Latest News:

• HDA has been re-awarded the contract to manage the Technical Support Facility (TSF)Southern Africa for another two years.

• HDA was commissioned by SADC to conduct a needs assessment in 14 member states, particularly in terms of technical skills and institutional (systemic) capacity. On this basis it will produce a clear statement of the priority capacity and skills gaps in the region and develop a strategic framework to remedy these gaps. These deliverables will be presented to SADC in the first quarter of 2010.

• HDA is assisting the Department of Social Development at national and Gauteng provincial levels to develop training materials on child protection, specifically identification, referral and assistance protocols for practitioners during the 2010 FIFA World Cup. HDA staff members are actively participating in provincial stakeholder meetings geared at child protection preparedness for this event.

• Field work for the National Communications survey has been completed and the data for this 10,000 person household survey is being analyzed. The roadshow for the National Communications Survey will take place at the end of January 2010. In addition to an overall national report, 9 provincial reports will be developed. This South African survey, funded by PEPFAR, Soul City and the Department of Health, is being managed by HDA, in a contract from Johns Hopkins Health and Education South Africa.

• The Thogomelo Caregiver Support and Child Protection Training Project: Currently in the second year of its operation, the Thogomelo Project has to date trained 700 community caregivers in the Caregiver Support and Child Protection Skills Development Programme. The Skills Development Programme has now received preliminary accreditation with the Health and Welfare SETA. The project eagerly awaits receipt of the official registration number which will enable (i) uploading of the details of the learners trained onto the HWSETA data base in order to pave the way for assessment, moderation and verification of their results and (ii) delivery of the skills development programme to a further 400 learners in Year 2 (01 October 2009 – 30 September 2010). To achieve this goal of accredited training the project has also focused on the capacity development of eleven provincial training service providers to enable them to meet the requirements of the HWSETA quality management system for accredited training. This included a 3-day Assessment and Moderation Workshop in January. The Field Review of the 8-module Child Protection Curriculum targeting the supervisors of Community Caregivers at Level 3 and 4 of the National Qualifications Framework (NQF) will take place from April 2010 (the writing of modules is currently underway).

  Funded by the US Agency for International Development, this project is a partnership with the Program for Appropriate Technology in Health (PATH) as prime contractor and The International and AIDS Alliance.

• Prevention and Early Intervention Programmes in South Africa: HDA has been contracted by the Department of Social Development and UNICEF South Africa Country Office to undertake an assessment of prevention and early intervention services and programmes, in order to develop benchmarks for good practice in child protection. The project will involve a desk review, legal-policy analysis, a rapid appraisal (by means of telephonic interviews) and the development of a conceptual framework. Following this, 20 organisations will be indentified as promising models or case studies for in-depth research, which will commence in July 2010. The report will inform future guidelines regarding prevention and early intervention programmes.

• Costing of OVC Programmes: Funded by USAID this Boston University-led project aims to cost FABRIC OVC programmes in South Africa at 3 sites in the Free State, Gauteng and North West. FABRIC supports the transfer of goods and services through local FBOs to OVCs and their caregivers/households. For each of three local FBOS, HDA will use standard costing methods to evaluate the FBOs’ full cost of implementing their OVC programme.

• A formative study in Gert Sibande: HDA has been contracted to undertake research for Johns Hopkins University on attitudes, knowledge and behavior in relation to HIV and AIDS in Gert Sibande, which is a district municipality in Mpumulanga. According to the HSRC 2008 survey, Mpumalanga is among the top three provinces with the highest HIV prevalence in South Africa. This project will provide the Gert Sibande District Municipality with greater insight into the local HIV epidemic so that appropriate objectives and community-specific responses can be developed.