1 DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT Presentation to the Joint Monitoring Committee on the Improvement of the Status of Women Public Hearings on HIV/AIDS 25 September 2001

2 Overview Gender inequality and HIV/AIDS Impact of HIV/AIDS on women Response of the Department Challenges

3 Gender and HIV/AIDS Gender inequality: Increase women’s risk of contracting HIV/AIDS Limit women’s access to resources for coping with HIV/AIDS Increase women’s share of burden HIV/AIDS perpetuates and exacerbates gender inequality

4 Women and Poverty Women are more likely to poor: Studies on poverty in SA show that the poorest households are usually headed by women Education opportunities for girls are increasing, but not commensurate with opportunities for boys Women in employment are likely to earn less than their male counterparts

5 Violence against women Women and girls are more likely to be victims of domestic violence and sexual abuse than men Women and girls are more likely to be victims of rape than men

6 Impact of HIV/AIDS on women Increased risk of contracting HIV/AIDS: Reports on other countries suggest higher infection rates amongst teenage girls and young women than their male counterparts Reports suggest that this derives from women’s social and economic status relative to men

7 Impact of HIV/AIDS on women Infected women are likely to: Lose jobs if they had them Stigmatised as spreaders of HIV/AIDS No access to social assistance other than applying for disability grants for themselves of Child Support Grant if they have children under 7 years Unless they have access to food and health care, their life expectancy is reduced drastically. Impact extends to their children Fear of what will happen to their children when they die

8 Impact of HIV/AIDS on women Women are expected to be the caregivers: Disruption of education of girls Loss of jobs/reduced earnings Grandmothers’ have to support grandchildren often on a single social grant

9 Department’s Response Responses attempt to address the immediate needs of women infected and affected by HIV/AIDS as well as the broader issue of gender inequality Responses are ‘mainstreamed’ in Department’s framework for combating HIV/AIDS Department’s responses are informed by interactions with affected women and communities

10 Department’s Response Home-Based/Community-Based Care Poverty alleviation programmes focused on HIV/AIDS and economic empowerment of women Advocacy campaigns and partnerships with Women (including young women) Improving access to social assistance Victim Empowerment and Domestic Violence Training and building capability Research and information

11 Home-Based and Community-Based Care 3 programmes: Joint projects with Department of Health and provinces Projects funded and managed by National Department using HIV/AIDS funds (5 projects) National Projects funded from Poverty Relief Fund – 17 projects (Provinces also have HIV/AIDS related projects funded from Poverty Relief Fund)

12 Home-Based and Community-Based Care Target groups are vulnerable children and women Assistance provided to women: Material assistance (mainly food) Counseling and support groups Accessing social assistance, welfare services and poverty alleviation programmes Home-based care for women and their families Information to assist women as caregivers Life skills to prevent infection

13 Coverage of Joint Projects Province2000/ /2002 Eastern CapeTsolo District Estimated beneficiaries: 50 families and 47 orphans Mhlakulo; Butterworth Free StateWelkom District Estimated beneficiaries: 210 children and their families/caregivers QwaQwa; Sasolburg; Odendaalsrus; Virginia; Theunissen; Bultfontein Gauteng-Alexandra; Carleton; Sebokeng; Bronkspruit/ Cullinan

14 Coverage of Joint Projects Province2000/ /2002 KwaZulu-Natal-Ndumu; Moyeni; Nseleni, Nduduzweni; Bhambayi, Khanyeselani; Mpendle Portshepstone/Kokstad; Pietermaritzburg MpumalangaTonga District – 34 projects Estimated beneficiaries:2816 children Matibidi; Mmamthlake; KwaMhlanga; Eerstehoek Northern CapeDe AarDiamond Fields Namaqualand

15 Coverage of Joint Projects Province2000/ /2002 Northern Province Maraba; Mashashane; Westernburg; Seshego 1120 children Dwarsloop; Acornhoek; Dzanani; Messina; Nylstroom; Potgietersrus North WestJouberton; Klerksdorp 115 children Brits; Zeerust; Vryburg Western Cape-All regions of Province will be covered

16 Poverty Relief Programme PRP has targeted women since its inception. About two-thirds of beneficiaries of Department’s programme are women. From 1998/99 to 2000/2001: Managed R363 million in PRP funds 2868 projects to value of R m Payments of R m to projects

17 Poverty Relief Programme In 2000/2001: Transferred R9.73 million to HIV/AIDS projects initiated by communities and Faith- Based Organisations Women’s Flagship Programme: Funded from PRP and special allocation for Flagship Programme 16 Projects operating (2 per province, except KZN and Northern Cape) 801 women and 913 children benefiting

18 Poverty Relief Programme 2001/02 to 2003/04: Support income-generation activities for women in rural areas (100 projects) Establish 144 rural food production clusters of 100 households each, with emphasis on households affected by HIV/AIDS Support 100 community-based projects providing care and support for households affected by HIV/AIDS

19 Social Assistance Women are significant proportion of social assistance beneficiaries either directly or through their role as caregivers Information and communication campaigns to inform women about social grants, especially Child Support Grant Limitations of coverage of grants in context of HIV/AIDS are being investigated by Committee of Inquiry into Comprehensive Social Security Improving administration of social security

20 Victim Empowerment VEP provides care and support and life skills for women (and children) who are subjected to abuse 66 projects at provincial level providing 24hr one-stop service for women (reach 2500 per month) 34 National Projects include: Trained 225 social workers and lay counselors in Domestic Violence Act Directory of Services produced Survey on shelters for abused women

21 Advocacy work & Partnerships 16 Days of Activism on “No violence against women” includes men as partners in combating violence against women and sharing responsibility to reduce HIV/AIDS Working on partnership with LoveLife: Training girls and boys as ‘groundbreakers’ to promote HIV/AIDS awareness Life skills training Involving youth in Home-Based and Community-Based Care Programmes

22 Advocacy work & Partnerships Partnerships with aid organisations Partnership with Faith-Based Organisations: Already supporting HIV/AIDS projects of FBOs Working with FBOs to involve them more comprehensively in HIV/AIDS programmes

23 Building capacity Home-Based Care and Poverty Relief Programmes include building capacity of women Launched HIV/AIDS Capacity Building Programme for government officials – includes understanding impact of HIV/AIDS on women Requests received to extend programme to NGOs and CBOs

24 Information Base Started audit/survey of all HBC and CBC projects in country (with Department of Health) Survey identifies services offered, target groups, sources of funding, governance structures, etc Survey will be used to scale up response and identify areas not covered Survey will serve as basis for monitoring system

25 Budget Allocation ProgrammeBudget Allocation HBC / Community- Based Care 2000/01: R6.8 million 2001/02: R13.4 million Poverty Relief Programme 2000/01: R120 million plus R million roll-over from 1999/ /02: R50 million. Of this, R10 million is for Flagship type projects; R5 million is for community HIV/AIDS support; R10.88 million is for food security Flagship Programme2000/01: R1.612 million plus R from Poverty Relief allocation 2001/02: Integrated with PRP Victim Empowerment2000/01: R2.3 million 2001/2002: Nil

26 Budget Allocation Women also benefit through social assistance: Child Support Grant – beneficiaries at 1 April 2001, paid R million in 2000/2001 Aged Pension – beneficiaries at 1 April Assuming 50% are women, benefits to women were R million Care dependency grant – beneficiaries at 1 April 2001, paid R18.76 million

27 Challenges and Responses Addressing the problem of stigma Provide tangible assistance to people affected (access to social grants, counseling, health care, etc) Education of communities where HBC and CBC projects are located Support to National campaigns: Young men as partners in fight Faith-Based Organisations

28 Challenges and Responses Scaling up response to meet demand Direct more support to community- initiated projects Strengthen partnership with FBOs Other partnerships with business and labour Promoting volunteerism and involvement of youth

29 Challenges and Responses Ensuring protection of children Prioritise orphans and infected children in new Child Care legislation National guidelines and protocols to apply to all HBC and CBC projects funded by government

30 Challenges and Responses Access to social assistance Interim national procedures for dealing with applications for disability grants and social relief in distress Mechanisms to check that participants who are eligible for social assistance receive grants Long term options on grants being investigated by Committee on Social Security

31 Challenges and Responses Food security: Strengthen food security component of HBC and CBC Programme Integrated Food Security Strategy being developed by government Budgetary issues: Discussions with Treasury on funding for HBC and increasing social relief budgets Lack of funding for Victim Empowerment Programme

32 Concluding Remarks Combating HIV/AIDS and its impact on women requires us to change the daily reality of many women: Their access to resources they need to fight poverty Their status in society