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No Longer

Vulnerable Report

for Period January to March 2016

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Table of Contents

1. INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................. 3

2. THE NO LONGER VULNERABLE PROGRAM JANUARY TO MARCH 2016 .... 3

2.1 Overview ....................................................................................................................... 3

2.2 Highlights ...................................................................................................................... 4

2.3 Ongoing Challenges .................................................................................................. 6

3. LOOKING AHEAD: CONTINUATION OF THE WORK? ......................................... 7

4. CONCLUDING REMARKS ............................................................................................ 8

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1. INTRODUCTION

The No Longer Vulnerable Program (NLV) was the last of several Oxfam Australia (OAU)

programs run in South Africa since 1998. In its scale and level of integration it was also

arguably the most complex and ambitious. NLV ran officially from July 2012 until June 2015,

but was extended by 9 months until March 2016 to allow for a final closure period for

partners.

This January to March 2016 period is in many ways an extension of the July to December

2015 Program Report, which together give a full picture of the last 9 months of programming.

This 2016 report is much more focused and zones in on whether objectives where met, key

highlights and challenges. The information for this period was gathered from partner reports,

monitoring visit notes and the final Program Team meeting.

Overall this report reflects the continued dedication of both staff and partners on the ongoing

work to reduce vulnerability in South African households and communities by enhancing

‘people’s access to a broad range of services, and the support that they need, at the shortest

possible distance to where they live and work’ – the approach of NLV. It also reflects the

enduring challenges faced by South Africa and the civil society sector giving cause for

(hopefully) careful consideration of the most relevant and effective responses going forward.

2. THE NO LONGER VULNERABLE PROGRAM JANUARY

TO MARCH 2016

2.1 Overview

During this period there was a strong focus on timely reporting, closing out projects and

compliance to ensure that the work was completed within the required time frames, and the

partnerships ended, in the best possible way. This was amidst the backdrop of continued

socioeconomic stress, drought and a tumultuous political environment in South Africa as

described in the previous July to December 2015 report. For most of the OAU in SA staff

the end of this period also meant the end to their ‘long goodbye’ to Oxfam and the work. This

was indeed an emotional and important time for the office.

At the final program meeting on the 9th of March, Pumla Mabizela as Programs Manager

spoke on the challenging and important journey of this exit – “I am going to learn from the

storms and take the good memories with me...I hope you will too”. Program coordinators

took this time to feedback on their final monitoring visits and reflect on each partner

organisation. During these discussions, there were a number of critical re-emerging themes

and issues such as:

The importance of good (and forward looking) leadership in any organisation;

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The changing funding environment in SA and the strategies to adapt;

Challenging relationships with government being experienced by some partners; and

Various innovative partner approaches.

In reflecting on each partner organisation, the Oxfam team also used a subjective ranking

process to understand where that partner was at in their own organisational development as

well as the likelihood of continuing the Oxfam-funded work. This exercise sought to draw on

the collective wisdom of this group of practitioners who in many cases had been working on

these issues and with these partners for 5 to 10 years. The discussion concluded with the

majority of partners considered to be doing well and highly likely to carry on the Oxfam

funded work, some partners experiencing challenges but likely to overcome them, and only 3

partners in very fragile positions. This will be presented in more detail in the final section.

In terms of narrative reporting, 38 partners responded, most of who were on time. It was

anticipated that fewer partners would report on schedule given the closure and changes

within their own organisations and contexts. We believe this is a testament to the

communicative and practical approach taken by the office. The usual narrative template was

shortened substantially to only include the critical elements for the 3 month period. This was

highly appreciated by partners who expressed this during our final monitoring visits when we

highlighted the importance of reporting and the different deadlines and processes.

With regards to results, the vast majority of partners reported meeting their objectives. In fact

only one partner GLN indicated that they did not meet all of their objectives due to the

necessary rescheduling of their training. Some partners also reported partly achieving what

they set out to do, but this was a small amount comparably. Most partners met all of their

objectives and some exceeded expectations, namely OneVoice SA and Palabora

Foundation. Some partners also completed their additional work, which was mentioned in

the July to December 2015 report, in these last 3 months. As an example Refugee Social

Services (RSS) provided entrepreneurial skills development to some of their clients, while

Women on Farms finalised their document on the impact of ‘legal’ evictions on women and

children,

2.2 Highlights

For most partners, the highlights presented emanated from their ongoing work such as

successful awareness raising and engagement across multiple issues such as child

protection, human rights, gender, HIV, and gender based violence, as well as providing

quality health services through consultations, site visits, and via wellness workers. Partners

involved in producing publications (such as AIDS Legal Network’s (ALN’s) women rights and

HIV research, Sinamandla’s Self Help Group newspaper, Africaid and OneVoice’s manuals,

and Save the Children’s Early Childhood Development stories) also highlighted these as

significant achievements in this reporting period.

Stakeholder engagements continued from January to March 2016 and many partners

flagged these as highlights. For example the deepening of relationships with schools

reported by Hillcrest AIDS Centre Trust and others, the Gay and Lesbian Network’s

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successful traditional leadership and police training on sexuality, and CREATE’s disability

inclusion work with other Civil Society Organisations (CSOs). Biowatch held a CSO

workshop in Northern KwaZulu-Natal as part of their strategy of enhancing relationships and

highlighted this achievement. Sinani stated that their engagement with traditional leadership

structures on peace will assist ahead of this year’s local elections. Other partners, like

KwaZulu Regional Christian Centre (KRCC), mentioned joining local forums which are

creating an impact. In KRCC’s case this is specifically around disability inclusion, and a

separate forum on substance abuse.

A number of our partners and community structures are engaging in legislative processes

such as the Extension of Security of Tenure Act which the Women on Farms Project and the

Trust for Community Outreach and Education (TCOE) have mobilised around. The

Pietermaritzburg Agency for Community Social Action (PACSA) held a workshop during this

period on connecting organisations that do monitoring work, which was very productive and

is likely to create ongoing learning and partnerships. Thusanang Trust also mentioned their

ECD peers and mentors workshop which brought together over 70 practitioners in order to

improve their ECD work. Exchange visits between partners were another highlight, such as

KRCC’s visit to Biowatch, and Tholulwazi Uzivikele’s (TU’s) visit to Save the Children.

Opportunities for future collaboration were also mentioned, for example Siyavuna cited the

potential of partnering with the proposed government Agri-hubs.

Ongoing skills and personal development work within organisations and with communities

was also a highlight of this final period of the program. This includes Lifeline’s continued

courses with at risk youth, the impact of ‘ambassador based’ interventions such as Isibani’s

hygiene ambassadors in schools, and the crafters event held at Hillcrest Aids Centre with

Woza Moya and Fancy Stitch. A wide range of training took place with partner staff and

community members on a number of issues including running a co-operative, case

monitoring, fire and risk, and sexuality to name a few. The KwaMakhutha Community

Resource Centre (KMCRC) also made specific mention of the support they received for their

website development which will assist them in communications and fundraising. Successful

income generating opportunities were also celebrated, such as Operation Upgrade’s support

of a small scale chillies business.

Community ownership was another critical aspect highlighted by partners during January to

March 2016. This is especially important given Oxfam’s closure. Many partners indicated the

initiative and commitment being shown by community members and their desire to continue

with projects and programs through their own funding. Many of the community groups which

partners work with are strong and growing with capacity to address the issues affecting the

areas they work, as well as successfully manage conflict within their structures.

Another key reflection was that many of the partners’ approaches were working; for example

for awareness raising Palabora Foundation has changed to a one-to-one monitoring and

dialogues approach and this direct and intimate method appears to be having an impact on

clients’ mindsets and behaviours. Various peer support initiatives are bearing fruit.

Sophakama stated that through their interventions they have seen a decrease in HIV stigma,

an increase in school participation, and a decrease in defaults for treatment. A number of

partners also highlighted that they have been successful in accessing funding from new

donors and other types of support, for example fencing and irrigation systems. These new

resources support their ongoing work.

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2.3 Ongoing Challenges

There are a number of challenges which partners faced in this final 3 month period and

which they will continue to face going forward. Interestingly, a number of partners did not

report any challenges over the last 3 months which is encouraging. Below are the key issues

which our partners are grappling with and which require careful thought, innovative

approaches and future action:

Funding and resources;

Drought and climatic conditions;

Inadequate infrastructure and the expense of maintenance;

Land ownership (particularly for women);

Drop outs from programs and maintaining community participation with some key

issues reported being:

o Seasonal work affecting participation,

o The need for follow up support after interventions,

o The difficult living conditions of participants affecting involvement, and

o The lack of transport for participants to programs and for partner staff within

communities;

The capacity of community groups/ peer educators and the need for ongoing training

and support;

Changes with staff within partner organisations such as resignations, succession and

labour disputes;

Unexpected project delays with websites, publications, translations, system

upgrades;

Working with and/or handing over programs to government in terms of services and

data;

Drug abuse, police and client harassment, particularly for vulnerable groups like sex

workers;

Youth unemployment and its consequences as well as the need to more effectively

engage with local businesses for skills and work opportunities.

The primary objective of reporting on these challenges here is to influence future work in the

civil society space in South Africa.

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3. LOOKING AHEAD: CONTINUATION OF THE WORK?

When having a discussion of this nature, it is important to recall that “...a strong argument

was made [by partners] about partners’ own responsibility for their sustainability”1. The

agency for change continues to rest with partners and communities. Having said this, the

question of continuity and sustainability cannot be answered with certainty; however, what

can be said is that Oxfam’s approach, and the nature of the partnership, gave partners the

best possible chance to adapt. This is because time was given for the closure, care was

taken during the exit, capacity building focused on relevant sustainability concerns, and the

years of partnership with other organisations allowed the possibility of collective responses.

Indeed, the NLV evaluation found that the NLV partnership approach allowed for a relatively

strong foundation for sustainability. This was best reflected in the discussions held at the

final Program Team meeting in March 2016, including the subjective ranking process.

What we discovered was that only a small number (3) of partners were in a critically

vulnerable condition in terms of their organisation’s future viability. This was predominantly

due to their own internal issues and direction. Seven of our partners were experiencing

significant challenges relating to resources which resulted in some cases in the

retrenchment of staff and the closure of programs. Nevertheless, these partners are showing

tenacity by adjusting their programs, for example Vhutshilo’s clients will now be monitored at

the school as opposed to direct home based care, and TU is moving to focus on ECD

forums. Woza Moya is undergoing significant strategic and leadership training, and Lifeline is

continuing to source new donors. They and their work are likely to continue despite these

difficulties.

A further 12 partners were also experiencing challenges, but it was felt that they were in a

strong position to cope. These partners were also making difficult decisions such as the

closure of programs, but these were done with sustainability in mind. Choice Trust is moving

into the climate change space as a new direction, and will be giving less direct support to

community dialogue groups after having trained community members to take over. Project

Empower used this last 9 months to hand over the Consciousness Raising Groups fully to

the women involved. Triangle Project have stabilised quite a bit since new leadership took

over and they are taking innovative approaches to fundraising, such as their 35 Years

Celebration held in March 2016. Others like JAW and KRCC are ramping up their

fundraising efforts and have applied jointly to large donors with positive responses.

Sophakama reported that they receive funds from a potential private donor. Save the

Children is undergoing internal changes but the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH)

work has become fully integrated and is likely to continue.

The rest of our 19 partners are considered to be doing well within their own organisations,

and they are also highly likely to continue the Oxfam-funded work in some form. For some,

this is because they managed to source other funding to continue the work and are in fact

expanding. For others they are in strong financial positions and have reserve funds.

Siyavuna, TCOE, Biowatch, the Wilderness Foundation (Umzi Wethu), OneVoice SA and

1 Drimie, S. (2016). No Longer Vulnerable Program (July 2012 – June 2015) Summative Evaluation,

Oxfam Australia: Durban.

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Women on Farms Project are in a good position in terms of staff and finances, and continue

improving their programs. Lima is a large organisation and will no doubt continue. We have

also found out that they are now using CREATE as a technical partner within their

infrastructure projects to ensure the inclusion of people with disabilities. Hillcrest Aids Centre

Trust is well positioned as an organisation although they have experienced gaps in staffing.

KMCRC, Sinani and the Denis Hurley Centre (DHC) continue to source funding and provide

services to community members. However, their commitments and ‘reserve’ are smaller than

ideal given their needs, for example operating the clinic (as with DHC) and sourcing new

premises (KMCRC). Sinamandla is another unique case in that they are very lean but have a

highly effective model – their work with Oxfam partners has supported 50 self-help groups

with Thusanang, 25 with Save the Children, and 6 very high quality groups with Woza Moya.

They also indicated that there are funds likely to come through in 2016 from new donors.

Thus, although only time will tell what work will continue and what will not, there were

already a number of sustainability strategies reported by partners. This included sourcing

other funding/support, integrating the work into existing programs, handing over the work to

government and/or community structures and/or other CSOs, adjusting the approach to

make it more efficient and responsive to change, finding new avenues, and of course

partnering with others to mobilise resources, influence change and provide essential

services.

4. CONCLUDING REMARKS

The last 3 months of the extended No Longer Vulnerable program were bitter sweet. They

were filled with the external and internal challenges of a complicated closure in a complex

environment, but were also a very important reminder of the resilience of our partner

organisations and a heightened experience of the value of our integrated partnership

approach. It seems fitting then to end with a few words directly from some of our partners

and the people they work with:

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CATCH is the successful organisation it is because of the staff of OAU.... Oxfam

Australia has been a foundation stone in the work at CATCH. Its

values and approaches are embedded in all we do.

– CATCH Projects, Eastern Cape

A lifeline can be defined in different ways, eg from birth you [grow] up and up, from a

hospital bed it shows the line [that] you are still a alive by making a ‘beep’ sound, but

our lifeline begins with us to change [sic]. We thank Lifeline and the sponsors for

giving us an opportunity to change.

– Participant from Lifeline’s iLembe Skills Development Program, KZN

We might not have eliminated all forms of vulnerabilities experienced by communities

during the period of OAU; but we can happily say that there are clear signs that

some persons now have resources to act against

vulnerabilities.

– Sinani, KZN

Many of these processes and publications [supported by Oxfam] have assisted in

ensuring that our views and voices became an integral part of not

only the national, but also the regional and global discourse on women, human rights

and HIV...

– AIDS Legal Network (our longest standing partner), Western Cape

Oxfam has supported CHoiCe in learning and growing within the Community

Capacity Enhancement methodology of engaging with communities in a participatory

and meaningful manner. This has resulted in clear impact in seeing villages make

use of platforms created to take ownership of their own challenges and their own

responses. CHoiCe is confident that these interventions will have

lasting impact in the communities reached by the organisation in

partnership with Oxfam.

- CHoiCe Trust, Limpopo

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The [FSG] project empowered farmers in ‘hard skills’ (such as farming techniques,

business and marketing techniques, etc.) and ‘soft skills’ (such as group and social

cohesion, rights, influencing policies, etc.), which are very important in improving

rural people’s welfare...Overall, the project improved the welfare of the

beneficiaries. Even though some of the impacts on the welfare may not be

currently obvious, the project is likely to have even significant impacts in the medium

to long-term.

– An external evaluation of Farmer Support Group, KZN

...It has been a journey filled with learning and growing. We have

grown as an organisation and we have grown as individuals. We have become

connected as an organisation and we have become connected as individuals. We

are stronger and better equipped as an organisation and as individuals...

– TU, KZN

VMS are very grateful to have had you as our first funders. With your help our

outreach programme has grown into a project that we are all proud of.. and to see

the differences we have made in the lives of all our

beneficiaries is VERY rewarding.

– Vhutshilo Mountain School, Limpopo

If it was not for Oxfam`s investment on capacity building including Succession

Planning, the organisation would have been in a more vulnerable situation [than] the

current one...Your support has made it possible for us to

embrace changes that have led us to see the ten year relationship coming to

an end...Oxfam has left a good legacy behind. Above all, you excelled in managing

partnerships with partners.

– KRCC, KZN

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