We have reached the end of another very challenging, but also rewarding year for everyone at NOVOC and all our network members.

The highlights of NOVOC’S achievements in the last half of 2011 are building the capacity of a local NGO Consol Homes in Finance management, establishing Village Savings and Loans Associations in a new impact area: the District of Mzimba, and translating an advocacy toolkit into Chichewa and printing it out as well as distributing it to its network members.

However we cannot assume that the year has been smooth for NOVOC, we met various challenges in implementing our activities ranging from lack of funding to high prices of commodities and lack of fuel in the country that has derailed implementation of projects on time.

Looking ahead, 2012 will present NOVOC with many new challenges, opportunities, more partnerships and collaborative endeavors and much more.

We would like to wish all our partners, funders and supporters, as well as NOVOC staff, Board Members and network members a happy and peaceful year.

We’d like to thank those that added their energy and commitment to our team. Thank you for your support during the past year and we wish you a wonderful and prosperous 2012!

• Click here to download NOVOC Newsletter – Volume 2 / Issue 1, 2011

NOVOC has been instrumental in strengthening the capacities of FBOs and CBOs in Malawi with the aim of improving the lives of Orphans and Vulnerable Children NOVOC through the help of Raising Malawi Trust. This project has been running in the district ofd Salima and Chitipa. In a way of documenting their success stories they produced this documentary.

The year 2010 marked 10 years of implementation of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Among the Eight MDGs is goal number 2 on “Achieving Universal Primary Education”. Malawi is party to the commitment that, by 2015, children everywhere, boys and girls alike, will be able to complete a full course of primary schooling. The target entails that all countries including Malawi should invest significant resources in the education sector. In addition, countries are expected to attain the MDGs with equity. This is where education support for orphaned and vulnerable children (OVC) through national budgets comes in the limelight. This budget analysis establishes the levels of allocations and expenditures of funds for OVC education support in Malawi Government budgets. The initiative has been commissioned by the Network of Organisations for Vulnerable and Orphaned Children (NOVOC) with the main aim of generating evidence for action towards improved budgetary commitment to education needs of orphaned and vulnerable children in Malawi.

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Welcome to NOVOC Newsletter, Vol. 2, Issue 1, 2011. This newsletter aims to build on this foundation with information, news, and views from the sub-network members and its NGO partners. We look forward to receiving your suggestions for future issues. Let us know the kinds of questions about NOVOC’s work you need answered.

• Click here to download NOVOC Newsletter – Volume 2 / Issue 1, 2011

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

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In order to mitigate the economic and psychosocial impact of HIV and AIDS related illness and death of OVC and their caretakers, four Malawian registered Non-Governmental Organisations; NOVOC, CEYCA, YONECO and IPRSE in partnership with the Chitipa District Assembly have been coordinating their efforts, with support from STOP AIDS NOW! Netherlands in the implementation of a one year project aimed at strengthening the Social Cash Transfer programme through linking and learning.

The Institute for Policy Research and Social Empowerment (IPRSE) was therefore charged with the responsibility of leading the processes of conducting a baseline survey and implementing an action research to attain participatory problem identification in the scheme, participatory solution development and participatory impact assessment of key stakeholders in the process from both the state and non-state realms of the society.
The outcomes of the processes have been very encouraging with the partnership making inroads into what was initially seen as a no go zone for non governmental institutions. The Government has taken into consideration some significant policy positions while compromising on some. This subsequently offers fresh challenges for the partnership to ensure that progress that has been made thus far is sustained while strategizing to overcome challenges for future policy advocacy with particular reference to the Malawi Social Cash Transfer Programme.

While the Social Cash Transfer Scheme continues to bear observable advantages in terms of improving health of beneficiaries with fewer reported sicknesses among adults and children and increasing their demand for healthcare for children and adults and higher healthcare expenditures, it has also increased expenditure on children’s schooling and subsequently reducing in child labour in the country. The Social Cash Transfer Scheme has also enhanced accumulation of household and productive assets, basic necessities and livestock while increased agricultural production with greater food stores has subsequently resulted into improved food security including higher food expenditures, fewer missed meals, fewer days without adequate food, and greater food diversity. Thus Social cash transfers have not only subsidized consumption but have also enhanced productivity of beneficiary households and communities.

On the other hand, just like any other public initiative the Malawi Social Cash Transfer Scheme stands to face challenges in its execution owed to a number of internal and external factors. To this end, this one year project has uncovered challenges ranging from inadequate human resources key to the implementation of the Scheme to limited and unpredictable income flow for the same. The targeting mechanism has also been uncovered as a to have some weaknesses in terms of permitting inclusion and exclusion errors while giving room for political manipulation at the community level. With a number of social protection instruments present in the district, the research also uncovered inadequate linking mechanisms for Social Cash Transfer beneficiaries.

But as action research entails learning through doing, through the process of quarterly Search Conferences, the research process identified solutions to some of the aforementioned bottlenecks some of which have successfully been executed. Suffice to indicate, this progress has been made possible with the improving working relationship between the civil society community party to the project and the Government at both the district and national level. It is hoped that such a rapport will continue particularly in the development and implementation of the Social Cash Transfer Programme in 2011 and beyond.

This training manual has been developed to equip the duty bearers with skills to advocate and lobby for services to care, protect and support OVC. It also intends to remind the services providers of their due responsibilities in the provision of the same.

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The STOP AIDS NOW! PSS project which is aiming at scaling up psychosocial support services for orphans and vulnerable children in Malawi through Linking and Learning is being implemented by various partners namely: Network of Organizations for Vulnerable and Orphaned Children (NOVOC), Youth Net and Counseling (YONECO), Eye of the Child and Ecumenical Counseling Center (ECC). NOVOC is a lead organization in this project.

The project started in 2008 and is finally ending in 2011. This report captures the progress made and lessons learnt from 2008 to January 2011.

• Click here to download PDF file

• Click here to download PDF file

Welcome to the second issue of NOVOC newsletter. This quarterly newsletter aims to build on this foundation with information, news, and views from the sub-network members and its NGO partners. We look forward to receiving your suggestions for future issues. Let us know the kinds of questions about NOVOC’s work you need answered.

• Click here to download NOVOC Newsletter – Volume 1 / Issue 2 (October, November, December 2010)