Question NW1579 to the Minister of Social Development

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19 August 2020 - NW1579

Profile picture: Abrahams, Ms ALA

Abrahams, Ms ALA to ask the Minister of Social Development

What (a) are the details of the origin and development of the Social and Behaviour Change (SBC) programmes to be implemented by the social services professionals (SSPs), (b) are the details regarding the training of SSPs in this SBC programme, (c) is the implementation plan of the SBC programme in communities across the Republic, (d) time lines are attached to the implementation of the SBC programme in communities across the Republic and (e) is the budget attached to the development, training and implementation of the programme?

Reply:

The HIV pandemic has over the years taught us that biomedical approaches alone are not able to prevent and stem out the spread of new infections, hence a multi-sectoral approach is required to respond to the epidemic.

a) In 2008, UNAIDS noted that new HIV infections were not declining in most countries including South Africa, but continued to increase rapidly. This therefore prompted UNAIDS to call uponall countries to engage in a ‘know your epidemic, know your response’ exercise to allow governments to understand the drivers of the epidemic in order to base HIV prevention efforts on evidence and not on perceptions.The Human Science Research Council (HSRC) therefore conducted a study called Know Your Epidemic, Know Your Response in 2011 for South Africa. This study found that HIV is more than a health issue but a developmental issue because factors that fuel HIV&AIDS are due to human behaviour as well as social and structural in nature andtherefore a social approach was required in addressing these factors. This assisted South Africa to develop the National Strategic Plan on HIV, STIs and TB (NSP) 2012-2016 which mandated the Department of Social Development (DSD) to lead the goal on addressing social and structural drivers of HIV because DSD’s mandate and commitment is on social transformation and we focus mainly on facilitating human development and improving the quality of lives of people by addressing the social and structural barriers to this quality of life.

DSD therefore developed a Compendium of Social and Behaviour Change programmes using the social ecology approachwhich aims at addressing all levels of society, including the individual, interpersonal relationships, family, communities, and systems. The social ecology model has enabled DSD to develop (1) social and behaviour change programmes that seek to address risky behaviours with a view to motivate behaviour change within individuals and social units by use of a range of educational, counseling, motivational, peer-group, skills-building approaches, and community normative approaches which are delivered in small interactive groups; as well as (2) incorporate structural strategies that already exist in the Department (such as social grants, poverty alleviation programmes) which seek to change the context that contributes to individuals’ vulnerability and risk to HIV. The following are the compendium of social and behaviour change programmes which DSD has developed: YOLO, ChommY, Families Matter programme, Men Championing Change programme, Boys Championing Change programme, Community Capacity Enhancement programme and Traditional Leaders programme. These programmes are implemented alongside DSD’s existing programmes that target the structural drivers of the pandemic e.g. social grants and food security programmes. These programmes target different target groups within the social ecology model.

b) The Department partnered with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) since 2011. This partnership assisted the Department to establish a Government Capacity Building and Support Program (GCBS) which aims at strengthening the capacity of the Department of Social Development to respond to HIV&AIDS. The GCBS programme assisted in training Social Services Professionals (SSPs) on the compendium of social and behaviour change programmes in the country. A Train-the-Trainer approach was adopted for each programme and this has ensured that each province has a pool of SSPs that are able to cascade and roll-out the trainings in each district.To-date, a total number of 1 694 SSPs were trained on the social and behaviour change programmes since 2017. The Department also partnered with the South African National AIDS Council (SANAC) to roll-out the training of Non Profit Organisations (NPOs) on the compendium of social and behaviour change programmes.SANAC has to-date trained 557 SSPs in all 9 provinces since 2016. The Department had planned to train a further 300 SSPs for this financial year 2020/21, however this has been reviewed to 100 SSPs due to the lockdown restrictions since the trainings are face-to-face with interactive exercises and role-modelling. These trainings will commence in November 2020. Each SSP will be trained on each of the seven (7) social and behaviour change programmes mentioned under (a) above. Each training comprises a minimum of 4 days. This means that each SSP requires a total number of 28 days to complete the entire Compendium of Social and Behaviour Change programmes.

c) These seven (7)social and behaviour change programmes, mentioned above under (a), are implemented together as a package within the same given community, in an integrated manner. Each programme has a Facilitator’s Manual and a Participant’s Manual. The implementation of these programmes is complemented by other DSD existing programmes such as the KeMoja programme. TheDepartment is currently funding 17 NPOs in the country, since 2016, to implement the compendium of social and behaviour change programmes in 30 Districts which have the highest rate of new HIV infections. The NPOs have appointed SSPs that implement the programmes using different approaches which include interactive group facilitated workshops for the different target groups, as well as facilitated community dialogues which include YOLO Jam Sessions, Community Capacity Enhancement sessions, Boys Assemblies, Men’s Lounges, National and District Men’s Parliaments.

d) Implementation of these social and behaviour change programmes commenced in 2016 and is still continuing in all 9 provinces in the 30 districts in the country. Due to budgetary constraints, the Department is not able to expand the implementation of the programmes to all 52 districts.

e) The entire budget for the training and implementation of the social and behaviour change programmes for the 2020/21 financial year is R93m. This budget is for all nine (9) provinces and it is not enough to cater for all 52 Districts.

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