Empower households to reduce vulnerability in Bushenyi and Mbarara districts of South Western Uganda
The Project Manager: Mr. Tumwebaze Noel.
Background
This is a 3 year project funded by PEPFAR through USAID, intended to reach out to OVCs and their households, providing them with a comprehensive care package of eight interventional areas. This project was awarded to ICOBI in April 2008 through a rigorous competitive process.
Project Goal
The project goal is to enhance the ability of OVC and their households in Bushenyi and Mbarara districts to fully enjoy their rights and aspirations to their full potential.
Geographical Coverage
The project is currently being implemented in south-western Uganda with special focus on Mbarara and Bushenyi districts.
Target Population
Mbarara and Bushenyi Districts are estimated to have at least 263,043 OVC and most of these are due to HIV/AIDS. The children born to HIV positive parents are either at risk of contracting HIV, losing their parents at an early age or with much of the economic resources being spent on care for the sick parents. The project therefore aims at serving up to 38,000 OVCs in the two districts of Bushenyi and Mbarara by the end of the year 2012.
Project Objectives
To initiate and identify project needs for the delivery of quality services to OVC and their households
To provide OVC and their households with care and support, socio-economic security, food and nutritional assistance
To provide OVC and their households with educational, psychosocial and health support.
To provide OVC and their households with child protection & legal support
Key Intervention Areas
The project has eight intervention areas:
Education
Social economic security
Food security and nutrition
Care and support
Psycho-social support
Health care
Child Protection
Legal Support services
These address the physical, social, economic, emotional and educational needs of OVC and their households. ICOBI implements these interventions in phases. Education was the first phase where 14,068 of children have been given school fees for the whole year.
Project activity summary
The project team provides direct assistance to the selected neediest households upon completion of all the preparatory processes and putting in place logistics.
Capacity building through refresher courses, mobilization, sensitizations and trainings are held to propel action and promote sustainable growth, providing a springboard to reach the project goal and targets.
Child Care Committees (CCC) take the lead in identifying beneficiaries because they know who is vulnerable and the services they may be getting or deserve. Meetings with district, sub-county, parish and village level leaders and stakeholders are held to share and agree on strategies for improving the implementation of OVC program.
Radio programs are used as a strategy for continuous community mobilization, sensitization and education.
The primary direct beneficiaries get care and support, socio economic security, educational support, psychosocial care and support, child protection and legal support. The supplementary direct support is in form of food and nutritional support plus health care.
Partnerships
The OVC Project interventions are implemented with continued technical guidance and assistance from NuPITA project – an initiative of John Snow Inc (JSI).
ICOBI also formed a partnership with Ankole Diocese to enable it extend and reach out to 19,000 OVCs beyond the initial years’ 15,000 OVC target from 5,462 households with a comprehensive care package. The partnership helps to; ably reach targeted OVCs, implementation of quality interventions, share experience and responsibility especially in monitoring, evaluation and reporting to the standards required for the donors.
