Detailed Mechanism Funding and Narrative

Years of mechanism: 2007 2008 2009

Details for Mechanism ID: 4644
Country/Region: South Africa
Year: 2007
Main Partner: Youth for Christ International
Main Partner Program: South Africa
Organizational Type: Implementing Agency
Funding Agency: HHS/CDC
Total Funding: $750,000

Funding for Sexual Prevention: Abstinence/Be Faithful (HVAB): $500,000

INTEGRATED ACTIVITY FLAG:

This activity relates to activities described in Condoms and Other Prevention (#7949).

SUMMARY:

Youth for Christ South Africa (YFC) will promote HIV risk reduction through abstinence and be faithful (AB) activities among youth 10 to 18 years of age. The activities will take place in at least 250 schools in five provinces, namely Eastern Cape, Gauteng, Mpumalanga, North West and the Western Cape. The organization will recruit and train young adults to work in the programs as youth workers and peer group trainers. The major emphasis area for this program will be information, education and communication, with minor emphasis on community mobilization/participation and training. The target population will include children and youth, community and religious leaders, community- and faith-based organizations.

BACKGROUND:

YFC is a youth development organization that directly addresses problems and needs of youth. YFC South Africa has established several training centers and local offices in five provinces of South Africa. YFC runs a number of programs aimed at preparing youth for the future. YFC has been funded by the National Department of Health (NDOH) since 1995 and received PEPFAR funds through the CDC cooperative agreement with the NDOH starting in 2005. As of FY 2007, YFC will become PEPFAR prime partner and will no longer receive PEPFAR funds through the NDOH.

ACTIVITIES AND EXPECTED RESULTS:

Many YFC activities are aimed at changing the behavior of the youth, and promoting (AB) messages and activities. YFC will continue to empower young women through counseling and education, in an effort to improve general life and sexual decision-making skills. The abstinence-focused messages are geared towards children ages 10-14 in primary schools; messages to high school students ages 14-19, out-of-school youth and young adults focus on abstinence, delayed sexual debut and faithfulness. They also discuss correct and consistent condom use to this group, but the focus is more geared towards AB messages. This is consistent with the PEPFAR ABC guidance.

ACTIVITY 1: Peer Education in Schools

YFC will train a network of unemployed young adult volunteers from faith-based organizations to provide peer education in the form of training, support and referral services for students. YFC has developed effective models of working with, and empowering, youth who will be trained to share AB information and correct decision-making skills with their peers. YFC will work with the provincial Departments of Education (DOE) to identify appropriate schools in which to implement these activities. YFC will also collaborate with school principals and the communities. The young volunteers will be placed in schools to serve as coaches and mentors for peer groups, and these volunteers will encourage students to form support groups and clubs both in- and out-of-school. The volunteers will also be trained to run informative workshops and community events in their schools on a host of issues relating to HIV and AIDS, peer pressure, self-esteem, and goal setting.

ACTIVITY 2: Life Skills Training

Young volunteers will be trained to conduct life skills sessions at schools and in camps to educate youth on making informed decisions about life and sexuality. YFC will use the Rutanang curriculum, which has been endorsed NDOH. Rutanang's peer education model highlights the importance of delaying first sex and consistent and correct use of condoms, as well as respect for others. YFC has developed holistic prevention programs that will incorporate key role players from all levels of a community to bring about a positive school environment. It is the responsibility of each local office of YFC to maintain and sustain the work that they initiate in their localities. YFC will use drama, music and dance to effectively communicate these AB and life skills messages. YFC will also work with the DOE to

implement this activity.

ACTIVITY 3: Creative Educational Teams

YFC will use edutainment such as drama, dance and discussion groups to educate youth on HIV and AIDS, and to promote AB life styles. YFC will recruit, train and deploy five teams in schools and communities to educate youth on these issues. YFC teams will present the AIDS productions in high schools, youth centers, churches and prisons. These teams will spend three to five days in each school, giving assembly and classroom presentations, and creating informal discussion times. YFC will work in partnership with the NDOH and the DOE to reach the target audience. The provision of community programs will help to de-stigmatize HIV and AIDS in communities.

ACTIVITY 4: Capacity Building

Internship programs will implemented during FY 2007. Unemployed youth volunteers, active in faith-based organizations, will be recruited and placed in YFC offices for a year. Here interns receive on the job training in a program or project linked to the organization. Each local YFC office is required to create a staff development plan for each employee, volunteer and intern, as the management of YFC places a great emphasis on training and capacity development.

Youth for Christ's Abstinence and Be Faithful activities among youth will contribute to PEPFAR's goal of averting 7 million infections. In addition, the activities support the USG Five-Year Strategy for South Africa by increasing effective faith-based activities and creating support for positive gender norms.

Funding for Sexual Prevention: Other Sexual Prevention (HVOP): $250,000

INTEGRATED ACTIVITY FLAG:

This activity also relates to activities in AB (#7948).

SUMMARY:

Youth for Christ (YFC) will promote HIV risk reduction and prevention activities by distributing and promoting the use of condoms among out-of-school youth 18 years and older. YFC will recruit and train young people as youth workers. After training, the youth workers will be placed in Youth Clubs where they will assist in expanding YFC's HIV prevention campaign by distributing condoms to communities and the youth. Major emphasis for this program is community mobilization/participation with minor emphasis on development of networks/referrals and information education and communication. The primary population includes out-of-school youth, CBO's and NGO's.

BACKGROUND:

YFC has been involved with prevention programs in schools for several years. The National Department of Health (NDOH) has funded YFC activities since 1995. The organization was PEPFAR funded as from 2005 through the NDOH cooperative agreement but as of 2007 YFC will become PEPFAR prime partner. YFC's prevention activities will focus on distribution and correct use of condoms, and on gender issues, which will be addressed through life skills programs. The life skills programs will focus on empowering young women, and challenging young men to question gender stereotypes.

ACTIVITIES AND EXPECTED RESULTS:

Two separate activities will be carried out in this program.

ACTIVITY 1: Condom Distribution

The condom distribution and condom use program will be aimed at out-of-school youth, as these young adults are likely to be sexually active, and so will have a higher risk of exposure to HIV. YFC will distribute government-provided condoms at several community-based sites and public health facilities. This activity will also aim to empower and positively influence men to practice safe sex and to use preventative methods. YFC peer educators and interns will interact with their peers and challenge gender stereotypes, and at the same time, serve as mentors and positive role models.

ACTIVITY 2: Awareness Campaigns

This activity will focus on the development and implementation of awareness campaigns around HIV and AIDS. Information, communication and communication (IEC) publications developed by Khomanani, a South African communications company, will be distributed along with the condoms. Peer educators and interns will encourage discussion around condoms and HIV and AIDS, and this activity will help to alleviate stigma and discrimination in the communities in which YFC is working.

Interns and peer educators will be recruited from unemployed and in-school youth who are active in faith-based organizations. The youth will be trained using the YFC peer educator programs described in the AB section of the COP (#7948). In addition, peer educators will be trained to inform the community about local healthcare services and to refer participants to the appropriate facilities for counseling and testing, psychosocial counseling and other HIV prevention services. Parents will be targeted and provided with information on raising responsible and informed children. Community awareness programs will aim to destigmatize HIV and AIDS in communities and YFC will develop infrastructures to provide community support for HIV-affected families.

Through the distribution of 15,000 male and 5,000 female condoms and through behavior changing messages, YFC will support prevention goals as outlined in the USG Five-Year Strategy for South Africa to avert 7 million new infections.