Abstract
This paper discusses strategies that are currently being used by the Southern African AIDS Trust (SAT) to build the competence of communities to mitigate the impact of HIV and AIDS among orphans and other vulnerable children (OVC) in Zimbabwe. It considers SAT Zimbabwe’s ongoing programming in OVC collaboration with UNICEF working with 10 community-based initiatives. The paper gives an account of the processes in the collaboration. These include the approach, the process of initiation, and service delivery. HIV and AIDS-competent communities will help to build knowledge and basic skills; create social space for dialogue and critical thinking; promote a sense of local ownership of the problem and incentives for action; emphasize community strengths and resources; mobilize existing formal and informal local networks as well as build partnerships between marginalized communities and more powerful outside actors and agencies–locally, nationally and internationally. The paper discusses some of the achievements and challenges faced in this process, concluding with a discussion of the need to set realistic goals when working in a context like Zimbabwe where the communities attempt to tackle problems that may be shaped by economic and political processes over which local people have little control.
Key words: Community competence, OVC, capacity building
Résumé
Cet article porte sur les stratégies qu’utilise actuellement la Fiducie au profit de la lutte contre le sida en Afrique australe (SAT) pour renforcer les compétences communautaires et atténuer les répercussions du VIH et du sida sur les orphelins et autres enfants vulnérables (OEV) au Zimbabwe. Il est question des programmes de collaboration du SAT-Zimbabwe avec l’UNICEF qui ciblent les OEV dans le cadre de 10 initiatives communautaires. Nous décrivons le processus de cette collaboration (premiers contacts, lancement du projet et prestation des services). Des communautés compétentes à l’égard du VIH et du sida contribueront à: inculquer des connaissances et des compétences de base; créer un espace social pour le dialogue et la pensée critique; promouvoir la prise en charge locale de l’épidémie et inciter la population à agir; faire ressortir les forces et les ressources communautaires; mobiliser les réseaux formels et informels existants à l’échelle locale et tisser des liens entre les communautés marginalisées et les acteurs et organismes extérieurs plus puissants (localement, au pays et à l’étranger). Il est question aussi des réalisations et des difficultés rencontrées, et pour terminer, nous analysons la nécessité d’établir des objectifs réalistes lorsqu’on travaille dans un contexte comme celui du Zimbabwe, où les communautés sont aux prises avec des problèmes qui peuvent être exacerbés par des processus économiques et politiques sur lesquels la population locale a peu de contrôle.
Mots clés: compétence communautaire, OEV, renforcement des capacités
Contributor Information
Allan Mushonga, Phone: 263-4-722915, FAX: +263-4-722915, Email: chimbidzikai@satzim.org.zw.
Tinashe Chimbidzikai, Phone: +27 11 341 0610, FAX: +27 11 341 0661, Email: mushonga@satregional.org.
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