities. Strengthen the capacity of local Non-
Governmental and Community Based Organisations (NGOs and CBOs) to better serve
the cause of community development. Build political will for the creation of policy
frameworks and institutional mechanisms to support community development. Develop
and disseminate knowledge to increase the effectiveness of development interventions.
Appendix 1
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Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund
Our vision
The Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund strives to change the way society treats its children
and youth.
Our mission statement
In the pursuit of its vision, and in order to ensure that the legacy of its founder, Nelson
Mandela, is secured in perpetuity, the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund will:
• Develop partnerships and initiate programmes which empower and improve the
well-being of children and youth;
• Promote the rights of children and youth through the influence of public policy and
social awareness;
• Sustain these initiatives through the development of a sound financial and
knowledge support base.
Our values and principles
The Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund’s target beneficiaries are children and youth from
birth to 22 years of age who come from impoverished backgrounds. To maximise the
positive impact of our resources, the Fund works closely with fellow development
organisations, government, the private sector and other interested parties. The following

values and principles guide the establishment of our partnerships:
• Position the ultimate goal as poverty eradication and not just the amelioration of the
difficult circumstances in which the targeted beneficiaries find themselves.
• Possess holistic and integrated approaches to the challenges confronting children.
These strategies should recognise that children are an integral part of families
and communities. The well-being of children cannot be isolated from that of their
environment.
• Facilitate the participation of the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund’s target group
in the planning and implementation of projects and programmes. This means
finding cost effective methods of involving children, youth and their communities
in decision making. Empowering such communities to take responsibility for their
decisions should be a primary requisite.
• Facilitate change through the work of societal norms and practices that force
children to focus only on their basic needs. The absence of hunger, abuse,
exploitation and homelessness are basic conditions that all children should enjoy.
The programmes of the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund’s partners should enhance
the rights of children to reach their full potential; and promote best practice,
encourage professionalism and be oriented towards achieving measurable results.
NMCF
The following elements are the value-base criteria that influence the ways in which NMCF
intervenes in each of the afore-mentioned programme areas.
Institutional transformation and development
The general transformation in South Africa demands that development institutions
implement programmes in a manner that addresses the root causes of poverty and
inequality, while placing emphasis on understanding new challenges and priorities. As
South Africa is demographically a young nation, children and youth constitute a large
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part of the new challenges and priorities. It is therefore essential that the programmes
implemented by development institutions be child-centred.

Access to information and opportunities
Access to information and opportunities is important for empowering beneficiaries of
development processes.
Gender sensitivity
There is a need to recognise the position of the girl child, with regard to her vulnerability
in relation to issues of fair opportunity, sexual abuse and neglect emanating from her
position in the household, which may deny her the opportunity to develop her skills
optimally. The boy child may also experience, amongst others, unbearable physical
abuse, which often leads to homelessness and exposure to situations of conflict.
Poverty alleviation
Programmes should not only seek to alleviate difficult circumstances, but also to take into
account the poverty within which these circumstances occur and the need to eradicate
it. This emphasises the need to network and collaborate with other organisations to
implement programmes in an integrated manner.
The NMCF considers these factors as central to all the programme areas identified. In its
overall approach to operations, it will seek to engage in:
• Research and development of empirical data for its programme interventions;
• The development of social policy in the area of child support;
• Capacity building of its staff and partner network.
These operations will support and inform the NMCF in how to intervene within the
various programme areas. Each area has its peculiarities and individual requirements, and
thus needs to be approached from an informed point of view.
Family AIDS Caring Trust Mutare
FACT’s vision … is to be a renowned, quality organisation that facilitates mitigation of
the impact and works towards elimination of HIV/AIDS. To achieve this vision, FACT
will facilitate the formation and strengthen the capacity of CBOs so that they become
autonomous. FACT commits itself to working with local and international communities on
a facilitation and consultancy basis.
FACT Mission Statement
• FACT is a Christian-based organisation working with various communities to provide

HIV prevention programmes, training and care for the whole person.
• FACT promotes sexual abstinence outside marriage and faithfulness within marriage.
• FACT provides unconditional care and support to people affected by HIV/AIDS.
• Worldwide FACT supports and cooperates with others who are responding to HIV/
AIDS in their communities.
Goals and objectives of FACT
• To have a sustainable organisation with strategic, dynamic effective leadership and
management systems;
Appendix 1
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• To have sustainable strategic partnerships with NGOs and other organisations
internationally, through HIV/AIDS consultancy services and research collaborations
based on community-oriented best practices approaches;
• To have FACT advocating for and with communities responding to HIV/AIDS at local
and international level;
• To have empowered people living with HIV/AIDS (PWAs) and autonomous support
groups involved in decision-making, advocacy and service provision at all levels of
HIV/AIDS interventions;
• To have autonomous, dynamic, sustainable CBOs and NGOs working with
communities to provide integrated, quality HIV/AIDS services;
• To have a reduction in new HIV infections through community-supported prevention
models that promote sustainable attitude and behaviour change;
• To reduce the impact of AIDS on affected families through the provision of
sustainable, holistic, integrated community care programmes targeted to the
terminally ill and children affected by HIV/AIDS, with a focus on self-reliance;
• To have FACT advocating for and with communities responding to HIV/AIDS at local
and international level.
Values and principles of FACT

• Family AIDS Caring Trust is a Christian-based NGO that was established in 1987 in
Mutare and was one of Zimbabwe’s first HIV/AIDS service organisations.
• FACT was formed from members of different denominations in the Mutare area.
Christians met together to form a church-based community response to complement
the existing formal health services, by providing home-based care and to raise
awareness in the communities about the epidemic.
• Volunteers from different churches were trained in information concerning HIV/
AIDS, supporting the infected and affected, and basic counselling skills.
• Due to the increase of visibility of positive people through the voluntary counselling
and testing (VCT) centre a support organisation was formed to cater for them.
• The organisation grew and was considered as a model to start other community
initiatives similar to the Mutare set up: these are FACT Chiredzi and Masvingo. The
two are now autonomous, though FACT Mutare is still willing to provide technical
assistance whenever called to do so.
• The activities of FACT kept on growing and the model was also replicated in
Mozambique where FACT is supporting 11 organisations in capacity building.
• The training demands also kept on growing with the community care; Schools
without walls and Stepping stones are other regional activities FACT is offering in
East and Southern Africa.
• The growth of the organisation has now reached a level where FACT is also offering
consultancy in HIV/AIDS organisational development and programmes evaluation to
CBOs and other interested NGOs.
• The above background has made FACT visible at both national and regional level
and the organisation is involved in networks at all the levels, which gives the
opportunity to others to learn from FACT while FACT also learns from them.
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APPENDIX 2
Decision-making processes and
criteria used when deciding on a

project to support by grant makers
Masiela Trust Fund
Core activities
Orphanhood in Botswana is now a national phenomenon. The escalating number of
orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) precipitated by the HIV scourge threatens the
survival, upbringing, care, education, general protection and well-being of these children.
To complement government’s efforts and strengthen community initiatives in the care of
OVC, Masiela Trust Fund was established and subsequently launched in 2002. Masiela
Trust Fund and its implementing agencies provide interventions geared towards meeting
the needs of orphans and vulnerable children which translates into:
• Material support in the form of food and clothing;
• Social support. (counselling and psychosocial support);
• Technical expertise and financial resources to strengthen family, community and
national capacities in the care of orphans and vulnerable children, with emphasis on
prevention and mitigation of HIV/AIDS.
Following are the criteria used for funding projects:
• The organisation to be assisted must have a high level of community involvement in
terms of management committees, local authorities such as chief, councillor, MP etc.;
• The organisation, though a CBO, must be registered with the government registrar of
societies with a constitution;
• The principal beneficiaries must be OVC;
• The project must demonstrate a high level of sustainability;
• The organisation must have the institutional capacity to implement the project.
Key results areas for MTF and its implementing partners:
• Sufficient resources for OVC at all times;
• All orphans supported;
• Strengthening partnerships for sustaining the support.
Decision-making process:
• Masiela Trust Fund is managed by a Board of Trustees, with members drawn from
government ministries, developmental partners and outstanding members of the

community with the welfare of children at heart.
• The Trustees attend planned meetings of the Board to keep themselves informed on
the activities of the Trust, and keep the public accurately informed of such activities.
• Day to day activities of the Trust are carried out by the secretariat under the
leadership of an Executive Director.
• Proposals for funding are sent to the Director for evaluation, and subsequent
approval and endorsement by the Board.
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