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Our Programs
Swaziland
The Kingdom of Swaziland has the highest estimated adult HIV prevalence in the world—approximately 26%1. The impact of this epidemic touches every sector of society. With 69% of Swazis living under the poverty line of 125 Emalangeni (U.S. $20) per month and 48% of Swaziland’s population (of 1.1 million) under the age of 18, the impact on children and adolescents is particularly alarming. There are an estimated 130,000 orphans and other vulnerable children (OVC) in Swaziland and the numbers are steadily rising.
Many vulnerable children and adolescents live with chronically ill parents or caregivers who are struggling to meet their households’ basic needs. Additionally, many of these vulnerable children, themselves, are living with HIV. Endemic poverty, lack of effective guardianship, stigma, gender, limited legal resources in the community, and geographic isolation mean that OVC are at high risk of abuse and exploitation, and they are less likely to have access to basic health, shelter, social protection, and legal rights. The combination of these complex and overlapping issues severely undermines households’ livelihoods, consequently threatening children’s safety, well-being, and development.
Of particular concern are adolescents, who make up more than 60% of all OVC in Swaziland and who are often overlooked in favor of programming geared toward younger children. These adolescents are the next generation of adults and their ability to develop into healthy, productive members of their communities is vital to ensuring their role as engaged future citizens.
Bantwana collaborates closely with the Ministry of Education (MOE), the Ministry of Health (MOH), the National Children’s Coordination Unit (NCCU), the National Emergency Response Council on HIV and AIDS (NERCHA) as well as with a network of Swazi nongovernmental organization (NGO) partners to implement three initiatives to improve the well-being of vulnerable children in Swaziland:
1. Bantwana Schools Integrated Program (BSIP)
2.
School Health Outreach Program (SHOP)
3.
The Bantwana Advocacy Initiative in
Swaziland
Bantwana Schools Integrated Program (BSIP)
Since 2008,
Bantwana has been implementing the Bantwana Schools Integrated Program (BSIP) in
partnership with local NGOs, government technical line ministries, schools, and
communities. BSIP delivers high quality, integrated, comprehensive support
services to children orphaned and made vulnerable by HIV and AIDS in the
drought-stricken Lubombo Region of Swaziland.
Children need access to a range of integrated services to thrive; BSIP works with schools as points of intervention for delivery of a full range of essential, comprehensive services, with a special focus on adolescents. These comprehensive services include nutrition, basic health care, psychosocial support, education, economic strengthening, HIV prevention, and child protection.
BSIP began as a 10-school pilot program in 2008, with funding from a consortium of private foundations which included The Open Society Institute/Education Support Program (OSI/ESP) and the Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa (OSISA). An external evaluation of the BSIP program, commissioned independently by the Open Society Institute, found BSIP to be an effective model for engaging communities and reaching children and adolescents with critical comprehensive services. The evaluation recommended a phased scale-up of BSIP to the entire region of Lubombo before scaling up nationally. Currently, BSIP has expanded to 18 schools in Lubombo with support from Bantwana donors as well as USAID/PEPFAR under the PACT umbrella mechanism. Bantwana is actively looking for donor support to scale-up the BSIP model to all schools in Lubombo, and eventually to the national level.
BSIP Results:
- BSIP’s service package addresses the physical, emotional, academic, and social well-being of children.
- Livelihoods activities have resulted in projects for and by adolescents, as well as by school committee members and teachers, to raise funds for OVC needs.
- Enhanced school feeding programs and permaculture gardens improve child and household nutrition and income generation.
- The school health outreach program has brought primary health care and counseling services to many students for the first time in their school careers.
- BSIP’s education interventions support schools with scholastic grants to procure pedagogical equipment.
- Corner libraries have been set up in schools to boost students reading and writing skills, and some schools have supported teachers to conduct extra learning sessions.
In addition, BSIP has achieved significant community engagement by empowering teachers, principals, school committee members, community health outreach volunteers, local and traditional leaders, government officials, and children themselves with high quality, ongoing support and capacity building. In particular, BSIP’s work with school committees has created a crucial platform for sustained OVC support in the region
School Health Outreach Program (SHOP)
Bantwana receives
funding from the Izumi Foundation to
implement the School Health Outreach Program (SHOP). This program is a scale-up
of BSIP’s health component in response to the urgent health care needs of
school-aged orphans and vulnerable children in the Lubombo Region of Swaziland.
SHOP improves access and quality health care for 14,800 vulnerable children.
Working closely with the MOH, SHOP builds the capacity of the Lubombo regional
school health outreach team, providing primary health care to children in 37
schools. The program also offers training to teachers and community health
outreach volunteers (CHOVs) in basic first aid and universal precautions. It
also improves coordination among technical line ministries to expand access to
primary healthcare, health education, and urgent referrals for children.
In the first year of the program, SHOP has achieved the following results:
- 7,265 students received basic health services and treatment
- 86 school visits conducted by the Bantwana nurse
- 117 students referred for additional treatment
- 71 teachers trained in first aid and universal precautions
- 23 first aid kits distributed to schools
- 2,400 students trained in health and hygiene-related topics
In addition, SHOP has boosted the morale of the school health
outreach team, teachers, and CHOVs, and has advocated successfully with the MOH
to improve its drug procurement processes to avoid medicine stockouts. Among the
extended school health team, there is a reported air of motivation and
collaboration. As a result of SHOP first aid training, teachers are now in the
position of providing practical, hands-on support to the health team. Teachers
also report that because of improved school health outreach services, students
are absent less frequently, which positively benefits their academic
performance.
The Bantwana Advocacy Initiative in Swaziland: Leveraging Service Delivery for Sustainable Education Reform
Building on the
success of the BSIP model, Bantwana launched an advocacy initiative with support
from the Open Society Institute/
Education Support Program (OSI/ESP) and the Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa
(OSISA). The project provides two targeted interventions intended not only
to enhance ongoing BSIP service delivery but also to foster meaningful change at
a systemic level in the education sector in Swaziland. Shaping policy decisions
and reinvigorating policy discussions critical for OVC impact mitigation, these
include:
- Revision of Swaziland’s School Committee
Constitution: The MOE requested technical assistance from Bantwana in
revising the Swazi School Committee Constitution to include appropriate
guidelines on community involvement in OVC impact mitigation. Leveraging the
experience of BSIP, Bantwana works in close collaboration with the MOE to
promote sustainable policy reform that will effectively engage school committees
in support of impact mitigation efforts for OVC at the community level.
- Development of a National Curriculum for HIV Prevention in Schools: Addressing HIV and AIDS in schools should be an integral part of adolescents’ educational experience, inline with the national HIV education sector policy. Reaching adolescents with HIV and AIDS education enhances outreach and reduces stigma. To promote sustainability, Bantwana is currently developing and piloting materials through a joint effort with key national stakeholders such as the National Emergency Response for Coordination of HIV and AIDS (NERCHA), MOE, In-Service Teacher Training (INSETT), School Inspection Directorate, and the National Curriculum Center (NCC), as well as teachers and school committee members at the school level.
1. UNAIDS (2009). Swaziland:
HIV and AIDS Estimates.
Retrieved from: http://www.unaids.org/en/regionscountries/countries/swaziland/