NLV Jan-June 2014 External (2014) by The Power Is In People

Executive Summary

Program Overview

Partnerships

Collaboration

Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning

Capacity Building

Case Studies and Other Documents

Program Context Analysis

Program Achievements

Program Challenges

Lessons Learned

Annexures

List of supplementary reports that can be accessed separately

General acronyms AACES DRR ECD GBV MEL NDMC NHI OAU OCA OGB OIT SANAC WASH

Australia Africa Community Engagement Scheme

Disaster Risk Reduction

Early Childhood Development

Gender-based Violence

Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning

National Disaster Management Centre

National Health Insurance

Oxfam Australia (in South Africa)

Oxfam Canada (in South Africa)

Oxfam Great Britain (in South Africa)

Oxfam Italia (in South Africa)

South African National AIDS Council

Water, Sanitation and Hygiene

Acronyms/abbreviated partner names used in this report Africaid ALN Biowatch CREATE FSG HAPG Isibani JAW KMCRC KRCC LIMA OpUp OVSA PACSA Palabora PE Sophakama TCOE TP TU WFP

Africaid Trust WhizzKids United AIDS Legal Network Biowatch SA CREATE Farmers Support Group HIV and AIDS Prevention Group Isibani Sethemba Justice and Women KwaMakhutha Community Resource Centre KwaZulu Regional Christian Council LIMA Operation Upgrade OneVoice South Africa Pietermaritzburg Agency for Community Social Action Palabora Foundation Project Empower Sophakama Community-Based Development, Care and Support Organisation Trust for Community Outreach and Education Triangle Project Tholulwazi Uzivikele Women on Farms Project 2

The No longer Vulnerable (NLV) Integrated Program Report presents an overview of the work of the Oxfam Australia (OAU) Country Office in South Africa from January 2014 to June 2014. It reports on the work done by OAU-supported partners and that done through Oxfam inter-affiliate partnerships, collaborations with government, other institutions, social platform movements, and processes that were accomplished through monitoring, evaluation and learning. Partnerships: OAU continued implementing the work of the NLV program through 42 partners spread across four provinces: KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo, Eastern Cape and Western Cape. The work of the partners remained focused on the three objectives of the framework, namely: to improve health outcomes relating to HIV and AIDS, Tuberculosis and water-related infections and diseases; to increase and sustain food security and livelihoods options available to households; and to increase and uphold access to social protection and rights. Partners reached 98,522 beneficiaries directly (of whom 2,528 were people with disabilities) and 482,419 indirectly (60% of whom were women). In January 2014, Oxfam Novib, Oxfam Canada and OAU formed a partnership to implement a program to promote and protect the human rights of sexual minorities. OAU is implementing the program in South Africa, through two partners: Triangle Project (TP) and Inner Circle (TIC). OAU partnerships with other Oxfam affiliates included supporting the Alternative Information and Development Centre, an Oxfam Great Britain (OGB) partner, which works to empower people in relation to the national budget.

Collaboration: AWETHU! A People’s Platform for Social Justice held provincial conferences in seven provinces, reaching 475 people representing 19 organisations. A joint project (OAU as the core funder, OGB and Oxfam Italia) was established to provide technical assistance to the National Disaster Management Centre (NDMC). The project has two key components: a municipal pilot initiative, and the provision of technical assistance to the NDMC. OAU along with other stakeholders joined the Commission for Gender Equality to convene a national gender summit in April at which a declaration making important commitments to gender equality was endorsed. OAU and ActionAid held a joint meeting in June 2014 to analyse the National Development Plan and to take the women’s sector forward in engaging on it.

Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning: Major outputs included the NLV Integrated Program Mid-term Review; the Mid-term Review for the Australia Africa Community Engagement Scheme (AACES) WASH program; the Disaster Risks Reduction End of Program Evaluation; follow-up studies on the Evaluation of the Oxfam HIV/AIDS Program – Beneficiaries Survey and Organisational Survey; and the Gender MEL Framework. Following the completion of the NLV Mid-term review a Learning Note was developed and shared with partners, accompanied by an online survey.

Capacity Building: Capacity building continued to constitute a big part of the support provided to partners. KwaMakhutha Community Resource Centre (KMCRC) and Operation Upgrade (OpUp) received intensive support in organisational development with positive results; KMCRC still requires further support. Support to enhance staff skills in organisational development was also provided to Sophakama and Haven Wellness Centre. Support was provided to Woza Moya and Save the Children South Africa to attend the WASH 2014 Conference in Brisbane, and to the HIV/AIDS Prevention Group and AIDS Legal Network to attend the International AIDS conference in Melbourne.

Case Studies and Other Documents: Documenting, learning and sharing processes focused on developing partners’ capacity to share their stories and knowledge articulately. Video storytelling and social media platforms were used to achieve these objectives; to date 35 partners have websites and 26 partners have facebook pages. Case studies on Africaid Trust WhizzKids United (Africaid) and HAPG were completed, and events were held to launch these new publications.

Program Context Analysis: In the May 2014 election the ANC won 62,15% of the votes, down from 65,9% in 2009. It is unclear how it is going to adapt to this. In South Africa and in the region there has been an increase in religious fundamentalism that has fuelled homophobia. While there is constitutional protection of LGBTI rights in South Africa, there is also a continuous conservative pushback and high levels of gender-based violence and violence towards people because of their sexual orientation. Triangle Project (TP) worked in communities where murders based on sexual orientation have occurred. The right to sanitation has continued to provoke protests and public debate; government had committed itself to achieving universal access to sanitation by 2014, but this has not yet been achieved. At a local level, poverty, corruption and inequality and their damaging effects have not shifted – in most communities the power base is held by ward counsellors who either facilitate or hinder development.

Program Achievements: Partners’ programs were still aimed at conscientising community members, because informed citizens can exercise their agency and influence the decisions that affect their lives. Pietermaritzburg Agency for Community Social Action (PACSA) held roundtable discussions on the election process and made written submissions on proposed tariff increases and the 2014 Budget. It was instrumental in a number of accomplishments, including stopping wide-scale electricity disconnections and getting the commitment of the local municipality to electrify some areas. Project Empower (PE) held consciousness-raising sessions around women’s physical and emotional health, resulting in women now being represented on some clinic committees, and in a greater effort to promote female condoms in one clinic. KwaZulu Regional Christian Council held public dialogues and used government “war rooms” to ensure that community members’ were able to influence plans for their communities. The shift towards more partners actively engaging with policy-making processes continued. Women on Farms Projects (WFP) engaged with government over draft policy and, independently of WFP, some of its members engaged with government to secure access to agricultural land. Many partners encountered obstacles in their work, including political “hijacking” of committees and platforms, technical shortcomings, and corruption. Solidarity building remained important. Through TP’s position on a task team addressing LGBTI related violence it participated in a series of provincial alliance-building workshops. It also presented to the SANAC Women’s Sector, focusing on sexual violence as a route of HIV transmission. Six partners receiving funding through the AACES program reported successfully integrating WASH activities into their core program areas, resulting in an additional 7,695 beneficiaries. WASH activities became key components of partners’ work, with 7,882 beneficiaries being reached by non-AACES-funded WASH activities. The integrated local committees (Water Users Associations) formed through partner Tholulwazi Uzivikele’s (TU) facilitation engaged with local leadership regarding various issues, including WASH, and its sanitation and hygiene initiatives in schools showed success.

KMCRC, Palabora Foundation, Woza Moya and Haven Wellness Centre took measures to give people with disabilities full access to their amenities and their support services. CREATE continued to support partners in their quest to increase their knowledge about disability. Save the Children South Africa included disability in two early childhood development centres and OneVoice South Africa requested assistance to ensure that its child protection policy was disability inclusive.

Program Challenges: Despite the gains made by government in addressing the sanitation service backlogs, challenges related to sanitation provision were reported across all the OAU partners. The deficits in sanitation at many schools undermine childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s rights to basic education, and have a disproportionate impact on women and girls. Isibani Sethemba reported an increase in poor hygiene practices in the town of Ingwavuma in KZN and that the household gardening activities it supports were being affected by the drought. Farmer Support Group (FSG) experienced difficulty implementing its methods in areas where government promotes contradictory methods, and Biowatch reported that the limited involvement of youth represents a challenge for sustainability. Lack of access to water and land remain challenges that negatively hinder the progress of all agro-ecology work and food security projects. An amendment to the land claims legislation was signed into law in June 2014, but it holds no solution for farm workers who have never owned land. WFP was involved in government consultations leading to the drafting of policy relating to the rights of people working the land, but has reservations about the draft policy.

Lessons Learned: Citizens are responding with increasing dissatisfaction to poor service delivery, including poor delivery of sanitation services. Given the role of sanitation and hygiene in preventing disease transmission and providing dignity, an influencing strategy on sanitation and hygiene is perfectly aligned to the NLV program. The integrated approach that OAU and its partners have taken is proving to be sustainable in both outcomes and impact. Partners focusing on WASH issues have strategically decided to focus the remaining two years on the softer issues of WASH programming. Some partners demonstrated increased confidence and willingness to participate and engage in policy-making processes, but it seems much still needs to be done to capacitate other partners. It was evident that the network culture introduced by OAU has been adopted, and this networking culture needs to be promoted. The progress already made by certain partners with advocacy work is outstanding and it is imperative that mechanisms continue to be identified and implemented that will enable civil society to take advantage of opportunities in the future.

This document presents an overview of the work undertaken by and through the Oxfam Australia Country Office in South Africa during the six months from January 2014 to June 2014. It reports on the No Longer Vulnerable Integrated Program (NLV) and the work done by Oxfam-supported partners and through inter-affiliate partnerships with other Oxfams, plus collaborations with government, other institutions, social platform movements and processes that were accomplished through monitoring, evaluation and learning. The synopsis of these processes and collaborations are contained in this Program Overview section, and the individual reports that expand on this work are attached as annexures. This is followed by an analysis of the work that has been done by the partners, beginning with the context in which the work was done and then reflecting on the achievements, challenges and lessons that were learned during the period. The work required to carry out this program continues to be complex and exciting; it requires the flexibility to construct and deconstruct ideas and the ability to manage complexities, tensions and contestations. The No Longer Vulnerable Integrated Program Mid-Term Review, which was completed during the six months covered by this report and is available as a supplementary document to this report, especially affords interested readers an opportunity to explore these complexities and tensions. The Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) End of Program Evaluation (available as a supplementary document to this report) revealed opportunities for further work in urban contexts. This was a very exciting development and four partners that received additional grants through the DRR program are continuing to integrate DRR work (now simply titled “Risk Reduction”) into their overall programs. The political events during this reporting period created an air of excitement and expectation, with emotions running high as South Africans prepared to vote in the fifth democratic elections. People were heard expressing their hopes for a better future, especially in relation to delivery of basic services to communities – in this regard voices again protested loudly at the lack of service delivery. The Municipal Hotspots Monitor1 reported that there had been “48 major service delivery protests staged against local government in January, occurring roughly at a rate of a protest every second day”. It noted that “Gauteng and the Eastern Cape remain the most protestridden provinces in 2014”, but that by the end of March protests had “slowed down” due to the elections drawing nearer. Some of the protests were very violent and others peaceful, but what they all clearly indicated was dissatisfaction with the relevant municipalities. These protests, if they are not well managed, unfortunately increase the vulnerability of those people referred to as “foreigners” (generally people from other parts of Africa seeking asylum in South Africa), and when their situations are worsened by such protests these people have little or no protection. Despite the challenges, and even during those times when their spaces were usurped for political campaigning, Oxfam partners continued to deliver their programs to their beneficiaries. A further brief examination of the setting for the six months under review follows later under the heading of “Program Context Analysis”. During the period under review the Oxfam team continued to focus on meeting its program management objectives despite the changing times, including the setting up of Oxfam South Africa.

1. Source: Municipal IQ Municipal Hotspots Monitor as at 31 March 2014

Oxfam continued implementing the work of the NLV program through 42 partners spread across four provinces: KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), Limpopo, Eastern Cape and Western Cape. During this period 482,419 women, men and children were reached by means of various program activities and engagements. Of that figure, approximately 98,522 women, men and children were reached directly by the program with the balance of 383,897 people benefiting indirectly. Of the people who benefited directly, 2,528 were people with disabilities. Women comprised 60% of the total number of beneficiaries. The “NLV Output summary overview – January to June 2014” (Annexure 1) contains more statistics and details of the activities undertaken over the period. The work of the partners is still focused on the three objectives of the framework, namely: • • •

to improve health outcomes relating to HIV and AIDS, Tuberculosis (TB) and water-related infections and diseases; to increase and sustain food security and livelihoods options available to households, and to increase and uphold access to social protection and rights.

In January 2014, through the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Oxfam Novib (ONL), Oxfam Canada (OCA) and Oxfam Australia (OAU) formed a partnership to implement a four-year program entitled “Promoting and Protecting Human Rights of Sexual Minorities in Pakistan, Zimbabwe and South Africa”. The program’s overall objective is to support the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people by improving approaches, sharing knowledge and providing models for global use. In South Africa, the program is implemented as part of the NLV Framework through two partners, an existing partner called Triangle Project (TP) and a new partner called Inner Circle (TIC); both partners are based in Cape Town. TIC is a human rights organisation that was formed in 1996, with a vision to create a global society free from discrimination based on religion, sexual orientation and gender identity. It works strategically within Muslim communities to raise consciousness around sexual orientation and gender identity. It provides psycho-spiritual support to Muslims who are marginalised based on sexual orientation and gender identity and strives towards the creation of a movement with strategic partners that can counter the increasing discrimination and violence perpetrated in the name of Islam. TIC believes that it has the capacity and right approach to address these issues in a care-confrontational manner through raising consciousness and creating access to information that will encourage dialogue and promote tolerance and acceptance. Due to the fact that religious teachings are used to discriminate against people on the basis of their sexual orientation and gender identity TIC believes in tackling the discrimination both from a human rights and a theological perspective, advocating that Islam at its core is respectful of women’s rights, human rights and human dignity. OAU also supported some initiatives through partnerships with other Oxfam affiliates in South Africa. One such initiative was with the Alternative Information and Development Centre (AIDC), a partner that is managed through Oxfam Great Britain (OGB). AIDC actively lobbied the South African Minister of Finance, and mobilised people both in the run up to the presentation of the 2014–2015 Budget and following its announcement. Workshops for activists were convened and peaceful protests were held outside Parliament to increase awareness and empower people to raise their voices in relation to the budget. AIDC’s work around the budget included

collaborating with other NGOs: it facilitated the compilation of the “People’s alternative budget speech” with the Budget Justice Coalition, and it worked with Section 27 (a public interest law centre that incorporates the AIDS Law Project) and the Budget Expenditure and Monitoring Forum (BEMF) on gaining further involvement from the Treasury. Through this work AIDC reached 145 people directly, this included 30 youths from Khayelitsha, 75 small-scale farmers from the Western Cape (who attended workshops) and another 40 people who attended seminars that looked at “Five Critical Appraisals” presented by different authors and researchers. The topics included: “2014 budget and consequences of a gender-blind budget approach” by Christi van der Westhuizen; “Social grants in the 2014 Budget and the forgotten case for a Basic Income Grant (BIG)” by Isobel Frye (of the Studies in Poverty and Inequality Institute); “Tax evasion and the space for higher budget revenues” by Dick Forslund; “Implementing Budget 2014 in education” by Zukiswa Kota (Public Service Accountability Monitor, Rhodes University); and “2014 Budget and the National Health Insurance story” by Daygan Eagar (Rural Health Advocacy Project). In their analysis of Treasury’s last Mid Term Budget Policy speech the presenters indicated that the National Health Insurance (NHI) reform process had not been budgeted for at all. This was again evident when AIDC commissioned analysis of the National Budget speech (which was presented on 26 February 2014) and the Minister of Health’s budget speech (presented in July 2014). This will have an impact on the health reform currently underway in South Africa and on health service delivery in the NHI pilot sites. Given that health is a core component of the NLV framework this might require further exploration from Oxfam or AIDC.

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(additional) people with access to appropriate sanitation

(additional) people with access to appropriate hand washing facilities

The previous NLV report (July to December 2013) introduced “AWETHU! A People’s Platform for Social Justice,” which had been formed with the support of OGB. In this reporting period AWETHU! held provincial conferences in Northern Cape, Western Cape, Free State, Mpumalanga, Limpopo, Eastern Cape and Gauteng. These conferences reached 475 people representing 19 organisations. A profound sense of disappointment about the state of the nation twenty years into democracy was evident with all the provinces voicing their confirmation of the need for such a platform to bring together and strengthen civil society. Ways in which the AWETHU! platform can play a more instrumental role in developing multi-directional relationships within civil society remain to be explored and provision will be made for this work in OAU’s next operational plan. The second half of the 2013–2014 year saw the establishment of a joint OAU, OGB and Oxfam Italia (OIT) project entitled “Technical Assistance to the National Disaster Management Centre”. This work capitalized on the already good relationship existing between OIT and the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs. One of the foundational steps of the project was a national level “kick off” meeting with the relevant units of the National Disaster Management Centre (NDMC). This meeting served to introduce the objectives of the project and to finalise the composition of the Project Management Unit and the Steering Committee. Further to this, a Project Unit responsible for implementing and monitoring the activities of the project was established. The project has two key components: a municipal pilot initiative in Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality (EMM), and the provision of technical assistance to the NDMC. The activities in the municipal pilot initiative will contribute to the development of an urban vulnerabilities and capacities framework. As a start to the EMM municipal pilot initiative, the Project Team held a discussion about the complexities of vulnerability in the urban environment and the potential of DRR as a strategic cross-cutting issue in the Municipal Integrated Development Plan.2 As part of the Service Delivery Improvement and Poverty Alleviation Initiatives, the Disaster and Emergency Management Emergency Services Department (DEMSD) enrolled 604 people to serve as members of the Community Emergency Response Teams (CERT). For 160 CERT members part of their training included being introduced to key concepts and aspects of Disaster Risk Management (DRM), and being taught how to conduct vulnerability and capacity assessments and engage proactively with people through participatory DRR initiatives. Assessments were conducted on 1,600 houses in urban informal settlements and the results will form part of the hazard map for the municipality. The training materials that were used may be formally adopted by the municipality and used to train other officials (including ward councillors). The technical assistance to the NDMC will be for the development of guidelines and standards for DRM. Through a partnership between Oxfam, the NDMC and the African Centre for Disaster Studies, development of a document entitled “National standard and guidelines for conducting comprehensive disaster risk assessments” has commenced; it will focus on urban risk. A knowledge pack that will be used for strengthening local leaders’ capacity in DRR is also being developed. In April 2014, the Commission for Gender Equality (CGE) in partnership with UN Women; UN Population Fund (UNFPA); Oxfam; the Department of Public Enterprises; the Department of Women, Children, and People with Disabilities; the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC); and Alexander Forbes (a financial services provider), convened a national gender summit. Through this summit, the CGE sought to take stock of and celebrate gender equality gains, while critically assessing persistent shortcomings and gaps. The intention of the summit was to ascertain the current vision, political climate and responsibility for working towards gender

2. In South Africa every municipal council must adopt a single integrated strategic plan in accordance with the “Local Government: Municipal Systems Act, 2000” (as amended).

equality and to assess policy effectiveness, strategy and capacity to attain the gender equality commitments outlined in the South African Constitution, legal framework and international obligations. At the summit a declaration (Annexure 5) was compiled and endorsed by those present, including 16 Oxfam-supported partners. The declaration made important commitments and it is deemed imperative that Oxfam follows up by assessing the progress made towards these commitments. Oxfam in collaboration with ActionAid held a meeting on 10 June 2014 on “Influencing the National Development Plan in favour of the rights and aspirations of women of South Africa”3. The National Development Plan (NDP), the first of its kind developed by the South African government since the advent of democracy in 1994, offers a long-term approach for eliminating poverty and reducing inequality by 2030. In its executive summary, the NDP states that, “South Africa can realise these goals [to eliminate poverty and reduce inequality] by drawing on the energies of its people, growing an inclusive economy, building capabilities, enhancing the capacity of the state, and promoting leadership and partnerships throughout society”4. The Oxfam/ActionAid meeting was attended by people concerned with gender and brought together representatives from nine Oxfam partners, plus women’s rights organisations, the National Planning Commission and Oxfam, as well as activists and academics. The objectives of the event were to understand the NDP, develop a gendered critique on it, and agree to a plan of coordinated action to take the women’s sector forward in engaging on it. The areas the participants flagged as worrisome included concerns about how implementation of the NDP would be monitored; the fact that “gender language” is present in the introduction and at the end but there are no gendered objectives or actions; and that it contains scant mention of the gender-based violence which is so prevalent in South Africa. The participants made a decision to look at possible actions in order to realise an NDP that is not gender blind. OAU’s current operational plan makes provision for more work on the NDP. This will be carried out by partners and consultants undertaking targeted analysis of it, particularly the sections on health and agriculture, and further examining its implications for gender.

3. Report “Influencing the NDP in favour of the rights and aspirations of women of South Africa” ActionAid Boardroom 2014 4. The NDP executive summary is available at: http://www.npconline.co.za/MediaLib/Downloads/Downloads/Executive%20Summary-NDP%202030%20-%20 Our%20future%20-%20make%20it%20work.pdf

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Total beneficiaries at VCT/HCT sessions

VCT/HCT sessions

The January to June 2014 period was also marked by major outputs in Oxfam’s evaluation and learning work. The outputs included the NLV Mid-term Review; the Mid-term Review for the Australia Africa Community Engagement Scheme (AACES) program on WASH; the Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) End of Program Evaluation; two follow-up studies, one on the Evaluation of the Oxfam HIV/AIDS Program – Beneficiaries Survey, and the other on the Evaluation of the Oxfam HIV/AIDS Program – Organisational Survey; and the Gender MEL Framework. The NLV Mid-term review was carried out through a consultative process that included partners. Once it was finalised a “Learning Note” was developed, based on the findings and recommendations of the report (Annexure 2). This note was shared with partners, accompanied by an online survey (using SurveyMonkey). Responses from 22 partners were received. These results are presented in Annexure 3.

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male condoms distributed

FEmale condoms distributed

Capacity building continued to constitute a big part of the support provided to partners. In particular, in the last reporting period it was indicated that KwaMakhutha Community Resource Centre (KMCRC) and Operation Upgrade (OpUp) would need intensive support to develop skills around governance, strategic development and planning, basic fundraising, proposal writing and resource mobilisation. This support was provided by a consultant with positive results. OpUp developed a new strategic plan that led to an increased level of enthusiasm both in the way staff are delivering programs to their beneficiaries and in efforts to attract funding. During the mentoring that KMCRC staff received they realised that there were many companies in the area that they had not been aware of. They explored this avenue and reported finding potentially good opportunities. Going forward KMCRC still requires some support from the consultant, which will be provided. Similar support has been provided to Sophakama and Haven Wellness Centre to enhance staff skills in organisational development â&#x20AC;&#x201C; especially in relation to good governance and compliance, human resource development, and monitoring and evaluation. Various partners were supported to attend two international conferences held in Australia. Staff from Woza Moya and Save the Children South Africa attended the WASH 2014 Conference in Brisbane, while the HIV/AIDS Prevention Group and AIDS Legal Network (ALN) attended the International AIDS conference in Melbourne.

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meetings held with traditional authorities facilitated by partner offices

meetings held with government officials facilitated by partner offices

The “documenting, learning and sharing” processes undertaken during this reporting period focused on developing partners’ capacity to profile their work, tell their own stories and develop their skills in articulating and dispensing their learning and challenges into the public domain more effectively. Video storytelling and the use of social media platforms were employed to achieve these objectives. To date, out of the 42 partners, 35 partners have websites and 26 partners have facebook pages. At the close of the previous reporting period case studies on Africaid Trust WhizzKids United (Africaid) and HAPG were still in progress; these were completed during the period under review. Dialogues and events around these new publications were held to extend their reach, facilitate discussion around their issues, and share their lessons with partners and other Oxfam teams in South Africa. The dialogues were noticeably helpful in creating connections and thus facilitating the sharing of learning among the partners. The Africaid dialogue was attended by two partners from Limpopo that do work on antiretroviral treatment with young people, plus various stakeholders including representatives from the Department of Health and Social Development. Their attendance meant that some “influencing work” could take place, and it highlighted the existence of good partnerships with government. HAPG’s documenting process had included collating information about the group’s history, its development and its ways of working. The process produced a set of material that included the case study in book form, a CD with a 19 minute video, four vignettes, and various posters and postcards. The video and publication were premiered in the Bela-Bela community and thereafter at the International AIDS Conference in Melbourne.

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Total number of identity documents issued to beneficiaries as a result of partner organisations’ intervention

Total number of birth certificates received by beneficiaries

Against a continuing background of widespread strikes, community protests, and the watershed of Marikana, the 2014 National Election has come and gone with the African National Congress (ANC) winning 62,15% of the votes (it got 65,9% in 2009) and earning 249 seats out of a total of 400 in the National Assembly (the lower house of the Parliament of South Africa). Whilst this is considered a victory for the ruling party, the party actually attracted fewer votes than in the previous election. Poverty, inequality, corruption, poor governance and the absence of sufficient lines of accountability have been identified as the reasons for voter apathy and dissatisfaction with the ruling party. At face value the political landscape may appear to remain unchanged, but the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) and the Democratic Alliance (DA) are becoming more of a challenge to the ruling party. They not only lured a proportion of the voters away from the ANC but are also providing alternate visions for South Africa’s future which resonate with the vulnerable, and with the working classes. It is unclear how the ruling party is going to adapt to the shift in the political landscape and how the key issues and challenges facing South Africa – slow economic growth, rising poverty and unemployment, poor governance and growing inequality – will be tackled in the next five years. In this period, we have seen developments in our country and in the region that have deepened and preserved patriarchal power. We have also seen an increase in religious fundamentalism that has fuelled homophobia, and some opportunistic political leaders have used their own homophobic perceptions as a political tool, employing homophobia and social conservatism to advance their popularity. While there is constitutional protection of LGBTI rights in South Africa, there is also a continuous conservative pushback. This is typified by the proposed Traditional Courts Bill, which would have had a severely negative impact on the rights of women and LGBTI persons (the Bill stalled in parliament through lack of sufficient support), and in the amendments to the Women’s Empowerment and Gender Equality Bill, where reference to LGBTI persons was removed. It is also starkly apparent in the continuing high levels of gender-based violence and violence towards people because of their sexual orientation. And, as with some other countries in Africa, there are pockets of religious fundamentalism as well as an increase in support for romanticised “traditional family values” that deliberately exclude same-sex relationships and non-conforming genders. Incontrovertible evidence of the levels of violence is not hard to provide: in March 2014 David Olyn, a 21-year-old male from Ceres in the Western Cape, was brutally murdered, while onlookers watched, because of his sexual orientation. This was not the first or the second but the third murder of its kind in the area, and at least two of the three murders were excessively brutal. Through the work of partner Triangle Project (TP), protests were held outside the local court and the opportunity was taken to assist community members in understanding how to influence relevant stakeholders. TP staff members have monitored similar cases in Philippi, Ceres and Strand and have seen firsthand the lack of understanding, the prejudice shown by officials and, at times, the unwillingness of officials from the National Prosecuting Authority and South African Police Services to do what is required in the normal course of their duties. TP holds the position of co-chair on the National Task Team (led by the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development) that is mandated to develop a national intervention strategy to address gender-based and sexual orientation-based violence perpetrated against LGBTI Persons; it will use its position to engage strategically with the relevant role players.

The right to sanitation has continued to provoke protests and public debate. Whilst an explicit right to sanitation is not expressed in the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996, this right has been inferred from a number of other constitutional rights, including the right of access to adequate housing, the right to human dignity and the right to a safe environment. In addition, the government has previously acknowledged the lack of basic services such as water supply and sanitation as key indicators of the underdevelopment of certain sectors of the community and as critical elements in the experiential manifestation of poverty. According to the 2011 statistics from the WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Program, approximately 7% of the South African populace still defecates “in the open”, with an estimated 11% using unimproved sanitation practices. The bucket sanitation system was immediately considered an unacceptable level of sanitation by the government after democracy in 1994 and it was acknowledged that it needed to be eradicated. Government further undertook to provide sanitation services that would not simply satisfy people’s basic needs, but also enhance the dignity associated with the use of a toilet. It committed itself to achieving universal access to sanitation by 2014; this has not yet been achieved.5 At a national level the political terrain may be evidencing small shifts in power but at a local level – in the communities and municipalities – poverty, corruption and inequality and their damaging effects have not shifted. It is said that the line between poverty and wealth is usually separated by a council seat, and in most communities the power base is indeed held by ward counsellors who either facilitate or hinder development. In 2016 South Africans will have the opportunity to take to the polls again, this time for municipal elections.

5. For a detailed look at recent statistics regarding the bucket system see: http://mg.co.za/data/2014-09-08-where-are-the-bucket-toilets

Amidst the tensions in the political landscape and the multitude of challenges facing South Africans, OAU and its partners continued to meet their program objectives over the past six months. Partners’ programs were still aimed at conscientising community members, particularly with respect to their rights and responsibilities, and more broadly by providing general information regarding the challenges they experience. Such conscientising interventions by partners are built on the premise that informed citizens will exercise their agency and have the power to influence decisions that affect their lives. The mechanisms used to raise consciousness have varied in the last six months. Some partners, such as the Pietermaritzburg Agency for Community Social Action (PACSA), capitalised on the election process and held roundtable discussions looking at “Aspects of political leadership in South Africa,” and “2014 election results and the future of politics in SA”. These round-table discussions provided a space for civil society organisations and the broader public to debate and interrogate the state of politics at a national and local level and to have their voices heard. These roundtable discussions, being platforms for reflection, provide “the means to imagine a different reality and as such contribute to building a culture of dialogue that supports social change.”6 In a similar vein, Project Empower held 124 consciousness-raising sessions across six communities around women’s physical and emotional health, reaching 125 direct female beneficiaries and 900 indirect female beneficiaries. It is clear that some partners are mindful of the shifts in the socio political context and are able to use the opportunities presented to facilitate dialogue and debate within communities. Some partners such as PACSA and KwaZulu Regional Christian Council (KRCC) are using these opportunities to not only raise consciousness on an individual level but also to test the national debates against the lived realities of people at a local level. In the last program report it was noted that there appeared to be a shift towards more partners actively engaging with policy-making processes. In the six months under review there was proof that this shift was continuing. It was clearly evidenced by Women on Farms Project’s (WFP) engagement with government on the draft policy entitled “Strengthening Relative Rights of People Working the Land”. WFP has been involved in the consultations on the policy and has made submissions to government voicing reservations about the fact that it does not take gender issues into account and thus fails to address women’s access and rights. PACSA engaged by making two written submissions, one to the Msunduzi Municipality on proposed 2014–15 tariff increases and the other to the National Treasury with input for the 2014 Budget regarding food prices (as the basis), social wage, minimum wage and policy coherence, and a public submission to the Msunduzi Municipality on the proposed 2014–15 tariffs. PACSA members are of the opinion that these submissions along with their consistent lobbying has resulted in the municipality only increasing water and electricity rates by the actual bulk increase rather than its usual 2-3% annual increase. The WFP work is demonstrating that at a personal level the women’s understanding of feminism and patriarchy has increased to the extent that they are recognising their own strengths and taking action to enhance their own self determination. Independently of WFP, these women engaged with local and provincial government to secure access to agricultural land for food production in Ceres; their actions included writing a letter of request and setting up an appointment with the Municipal Manager.

6. PACSA, Oxfam report 2013-2014

During this reporting period many other partners were also able to demonstrate that their beneficiaries have been exercising their agency and accessing or claiming their rights. Project Empower’s work with clinic committees is a case in point: women are now represented on clinic committees in Mhlasini, Clare Estate and Bhambayi, and the women from these communities are finding they are better able to take control of their health through asking questions and requesting specific services. Also, in the clinic used by the Mhlasini community there is a greater effort to promote female condoms. KRCC, which held public dialogues during the six months under review (and continues to do so regularly), uses the process called “war rooms”7 to ensure that community members’ voices are heard and that they influence the nature of the Integrated Development Plans for their respective communities. However, although the above mentioned partners demonstrated that their beneficiaries were able to exercise their agency and claim their rights, we were also reminded that the journey to exercise one’s agency is by no means easy. Many obstacles were encountered in those journeys: they included political “hijacking” of committees and platforms during the electioneering, and even after the elections; technical shortcomings such as a lack of equipment and staff; drug stock outs; slow responses and delays from government; and corruption. Some obstacles seem so insurmountable that they appear to be beyond the capacity of community members and partners. Most partners continued to build and strengthen solidarity around active citizenship to challenge norms and exclusionary practises. Through its publications and media profiling PACSA has maintained its ability to leverage support from the middle class and build a stronger voice for over 12 million people to engage in discussions on high food prices and lobby the uMgungundlovu District Municipality on the affordability of basic services for the poor. When the authorities began a spate of electricity disconnections PACSA served as the “media point” – a source of collated data and location information about the disconnections for the media. It also engaged in National Energy Regulator South Africa (NERSA)8 related advocacy. At the time PACSA received numerous calls from the public, and updates from local newspapers. This media focus contributed to a range of achievements, including the cessation of the wide-scale electricity disconnections in the Msunduzi municipal area; the putting forward by the Msunduzi Local Municipality of specific plans (which are funded) to electrify some major “shack” dwelling areas in the city; the removal of the basic charge of R661.35 for electricity that had been levied on small businesses; and the avoidance of an increase in the amperage charge for residential citizens for the 2014–15 term. By being instrumental in advocating successfully for no increase in the electricity price we can assume that PACSA’s work resulted in a reduction in household vulnerability thereby meeting one of the basic tenets – reducing vulnerability – of the NLV framework. In addition, PACSA’s livelihoods groups initiated a mobile phone “WhatsApp” Group on Food Security that provides a platform for them to connect with other livelihoods groups within KwaZulu-Natal and share their struggles and successes and help each other. This deepens the growing solidarity around the need for economic justice between livelihoods groups. Solidarity building remains important. Through TP’s involvement with the National Task Team against LGBTI related violence it participated in a series of provincial civil society organisation (CSO) alliance-building workshops during 2013 and 2014 (all nine provinces were brought together through three workshops hosted in different provinces). This type of engagement provides an opportunity for civil society to develop a shared strategy for

7. 8.

The “war rooms” were established through a nationwide campaign introduced by the President’s office in 2008 to reduce poverty among the country’s poorest citizens. Through this system, the poorest wards/communities are visited periodically by a team of professionals, inter-departmental task teams and community workers to identify their specific needs, accelerate their access to government services, and provide safety nets. The long term goal for the war rooms is for the poorest households to receive assistance and support in a coordinated and sustained way. Through the war rooms communities can become involved in drafting their own development agendas. NERSA is the regulatory authority established to regulate the energy industry in accordance with government laws, policies, standards, and international best practices in support of sustainable development. Utility providers such as Eskom nd Sasol cannot increase their regulated rates or alter their conditions of service until NERSA approves the new tariffs. To obtain approval, a utility must demonstrate that such a change is merited. The utility files an application with NERSA to “prove” that an increase is justified. The advocacy role requires that there must be an independent body to represent the side of the consumers (especially the “voiceless’) during the tariff determination.

engaging government on LGBTI concerns as well as for responding to LGBTI-related violence and hate crimes in their immediate contexts. TP was invited to present to the SANAC Women’s Sector on HIV risk relative to lesbian and bisexual women and other women who have sex with women. The presentation, which took place in June, focused on sexual violence as a route of HIV transmission, and made recommendations for ways that activists and NGOs could strengthen service provision and related advocacy as it concerns lesbian and bisexual women. TP will continue participating in such alliance building. Seven partners in South Africa receiving funding through the AACES program are successfully integrating WASH activities into their core program areas. This has resulted in an additional 7,695 beneficiaries (2,966 male and 4,729 female) benefiting from either improved access to water and sanitation services or increased knowledge of better hygiene practices. This, along with continued engagement and capacity building, has also resulted in gains in those partners’ other core program areas, namely increased food security, better health outcomes and an improvement in the lives of women, youth, children and people with disabilities. Ten partners not funded through the AACES program also began rolling out WASH activities after Oxfam built their capacity by providing training through Training and Resources in Early Education (TREE), an organisation that does training for early childhood development (ECD) practitioners, and Oxfam partners that offer home-based care services. WASH activities have become key components of Oxfam’s partners’ work and this has been the catalyst for success in other outcome areas. The number of beneficiaries reached by non-AACES-funded WASH activities amounts to 7,882 (3,002 males and 4,880 females). Partner Lima’s exchange visit to Zambia broadened the organisation’s knowledge on equity and inclusion, integration of projects, and the importance of sustainability in integrating WASH and food security projects. The initial participatory rural appraisal (PRA) process at its Mhlumayo garden project reinforced the importance of securing buy-in for such projects. To mitigate water shortages at the project a nearby borehole was rehabilitated and is now fully functional, providing a more sustainable supply of water. The project participants reported being in control of water usage and the production of crops, as well as being in control of decisions around the maintenance and repair of the borehole. The integrated local committees – Abasebenzisi Bamanzi/Water Users Associations – formed through TU’s facilitation in targeted communities continue to be empowered and are slowly beginning to raise their voices with local leadership regarding various issues relating to essential services, including WASH. The Sanitation and Hygiene Ambassadors clubs in the schools are a success and continue to receive approval from school authorities, and learners continue to be accountable in their use of sanitation services and hygiene within the schools. TU staff members have facilitated the empowerment of communities to a level where they participate in war room meetings and raise their voices on issues affecting them. This is resulting in the formation of stronger ties between the communities and the other stakeholders in the targeted areas. TU continues to build and galvanize formal partnerships with various government departments.

Section 24 of the Bill of Rights in the South African Constitution gives everyone the right to an environment that is not harmful to their health or well-being; people with disabilities should be able to enter a building and safely use all facilities within it. In the period under review KwaMakhutha Community Resource Centre, Palabora Foundation, Woza Moya and Haven Wellness Centre constructed wheelchair ramps and railings, giving people with disabilities full access to all the amenities within their buildings as well as the various forms of support services they provide. Their parking areas are now disabled friendly and labelled to accommodate and welcome people with disabilities. CREATE continued to support Oxfam partners in their quest to increase their knowledge about disability. In the last financial year there was a great shift in the level of awareness of and inclusion of disability in the partnersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; work. Before they received awareness training from CREATE participants reported believing various myths about people living with disabilities. Subsequent to the training there has been a noticeable, positive change in the attitudes of the partners and their communities towards disability. It has been noted that refresher training programs must continue to be provided to partners and communities as effecting permanent changes in attitude takes time. Save the Children South Africa have included disability within their ECD work at both the Umzinto and Wentworth ECD centres. The Wentworth Centre of Excellence is in the process of developing appropriate infrastructure for the crĂ¨che to make it accessible to children, parents and staff with disabilities. OneVoice South Africa requested assistance to ensure that its child protection policy was disability inclusive, and its human rights materials for schools were also updated to include disability rights. With OAUâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s support, CREATE conducted a case study to explore the reasons for the sustained progress that uMfolozi Local Municipality and KwaSokhulu Traditional Authority had made in disability inclusion in their geographical area. The study used semi-structured interviews, focus groups and participatory rural appraisal, and involved municipal officials, the chairperson of the local Disability Forum, traditional leaders, adults with disabilities, and parents of children with disabilities.

There are plenty of commitments to protect and advance women’s rights in the context of HIV, but it is the persistent failure to translate these commitments into concrete actions that creates the situation where women in all their diversity remain most at risk of HIV exposure, transmission and related rights abuses. Partner Aids Legal Network (ALN) began monitoring and documenting human rights abuses in healthcare settings in selected communities in Limpopo. It trained community members to monitor the abuses and conducted 10 capacity-building sessions with a total of 172 people (151 women and 21 men) participating in the various sessions. This is the groundwork that enables communities to know and understand their rights and thus be able to influence change. The community members now have a greater awareness of risks and an enhanced willingness to be part of the solution. ALN has found that it is imperative for women to “act upon” and to challenge the social norms which ultimately lead to a perpetuation of women’s lack of agency and that that can be achieved through the training and consciousness-raising work that they do. Since 1994, the South African government has made strides in addressing both sanitation and water supply backlogs. It had halved the proportion of the population without sustainable access to basic sanitation by 2008 (a component of one of the 2015 Millennium Development Goals) and by the end of 2010 the backlog in the provision of sanitation had been reduced from 52% (1994) to 21%. However, despite the gains made in addressing the sanitation service backlogs, challenges are increasing and new ones are surfacing. Challenges include the quality of the structures built, maintenance of the infrastructure, revenue collection to fund the ongoing provision of the service, community liaison and participation to ensure acceptability and responsibility for the services and effective management of the sanitation program at all levels of government. Challenges related to sanitation provision were reported across all the Oxfam partnerships and they continue to impact upon the gains in hygiene awareness and practice that are being made by partners. The state of sanitation at many public (government) schools in South Africa poses a critical challenge to learners. The infrastructure and facilities fall far short of that required to ensure an environment which is conducive to learning, and they thus undermine children’s right to basic education. Girls often miss school or drop out of school because of the lack of sanitation facilities, particularly during their menstrual cycle. It is imperative that awareness be raised about this disproportionate impact that a lack of access to water and sanitation has on women and girls in the ECD and school sectors across the country and KZN in particular. In addition, women continue to be systematically excluded from genuine consultation and decision-making processes around the delivery of water and sanitation and related projects. Isibani Sethemba (Isibani) reported an increase in poor hygiene practices in the town of Ingwavuma in KZN. There are no functional public toilets in the town’s business centre which means people urinate and defecate in the open and have no place for regular and proper hand washing to take place. People who prepare and sell food in the town thus do so without washing their hands, which is likely to begin impacting negatively on their health and that of their customers. The situation has been compounded by the continued scarcity of rain and of potable water in the area. The scarcity of water and the continued dry spell in and around Ingwavuma has continued to affect most of the partner-supported household gardening activities and there has been an increase in the theft of plastic rainwater harvesting tanks from households. In response Isibani is working with community members

and community projects to secure the tanks and take precautions to eliminate the thefts. Isibani introduced hand washing kits at nearby schools, but most were soon reported broken due to poor usage skills by the learners. To address this challenge, Isibani embarked on a participatory awareness process with both educators and learners on the correct use of the equipment. South Africa is plagued by poverty and unemployment and, following the global economic crisis, by steep food and fuel prices and high energy tariffs. This has placed severe pressure on South Africans, especially rural women, who are struggling to meet basic household needs. Government has responded by setting up food banks that will procure their food from small producers, however, for rural people living in remote areas, these food banks will make little difference. Organisations such as WFP and Trust for Community Outreach and Education (TCOE) responded by placing greater emphasis on women’s access to productive land and creating opportunities to expand the reach of food gardens so that farm women and their families can work towards becoming food secure in this challenging economic environment. The climate smart method of agriculture promoted by Farmer Support Group (FSG) is difficult to implement in areas where the Department of Agriculture promotes contradictory methods. For example, the Department provides tractors whereas the conservation methods advocated by climate smart do not promote conventional tillage. Biowatch SA believes the limited involvement of youth (only 30%) in agro-ecology work represents a challenge for the sustainability of the work being done now. Access to water remains a challenge that negatively hinders the progress of all agro-ecology work and food security projects. Issues of land ownership also surfaced during this reporting period. Often groups or individuals lease land on which to work and then when they are seen to be doing well with crop production the owners of the land demand it back. Reports indicate that these evictions of smallholder farmers by land owners have caused families who had attained “no longer vulnerable” status to revert to being vulnerable families at great risk. The need for land for livelihoods and production is ever increasing; it is a need that is especially evident among those who were previously forcefully removed from their land. An amendment to the original Restitution of Land Rights Act (1994) was signed into law on 30 June 2014. The amendment allows those who missed the deadline of 31 December 1998 stipulated by the original act to lodge claims until June 2019. By 30 July 2014 the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform reported that 5,600 claims had been received at lodgement sites.9 According to the Rural Development Minister, Gugile Nkwinti, 8,471 claims lodged before the previous (1998) cutoff period have not yet been settled or resolved. Unfortunately, the land claims process holds little solution for farm workers because most never owned land and even those who did and were forcefully removed from it never held any formal deeds or documentation. For generations since they might also have moved from farm to farm. Government has thus far not been able to provide a gender breakdown of land beneficiaries; it is suspected that the majority have been men, as with other components of the land reform program. As briefly alluded to previously, WFP has been involved in government consultations leading to the drafting of a policy entitled “Strengthening Relative Rights of People Working the Land”. It is government’s attempt to protect long-serving farm workers from being evicted by farm owners, and to speed up the slow pace of land reform. WFP consulted with farmwomen and has reservations about the policy – mainly pertaining to the challenges women would experience in limited access and rights; it has developed a press release stating these reservations. One of the challenges relates to the provision that in order to qualify a worker has had to have worked for 10 years or more. Because most women are seasonally employed and most men are permanently employed women would be disproportionately marginalised by that provision, thus perpetuating their vulnerability and dependence on men.

9. Media Release: “South Africans seize second opportunity to lodge land claims”, 30 July 2014, Department of Rural Development and Land Reform, available at: http://www.ruraldevelopment.gov.za/news-room/media-statements/file/2765

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), the significant benefits of improved sanitation include reducing diarrhoeal death rates by a third and, in the case of improved school sanitation, encouraging children, particularly girls, to stay in school; the economic benefits of money invested in improved sanitation are calculated to be a return of $9 for every $1 invested.10 Investments in sanitation that provide a comprehensive service (infrastructure, effective operation and maintenance and appropriate health education) result in significant benefits in terms of community wellbeing, reduced health care costs and improved household productivity. For these reasons most of our partners are continuously integrating progressive responses for improved sanitation. While the legislative and policy frameworks in South Africa are sound (and often held up as some of the best in the world) there remains a distinct gap between the articulated ambitions and the implementation of programs. One consequence of these failures in delivery of services, including delivery of sanitation services, is increasing dissatisfaction on the part of the citizens in relation to the State. In order to effect change a sound development response on sanitation in the South African context will need to be integrated and adaptable, and draw on a range of approaches. The response will need to take into consideration the political, social and economic complexity of South African society, which is often described in terms of its duality, disparity and inequality. Given the role of sanitation and hygiene in preventing disease transmission and providing dignity to all, this influencing strategy on sanitation and hygiene is perfectly aligned to the “No longer vulnerable” Oxfam Australia Program Framework. Lima reported that it has learnt over time that true community and project empowerment must be supplemented by continuous institutional and capacity development and that self reliance takes time to bear fruit. It has learnt how important it is for project participants to receive adequate training in order to be able to understand and take full responsibility for basic WASH repair and maintenance issues, and that participants need to be reminded of the importance of saving funds for the sake of food security and WASH maintenance and repairs. It has realised that integrated garden/WASH facilities must be operated using a business model if they are to succeed, and that continued support is necessary to demonstrate to the project participants what can be achieved. In addition, Lima reiterates that participants must take ownership and control of projects from the onset in order to ensure sustainability. Partners such as TU, Palabora, Justice and Women (JAW) and KMCRC report learning that people participate more when they are offered platforms that allow them to make decisions freely, participate, and challenge the “powers that be’. The opportunity to engage and interact with government officials as part of the Water Users Associations is allowing people to voice their issues at the community level. Through participation in war rooms, communities are realising the power of numbers despite their coming from different backgrounds, and they are learning to share resources. Through the WASH program, TU has learnt that it could not rely only on a questionnaire to get a true reflection of the situation on the ground, and that it is best and important to let people participate and engage to tell their own stories through drama and focus group discussions.

10. Statistic quoted in “Report on the Status of sanitation services in South Africa” March 2012, Department of Water Affairs, available at: http://www.sahrc.org.za/home/21/files/Quality%20of%20sanitation%20Main%20report%20April%202012%20final%20Aug%202012.pdf

With the reshuffling of cabinet ministers and the appointment of some new ministers after the election, partners will need to forge fresh relationships. Biowatch reports it will be lobbying the new minister and deputy minister in the Department of Agriculture because the Department is in the process of drafting the “Plant and Seed Bill” (previously known as the “Plant Improvement Act Amendment Bill”). In the period under review more partners demonstrated increased confidence and willingness to participate and engage in policy-making processes. These are the same partners that previously reported some level of engagement with policies and laws, which raises the question of why other partners are not engaging with the policy and law development processes. It seems much still needs to be done to capacitate partners to engage with policies. Furthermore, community dialogues to enhance knowledge about new policies, plus participation in formal structures – such as the six community dialogues PACSA has convened on the NHI – are seen as necessary to influence change. The integrated approach that Oxfam and its partners have taken is proving to be sustainable in both outcomes and impact. Realising this, partners focusing on WASH issues in particular have strategically decided to focus the remaining two years on the softer issues of WASH programming. Generally, program focus will centre on more lobby and advocacy initiatives at all levels in order to hold related government departments and traditional structures to account. School sanitation and hygiene awareness-raising and empowerment to hold authorities to account will take centre stage with respect to all planned activities for the remaining part of the program. In this reporting period it was evident that the network culture introduced by Oxfam was adopted; partner organisations demonstrated the ability to network on their own for purposes of sharing information, best practice, linking and learning. This networking culture needs to be promoted so that it also facilitates collective lobbying and influencing improved policies and strategies. The progress made by certain partners with advocacy work is remarkable and is resulting in changes to policies and strategies to improved food security and livelihoods work at national level. Over the next few months, given the shifts in the socio political landscape, many opportunities will present themselves for partners to raise the profile of issues around unemployment, inequality, poor service delivery and poverty, and to heighten the level of their influencing work. In the context of Oxfam’s program which seeks to reduce the vulnerability of people living and working in South Africa, it is imperative that mechanisms are identified and implemented that enable civil society to take up the space and opportunities that present themselves. This will require an organised, representative, vibrant civil society that has a stronger voice.

1. No Longer Vulnerable Output Summary â&#x20AC;&#x201C; January to June 2014 2. No Longer Vulnerable Mid-term Learning Note 3. Partner Survey Feedback Results 4. Declaration of the National Gender Summit

1. No Longer Vulnerable Mid-term Review 2. Disaster Risk Reduction End of Program Evaluation 3. OHAP Baseline Follow-up Survey Report - Organisational 4. OHAP Baseline Follow-up Survey Report - Beneficiaries

Annexure 1 No Longer Vulnerable Output Summary â&#x20AC;&#x201C; January to June 2014 Output Summary Overview The twelve months from July 2013 to June 2014 comprised the second year of No Longer Vulnerable, the three-year country program of Oxfam Australia in South Africa (Oxfam Australia) that promotes and supports an integrated programming approach. The framework guiding this integrated approach attempts to ensure that people have access to the broadest range of necessary services and support at the shortest possible distance to where they live and work. The framework also aims to better assess our main program themes: health, WASH, social protection, food security and DRR. Working within one integrated framework enables the team to analyse and assess the progress of our partners and their work against the three thematic objectives: 1. to improve health outcomes relating to HIV and AIDS, tuberculosis and water related infections and diseases; 2. to increase and sustain food security and livelihoods options available to households; and 3. to increase and uphold access to social protection.

Supporting Health Outcomes: Supporting health outcomes is arguably Oxfam Australia in South Africaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s largest area of work; it connects all the other main program themes: social protection, livelihoods, disaster risk reduction, hygiene and sanitation. The work relates to HIV and AIDS, TB and water-related infections and diseases. As a thematic focus area, supporting health outcomes intends to improve the delivery and quality of health services at community level. Indicators for supporting health outcomes under the framework include a broad range of work executed by partners: access to essential treatment, access to and quality of essential health services, HIV prevention services, HIV care services, health awareness raising, and public engagement around sexual and reproductive health, as well as other issues and concerns affecting the individuals and communities served. Of the 39 partners who provided output summaries, 27 reported on health outcomes.

Condom Distribution Over the Jan-Jun 2014 period, 863,270 male condoms were distributed by 17 partner organisations; of these, Palabora distributed 78%. Once again, condom distribution has dropped significantly and fewer partners reported on condom distribution. The main cause for the drop in numbers was that TAC only distributed 83,000 male condoms this period as opposed to the 2,000,000 the organisation distributed between July-Dec 2013. In the past, TAC has accounted for the vast majority of male condoms distributed by Oxfam Australia partners (Jul-Dec 2012: 93%, Jan-Jun 2013: 88%, Jul-Dec 2013: 76%). Female condom distribution has dropped from 33,148 in Jul-Dec 2013 to 23,745 in Jan-Jun 2014. In the previous reporting period, female condom distribution also dipped notably. The decrease was exclusively attributed to TAC, who did not report on distributing any female condoms for the Jul-Dec 2013 period, having distributed 70,224 in Jan-Jun 2013. However, this is not the case for Jan-Jun 2014: of the 16 partners who reported on female condom distribution in Jul-Dec 2013, only 12 reported in Jan-Jun 2014 and of those 12 partners, 50% reported lower numbers than they did in Jul-Dec 2013. It would be interesting to investigate why there has been a general decrease in the distribution of female condoms across the partner organisations, and why 4 partners did not distribute female condoms in the Jan-Jun 2014 reporting period. 36

JUL-DEC ‘12

JAN-JUN ‘13

JUL-DEC ‘13

JAN-JUN ‘14

TOTAL NUMBER OF MALE CONDOMS DISTRIBUTED

14,834,519

10,776,660

2,631,732

863,270

TOTAL NUMBER OF FEMALE CONDOMS DISTRIBUTED

240,261

102,913

33,148

23,745

Home-based Care Visits The total number of home-based care visits conducted has dropped from 88,354 in Jul-Dec 2013 to 76,051 in Jan-Jun 2014. This drop can be attributed to HACT, who reported 14,938 home-based care visits in Jul-Dec 2013 but did not report any home-based care visits for Jan-Jun 2014. The organisation did in fact conduct 9,000 home-based care visits over this period, but these were not funded by Oxfam Australia. Of the 11 partners who reported home-based care visits, 5 showed an increase in visits, 4 showed a decrease and 31 had not provided home-based care numbers in the previous reporting period. The number of beneficiaries receiving home-based care visits has dropped substantially from 42,162 in Jul-Dec 2013 to 8,439 in Jan-Jun 2014. Antiretroviral Therapy (ART) The total number of (additional) beneficiaries initiating ART with the support of partner organisations has nearly tripled, increasing from 1,123 in Jul-Dec 2013 to 3,265 in Jan-Jun 2014. The number of (additional) male beneficiaries initiating ART has increased slightly from 315 in Jul-Dec 2013 to 449 in Jan-Jun 2014, but the number of (additional) female beneficiaries initiating ART has drastically increased from 808 in Jul-Dec 2013 to 2,816 in Jan-Jun 2014. The increase can be attributed to KMCRC which accounted for 2,240 of the female beneficiaries reported. TB treatment and referrals TB treatment and referral numbers have all increased in Jan-Jun 2014. Interestingly, the number of (additional) males initiating TB treatment is the only disaggregated field under Supporting Health Outcomes that has a higher number of males than females. The same can be seen in the Jul-Dec 2013 output summary. JUL-DEC ‘13

JAN-JUN ‘14

Number of (additional) MALE beneficiaries initiating TB treatment with the support of your organisation

828

1,314

Number of (additional) FEMALE beneficiaries initiating TB treatment with the support of your organisation

680

1,135

TOTAL Number of (additional) beneficiaries initiating TB treatment with the support of your organisation

1,508

2,449

TOTAL Number of (additional) beneficiaries BEING REFERRED for TB treatment with the support of your organisation

2,194

2,374

HIV Prevention Programs After the Jan-Jun 2013 reporting period, a concern was raised that there was not a clear distinction between the fields reporting on “prevention programs” and “education and awareness raising meetings”; as of the JulDec 2013 reporting period, “prevention programs” were changed to “HIV prevention programs”. In the guide2, it is stipulated that “education and awareness raising meetings are meetings related to any diseases other than HIV.” According to the Jan-Jun 2014 output summary, 36,943 beneficiaries participated in 314 HIV prevention programs and 62,298 people attended 996 education and awareness raising meetings.

1. Which means a comparison of the decreases/increases from Jul-Dec 2013 to Jan-Jun 2014 would not produce useful data 2. Partners were provided with a guide on how to engage with the output summary.

Technical Training Workshops In the Jul-Dec 2013 output summary, 15 partners reported that 8,033 people attended 398 (technical) training workshops. There was a dip in number in Jan-Jun 2014 with partners reporting that 3,324 people attended 158 (technical) training workshops. Although the numbers are lower, the distribution is broader, with 18 partners reporting on (technical) training workshops in Jan-Jun 2014 as opposed to the 15 reporting in Jul-Dec 2013. The reason for the significant drop in numbers can be attributed to TAC, which previously reported that 5,732 people attended 255 (technical) training workshops, whereas for the Jan-Jun 2014 period it reported that only 543 people attended 5 (technical) training workshops.

WASH: After a general drop in outputs in Jul-Dec 2013, WASH increased in Jan-Jun 2014. CHoiCe, CREATE, GLN and Sophakama (which reported (limited) WASH outputs in July-Dec 2013) did not report on WASH related activities in Jan-Jun 2014. With that said, Loaves and Fishes and Vhutshilo Mountain School have started to respond to WASH issues, and this has significantly added to the increase in certain outputs. According to the Jan-Jun 2014 output summary, 1,224 (additional) people now have access to safe water. The total number of (additional) people with access to appropriate sanitation has increased from 222 in Jul-Dec 2013 to 1,746 in Jan-Jun 2014. The total number of (additional) people with access to appropriate hand washing facilities has increased dramatically, from 228 (Jul-Dec 2013) to 2,335 (Jan-Jun 2014). The total number of (additional) people with increased knowledge of hygiene practices has dropped notably from 7,009 (Jul-Dec 2013) to 4,966 (Jan-Jun 2014). Otherwise, WASH figures have remained largely consistent or with only slight increases or decreases, as is shown in the table that follows: JUL-DEC ‘13

JAN-JUN ‘14

130

177

3,870

3,660

Number of (additional) local CBOs/communities that participate actively in the local government monitoring processes

Total number of (additional) people with disability accessing services

Number of (additional) women and vulnerable group-members participating in decision making related to WASH (school or community WASH committees) Total number of (additional) people with increased awareness of their rights

Food Security: Food Security remains an important focal point in partners’ work, with 24 partners reporting food security outputs. Once again, there has been a notable increase in self sustainability, knowledge, education and awareness, capacity building, and training within communities regarding livelihoods activities. 44,974 people participated in education and awareness raising meetings in Jan-Jun 2014. This is a significant increase from the previous reporting period, which (in turn) was also a drastic increase from the previous reporting period:

JAN-JUN ‘13

JUL-DEC ‘13

JAN-JUN ‘14

Number of education and awareness raising meetings

123

39,739

Total number of people participating in education and awareness raising meetings

1,228

44,974

Although most organisations remained largely consistent between the two reporting periods, CHoiCe reported that through their organisation, 33,983 people participated in 39,570 education and awareness raising meetings. These figures will be followed up on.

Social Protection /Access to Rights: Access to basic rights still remains one of the biggest hurdles in many South African’s lives. For people living in rural areas, attaining the correct identity documents can mean having to travel great distances. Such a trip requires many people to miss an entire day of work which they cannot afford; a great number of people who should be on social grants simply live too far away to access them. In the Jan-Jun 2014 period the number of partners reporting on access to rights has increased. HAPG, Isibane, Save the Children, Sinani and Vhutshilo Mountain School all reported Access to Rights outputs this period (whilst Africaid and JAW, who previously reported, did not). Oxfam Australia partners continue to work to help both rural and urban beneficiaries access proper documentation and thereby receive their social grants, all of which aids in reducing individual vulnerability. The numbers of birth certificates, identity documents and social grants received by beneficiaries in Jan-Jun 2014 are all lower than the figures reported in Jul-Dec 2013. KMCRC – who previously (Jul-Dec 2013) accounted for the vast majority of documents and grants distributed – reported comparatively negligible figures for Jan-Jun 2014.

Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR): DRR has provided certain partners with an opportunity to further extend their reach into urban areas, particularly areas within the inner city and informal settlements. The crux of the work has focused on providing safer spaces for vulnerable groups and persons – particularly young women and refugees. DRR has grown to such an extent that since January 2013 it has been represented in its own section in the output summary, rather than being incorporated into other sections. The growth and success of DRR amongst partners becomes most evident when comparing outputs over the past three reporting periods. It is encouraging to see that numbers have increased – often significantly – or only decreased slightly in almost all DRR fields.

JAN-JUN ‘13

JUN-DEC ‘13

JAN-JUN ‘14

155

176

179

Number education and awareness meetings

390

Total number of staff attending education and awareness meetings

465

311

Total number of people attending community meeting/dialogues

2,660

760

1,601

Total number of community members surveyed or interviewed

2,505

2,712

6,663

393

802

773

1,737

1,679

491

201

177

589

400

Total number of fieldworkers trained

Total number of community meeting/dialogues

Total number of focus group discussions Total number of community members participating in focus group discussions Total number of community members participating in PCVA process Total number of people with disability engaging in partner’s activities Number of community action plans created with community Number of community action plans created by government for community Number of infrastructural outputs Number of network meetings attended by your organisation

In the final summary, all sets of indicators provided fully disaggregated information. In most cases, females accounted for more than 60% of total beneficiaries: FEMALE % Fieldworkers trained

80%

Staff attending education and awareness raising meetings

58%

Attendance at community meeting/dialogues

68%

Community members surveyed or interviewed

46%

Community members participating in focus group discussions

84%

Community members participating in PCVA process

85%

Beneficiaries with disability engaging in partners’ activities

79%

General: Supporting Health Outcomes, WASH, Food Security and Access to Rights all made provision for reporting the following fields: • Number of meetings held with Government officials facilitated by your office • Number of meetings held with Traditional authorities facilitated by your office • Number of network meetings attended by your organisation Supporting Health Outcomes shows that partners’ meetings with government officials have more than doubled in Jan-Jun 2014. Access to Rights also shows an increase – while 28 meetings with government officials were reported in Jul-Dec 2013, 50 were reported in Jan-Jun 2014. Both WASH and Food Security reported fewer meetings with government officials. While the number of meetings held with traditional leaders has remained consistent under Supporting Health Outcomes, both Access to Rights and Food Security show a notable increase. All three sections show an increase in the number of network meetings attended by partner organisations. Reported WASH outcomes in all three fields are lower than those reported in Jul-Dec 2013, while all three Food Security outcomes are higher than in the previous period.

Where we work: In the past 6 months, Oxfam Australia has worked in partnership with 42 organisations across 4 provinces: KwaZuluNatal, Limpopo, Eastern Cape and Western Cape. The organisations are involved in a wide range of work but deal most predominantly with issues in Health, Food Security, DRR, Access to Rights, and WASH related programs.

TOTAL NUMBER OF ORGANISATIONS ACROSS 4 PROVINCES:

Beneficiaries As well as recording their outputs, partners are expected to report on their beneficiary numbers. These figures are vitally important in order for Oxfam Australia to gauge the reach of partner organisations. In the past 6 months, 482,419 men, woman and children have benefited from the No Longer Vulnerable program. Of this number, 98,522 people benefited directly from the program and 383,897 benefited indirectly. The program has directly benefited 2,528 people with disabilities. Number of male condoms distributed:

863,270 Number of female condoms distributed:

23,745 Number of VCT/HCT sessions:

5,531 Total beneficiaries at VCT/HCT sessions:

6,452 Number of (additional) people with access to appropriate sanitation:

1,746 Number of (additional) people with access to appropriate hand washing facilities:

2,335 Number of meetings held with government officials facilitated by partner offices:

210 Number of meeting held with traditional authorities facilitated by partner offices:

127 Number of network meetings attended by your organisation:

346 Total number of birth certificates received by beneficiaries:

392 Total number of identity documents issued to beneficiaries as a result of partner organisationsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; intervention:

880

Annexure 2 No Longer Vulnerable Mid-term REVIEW Learning Note Overview Oxfam Australia’s South Africa country program, No Longer Vulnerable promotes and supports an integrated programming approach. This has been pioneered as a new and effective way to enable positive change for the people with whom Oxfam Australia (‘Oxfam’) works. The approach intends to ensure that people have access to the broadest range of services and support that they need at the shortest possible distance to where they live and work. Civil society organisations supported by Oxfam deliver programs that improve health outcomes relating to HIV and AIDS, tuberculosis and water-related infections and diseases, increase and sustain food security and livelihoods options available to households, and increase and uphold access to social protection and socioeconomic rights. The integrated country program was initiated in July 2012 with forty-four partners across the KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo, Eastern Cape and Western Cape provinces. Eighteen months into the program, a Mid Term Review was commissioned to ensure that careful reflection and analysis across a broad range of projects and partners could help Oxfam take stock of how the program was unfolding and to strengthen its implementation. The review focused on three broad questions: 1. 2. 3.

Has the program progressed towards the intended objectives? What have been the major learnings emerging from the work implemented thus far? What is emerging as areas of focus and what does this mean then in terms of the strategy’s objectives? As this program was intended for integrated approach targeting vulnerability as a measure of programming, how well has the program responded to this factor? Based on the work done thus far, has the program addressed vulnerability (as a focus) and if not, what can be done going forward using vulnerability as the measure? The framework has been aligned to the Rao and Kelleher’s “integral framework” as the base of the theory of change. How this theory has has been internalised and used by program staff?

The major limitation of the study is that it was a review and not an evaluation. As such, some of the emerging analysis cannot be seen emanating from a rigorous, scientific research process. Process was more around reflection on what has emerged – intended solely to assess progress and highlight emergent theory and understanding of concepts in the design. Nonetheless, the findings and recommendations were validated through a process of corroboration through key informant interviews, roundtable discussions and informal discussions with senior staff.

What did we learn from this process? Working in an “integrated” manner “Integration” is happening across Oxfam’s work and emerging from the ‘grassroots’, that is, communities and through partner experience, through careful community facilitation, social dialogue, diagnosis and learning. This approach allows civil society partners to “identify the links” between factors underpinning social vulnerability and to prioritise these according to what beneficiaries articulate. This empowers partners and in turn, their beneficiaries and affected communities, to begin engaging the structural underpinnings of vulnerability, such as holding local government to account for non-delivery and poor services.

“Issues around vulnerability and marginalisation seldom adhere to strict program boundaries. The resultant impact of programming often goes unrecognised as these fall between the “silos” of differentiated programs, leaving limited options to capitalise on opportunities to consolidate learning and apply them across programs.“ Diversity of partner organisations brings in new skills and approaches that contribute to the integration of programming, and creates new alliances and positive tensions. Using the “Integral Framework” As seen from the complex context in which Oxfam works, facilitating change depends on working across multiple spheres. Explicit recognition of this is in the “theory of change” which draws on Rao and Kelleher’s “integral framework”.

Women and men’s consciousness

Women and men’s access to resources

Norms and exclusionary practices

Formal institutions, laws & policies

Systemic Level

Rao and Kelleher’s Integral Framework

Formal

inFormal

vidual Level Indi

Although staff and partners intuitively recognise the “integral framework”, it is mostly not an explicit part of programming. Many partners believe a more conscious use of the framework would strengthen strategy. For example, in instances where partners’ work does not coherently address the lower right quadrant (formal institutions – laws, policies and networks), partnerships can be established with advocacy and policy organisations. Similarly, a more explicit focus on the lower left quadrant can be used to emphasise a focus on gender and women’s empowerment. Essentially the framework helps view the whole system in which people are embedded. Active Citizenship Examples of how active citizenship has facilitated change range from social dialogue and building accountability within communities to high-level advocacy campaigns. A multi-pronged approach that can be targeted at national level or within a particular community has proven effect. There is a clear role for Oxfam to make this more explicit in their strategy to link organisations across a particular issue.

“I like the idea of building accountability in a constructed way through encouraging local level active citizenship, but there is always the risk of violence, particularly in South Africa where things can heat up very quickly ... We need to think through the implications of context for Oxfam and its partners, as it can throw them into greater state of vulnerability.” Given people are busy simply trying to survive in a very challenging environment, there is often not enough space for debate and dialogue. Oxfam needs to support different ways of creating dialogue within communities to build civil society. Gender No Longer Vulnerable has a strong gender analysis. Work has been done internally with staff and externally with partners and other groups to develop the skills to recognise and respond to the need to place women more centrally as both actors in development and primary beneficiaries of Oxfam’s work. This reflects the abiding concern of the program that unless the structural roots of vulnerability are addressed, any change may be temporary and illusionary. The vulnerability context is characterised by increasing poverty and inequality, alongside gender inequalities and discrimination reinforced by socio-economic inequality, therefore the aim to reduce vulnerability as essential gendered work and provide women with spaces to bring their own solutions, make their own choices and build solidarity, is pivotal for the ongoing work of the program. Working with communities Development planning often romanticises the coherence of communities and in doing so underestimates their complexity. This failure to recognise complexity often leads to inappropriate interventions and blowback from ‘beneficiaries’, as the needs of communities are not adequately addressed. Oxfam programming, especially those in the urban context, has embraced this. Given the prevalence of contestation in South Africa – whether between communities and the state or within communities themselves – it is imperative that development practice engages with conflict and contestation as a means through which to address vulnerability. Oxfam has created participatory spaces to enable communities to express disagreements, contest power and outcomes, and reach decisions.

Programming Challenges facing partners include: • •

working with health issues where “local public health services seem to be deteriorating every day” with “no treatment available for infectious diseases, no vaccines for children and no antibiotics”. The question is how to effectively engage the public health system. Partners are increasingly integrating WASH and HIV- related services for increased impact. A central strategy is to support learners with greater understandings of hygiene, sanitation and the links to the disease burden such as HIV and other sexual and reproductive health and rights issues. how to effectively engage with different levels of government in relation to food security, as there is little control over the terms of engagement. Opportunities exist with the emerging policy on farmer support and extension and linkages with broader Oxfam affiliates and strategy on food sovereignty. There is a need generally to know rights at the community level, but government also needs to be aware of these for more constructive dialogues.

“It is interesting that WASH’s greatest impacts are not with AACES partners – this emphasises the integrated approach in that WASH has gone beyond its seven core partners.” Emerging opportunities: • •

implementation by partners of increasingly complex strategies for campaigning around rights, advocating for justice and advancing the voices of minorities. Partner examples have transcended different levels from national level processes such as the Traditional Courts Bill to attending ward committee meetings. The engagement of local politicians, such as Ward Councillors, often serves as an initial link between communities and local government. Risks exist that the issues raised may become politicised in a ‘party politics’ manner. Nonetheless, mobilised communities that hold local officials to account for service delivery see increased results in service quality to their communities. the Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) program’s exploration of urban work, particularly in inner city and informal settlements, with an emphasis on safer spaces for vulnerable groups in communities of young women and refugees. Consciousness raising meetings have contributed to raising awareness about DRR as a rights issue. Local experiences and interpretations of this type of work have challenged international presumptions about what DRR work is, and the DRR program has reiterated the need to look beyond just the provision of facilities and support services to the physical environment and women.

Reflecting on the experiences of Oxfam partners, Bela Bela and the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC), it is clear that strategies should pivot on mobilising people to demand from provincial structures an adequate and functioning service at district and local level. Bela Bela has demonstrated how effective and focused operations with better leadership and management can achieve quality health services. TAC has a proven track record of working both outside and with government to bring about change. The two entities provide an important opportunity to consolidate Oxfam’s overarching strategy to elicit change in the health sector.

Where to from here? Recommendations included: • • • •

the need to elaborate on the concepts of ‘vulnerability’, ‘integration’, and ‘social accountability’ and share these as ways of working based on the South African experience. ways to share lessons and raise awareness of the “integral framework” as part of programming and strategy development with both staff and partners. the need to better articulate and support multi-pronged influencing approaches at different levels and that better link organisations across particular issues. how to place women more centrally as both actors in development and as primary beneficiaries of Oxfam’s work, as well as considering a nuanced approach to specificity and location to account for the different forms of discrimination in urban and rural contexts for women.

“How can we start prioritising to leave the best legacy program based on this information (in light of Oxfam South Africa’s emergence) over the next 18 months?” “We need to strengthen partners and consider how best to engage and what we can do better. We need to look at sustainable strategies for engaging government, and exploring the area of accountability.”

Annexure 3 Feedback to oxfam partners on the partner survey re the ‘no longer vulnerable’ program mid-term review october 2014 This short update summarises (and gives feedback on) partners’ views on the Mid-Term Review summary (Learning Note) as expressed in an online survey in October 2014. It outlines how Oxfam will be taking this feedback on board going forward. NUMBERS… 22 partners responded out of 41. Interestingly, most responding to the survey had not been participants in the MTR process (11), while 7 had been involved in it through group discussion/s and/or telephone interviews. Although the response rate was not very high, comments given were in depth and many recommendations were offered. Is the learning note a good summation of program issues? Most respondents felt that the findings highlighted in the Learning Note regarding the program, were generally accurate. Responses – 12 respondents felt the summation of issues in the Note was accurate, 4 felt it was somewhat accurate, and 1 felt it was not accurate. Which thematic areas in the learning note are key for partners? Respondents were asked to tick the two sections of the Note that they thought were most important and stood out most for them. Integrated programming and Active citizenship emerged as the two sections that were seen as most important/resonated the most, with Gender and Working with Communities also identified as important sections. Using Oxfam’s Theory of Change (“Integral Framework”) was not a notable area of interest or priority for partners. See the responses below (16 respondents, 6 skipped the question).

ANSWER CHOICES

RESPONSES

working in an ‘integrated manner’

68,75% 11

using the ‘integral framework’

18,75% 3

Active citizenship

50,00% 6

Gender

31,25% 5

WORking with communities

31,25% 5

TOTAL RESPONDENTS: 16

Does the learning note accurately summarise challenges and emerging opportunities in programming? The survey asked whether partners agreed that the Note accurately summarises “Challenges facing partners” and “emerging opportunities” Responses – 12 found these were accurate, 2 felt they were not accurate, and 8 respondents skipped the question. Do the recommendations emerging from the MTR accurately indicate what needs to be done, from a partner perspective? Most respondents who engaged with Question 6 said that the Recommendations are pointing the program in the right direction:

6. Looking at the Recommendations at the end of the Learning Note, do you think these accurately indicate what needs to be done, from a partner perspective? Answered: 15 Skipped: 7

YES

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Comments and suggestions FROM RESPONDENTS Comments on the learning note… “I think it is a good summation and highlights the positive manner that participants spoke on the use of ‘vulnerability’ as the focus.” “Feel that we need to deepen an understanding also of patriarchy + customary beliefs and practises and how these impact on women’s power + choices at different levels and in different locations” “I found it too full of concepts that still need to be broken down into what this practically means for work on the ground in development” Comments on programming challenges and emerging opportunities… “The need for both intra- and inter government departmental coordination and collaboration remains a crucial area that needs to be addressed.” “I am especially happy that the issue regarding conflict and working with this is highlighted”

“I do not think all of the challenges were captured!” “Work towards social accountability in a positive way (without destruction) would lead us all much further. Communities have to learn to address their anger in a different way Political leadership should be a leading player in this field.... Negative feelings and attitudes spill much faster over then positive ones. Let us help communities to deal with anger and negative attitudes in a different way” “Another key challenge is with regards to measuring impact in line with the overall integrated approach, which are often captured in individual stories which differ in each community. From this, however, there are opportunities to look at a holistic measurement of community wellbeing which allows for a broad implementation of strategies that are based on actual community needs. The too-strict focus on outcome and output measurement (not by Oxfam specifically) can lead to organisations pushing ahead with own priorities rather than ensuring the community ownership and participation and community-identified solutions.” Specific suggestions for how these Recommendations should be realised/implemented…. “I suggest that [the recommendations can be realised] if we work together as partners” “[Oxfam should] invite partners to participate in implementing the recommendations” “Through the sharing of learnings of partners who have successfully achieved the ‘ integration’. Amongst the WASH Partners there are some good examples as there must be with other Oxfam partners.” “Not at this stage - Reading the notes bring the discussions alive - is there a possibility of OXFAM sharing this with partners for partners to discuss within their organisations towards our own learning?” “Brainstorming between Oxfam and partners conducting similar work in the communities” “Linking with partners that have specific experiences of success in areas relating to recommendations.” “Learnings and Sharings facilitated by Oxfam focused on specific areas and linkages facilitated by Oxfam around specific partner needs. Oxfam is in a position to identify opportunities for such based on partner reports and site visits. Workshops and dialogues amongst partner organisations are also always useful” “Sharing lessons would be useful. At our focus group in JHB Allan Moolman congratulated CHOiCe on their successful intervention. Could we not hear from them? As an NGO keen on active citizenship and having some success we are hampered by the inequitable Ward system and demarcation of population groups. The voice of the poor is not heard. We need a dedicated influential person who lobbies and works on a national political level to bring equity into structures through policy change thus supporting NGOs on a local level.” “Oxfam to assist with sharing of multipronged approaches in use by partners to educate one another. Still more emphasis to be given to integration of services....it makes it so much easier for communities. Oxfam to lead the sharing on integration for partners who have little idea on how to handle this.”

“Vulnerability - it would be interesting to unpack how to involve communities in defining how they perceive their vulnerability + what indicators communities would use to show that the situation has changed in some way - I do not think that communities would easily identify gender power relationships /patriarchy as a site of vulnerability so have partners worked with this how agree about Oxfam making linkages across partners - putting organisations in touch with one another on particular issues - making funds available for those interested to develop relationships to deepen collective action - takes time + energy and can’t be forced” “Educate partners (leaders of partner organisations) on the “integral framework” so that it can be used in planning for the future.”

Overview and reflection on the responses Overall takeaways from survey responses

How can Oxfam take the observation/ suggestion forward?

The Oxfam Operational Plan developed for the next financial year has been informed by these suggestions and will concentrate on various processes and seek The survey results reflect a call from many partners for out opportunities for partners to link-up, share and more and more focused opportunities to link to other learn. These may happen as a big event, and/or organisations, and to hear and share stories of others’ connecting partners around specific themes informed successes and challenges in similar contexts or types by partner recommendations. Spaces should be of work. provided for mutual learning and capacity building, and/or around influencing and deliberating strategic focus areas informed by the Mid Term Review.

Some also want to see Oxfam continue involving partners in planning and implementation around the MTR recommendations.

Oxfam will continue to surface and highlight issues and make linkages to partners in terms of program activities and their relation to the Mid Term Review recommendations. The detailed MTR report and discussion notes will be shared with all partners together with the broader No Longer Vulnerable program report on January-June 2014.

Only a few respondents expressed strong interest in or engagement with the “Theory of Change” used by Oxfam (also called the “integral framework”).

There may be potential to more effectively share such aspects of Oxfam’s approach with partners, while recognising that this is a Theory of Change specific to Oxfam, and all organisations have their own views on and ways of describing how change happens.

Those who responded were strongly interested in further exploring and strengthening integrated programming, including through sharing between organisations.

Oxfam will continue with its series of link and learns for partners to share experiences and expertise around key areas, including through a foreseen large event. Thematic areas for linking and reflection – informed by the MTR recommendations – include integrated programming, gender and vulnerability, and contestation and conflict – with gender as a cross cutting theme.

Overall takeaways from survey responses

A participatory reflection process (Mid Term Review) followed by continued engagement to check and refine recommendations, has led to much richer feedback and engagement from partners (although many did not feel engaged and their views were not captured, as questions were skipped and some did not do the survey).

How can Oxfam take the observation/ suggestion forward? It is important to keep this flow of communication open and allow space for candid discussion and carrying forward of proactive ideas from partner organisations. Surveys will be used more consistently in future as a way to assess and respond to partner experiences and comments on Oxfam-initiated processes and events

Other specific partner suggestions/observations: • • •

In exploring “vulnerability”, consider communities’ own views of what this means and how it is reduced. Deepen an understanding of patriarchy and customary beliefs and practises and how these impact on women’s power and choices at different levels and in different locations Good that the issue of conflict within communities was reflected in the MTR summary. Partner interest in strengthening capacity to focus on this issue.

These and other observations and suggestions to be kept on the agenda in Oxfam internal reflections, and through dialogue with partners.

Annexure 4 Summit Declaration Declaration made by the National Gender Summit held in Gauteng, South Africa, 9–11 April 2014, extracted from the Draft Report of the National Gender Summit. We, delegates to the National Gender Summit convened by the Commission for Gender Equality, assembled at the Lake Hotel (Benoni, Ekurhuleni), for three days of debate on the eve of National General Elections, 20 years into our democracy, came together to evaluate the progress made towards the realisation of Substantive Gender Equality and Gender Transformation in our Country. The Summit celebrated the many achievements we have made since 1994. This includes our constitutional, legislative and policy framework which entrenches gender equality and women’s rights. We celebrate those South African women who have broken the glass ceiling by taking up leadership positions in the country, regional and international fora. We applaud the role of civil society in driving active citizenship. We note the strides achieved so far including the creation of the National Gender Machinery1. Several challenges remain including: deepening inequality, poverty, access to and ownership of land, unemployment and precarious employment. The persistence of Gender Based Violence including on the basis of sexual orientation, HIV/Aids, reproductive and sexual health, increasing cultural and religious fundamentalism are serious concerns. Due to the inadequate transformation of the political sphere, the effective decisionmaking and substantive participation of women remains a deficit that needs attention. As we rise from this Summit we are committed to ensuring that these concerns are addressed in the upcoming elections by all political parties. All organizations that have participated in the Summit will mobilise their organisations and stakeholders that they represented to ensure the necessary political will. The ‘98/’99 National Budget Commitment to Gender Responsive Budgeting must be reinstated. Furthermore, it is important to ensure that there is a special focus on the implementation of legislation as well as monitoring and evaluation of all structures that are necessary to promote gender equality and restore dignity for all. We wish to confirm, as we rise from this Summit, that the Commission for Gender Equality will continue to act in a manner that earns the respect and trust of our people. Furthermore, all organizations that have participated in the Summit will provide feedback to their organization and stakeholders that they represented and will identify critical roles and action that will inform their programmes going forward. We affirm that the emancipation of women remains central in achieving gender equality. Women’s participation, contributions and accessibility to decision-making institutions at all spheres of leadership is essential. Partnerships with civil society and constitutional bodies supporting democracy are critical to transformation. We call upon all participants and stakeholders to engage men and boys to eradicate inequalities and GBV.

1. This includes the Commission for Gender Equality, the Department of Women, Children and People with Disabilities, the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee for Women, Children and People with Disabilities, Office on the Status of Women in Provinces, and Civil Society and Women’s Movements.

We call upon the South African Government to commit itself to ratifying and implementing all the relevant global declarations and protocols including the UN International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. We call upon the Private Sector to implement relevant gender transformative laws and policies. We remain committed to solidarity and co-operation with similar agencies in the Region and Globally to ensure the advancement of substantive gender transformation around the Post 2015 Agenda, calling for the standalone goal on Gender Equality and mainstreaming gender into all other pillars of the MDGs. The Summit commits itself to ensuring that the rights of Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals, Transsexuals and Intersex persons and persons of disabilities are recognised, respected, enforced and promoted. We commit ourselves to working together with the CGE in the implementation of the Action Plan adopted from the Summit. Delegates express their gratitude to the Commission for Gender Equality and partners for creating an atmosphere in which the Summit deliberations and participation could be carried out.

Women and men’s consciousness

Women and men’s access to resources

Norms and exclusionary practices

Formal institutions, laws & policies

Systemic Level

Rao and Kelleher’s Integral Framework

Formal

inFormal

vidual Level Indi