About

Children and young people, particularly adolescent girls and young women, continue to be disproportionately affected by HIV, AIDS, poor sexual and reproductive health, unemployment and GBV in South Africa.

NACOSA implements a number of programmes focused on vulnerable children, adolescents and young people. The My Journey Adolescents and Young People Programme, funded by the Global Fund, aims to increase retention in school, decrease HIV incidence, teenage pregnancy and GBV and increase economic opportunities for young people in South Africa. NACOSA is the lead implementer on an innovative new programme called IMAGINE, to prevent HIV and unwanted pregnancy in adolescent girls and young women, funded through a social outcomes-based financial instrument managed by the South African Medical Research Council.

NACOSA has worked with orphaned and vulnerable children since 2011 and currently implements a programme to prevent HIV, AIDS and GBV in orphans and vulnerable children in the Western Cape, funded by PEPFAR and USAID. The programme supports vulnerable children and their families to prevent and reduce the impact of HIV and violence against children in communities.

Young people are especially vulnerable to HIV and GBV if they are not in education, employment or training, so NACOSA works with communities to empower and support them on their journey to a safe, happy and healthy future. Economic strengthening and livelihoods interventions include work readiness and financial literacy skills, training, work and entrepreneurship opportunities as well as savings, food security and mentoring support. Known as GLO – Grow, Learn, Own – this approach is implemented across a number of NACOSA’s programmes.

South Africa has some of the highest rates of gender-based violence in the world which largely impacts on women and children and is one of the main drivers of our HIV epidemic. NACOSA believes that communities have a vital role to play in preventing and responding to violence against women, children and the LGBTQIA+ community.

NACOSA’s Community-based Violence Prevention and Response Programme, funded by PEPFAR and USAID works to change harmful attitudes and promote protective family and community norms using evidence-informed interventions and mentoring. With a focus on girls and young women, the programme implements DREAMS (Determined, Resilient, Empowered, AIDS-free, Mentored and Safe) and provides survivors of violence with comprehensive post-violence care services. NACOSA also supports the services of community organisations in integrated post-violence care centres, providing trauma containment, preventing HIV and STIs and increasing access to psychosocial support services for victims of sexual violence.

The Gender-Based Violence in Mining Communities project strengthens services offered by GBV facilities, empowers women and young people to become economically independent and builds capacity, networks and community awareness to sustainably prevent and respond to GBV. The project is implemented by NACOSA in mining communities in the North West and Limpopo, funded by the Tshikululu Trust and made possible by Anglo American Platinum.

Key populations are those who are most affected by HIV, AIDS and STIs and who are routinely left behind – marginalised, criminalised, stigmatised and discriminated against.

The People Who Use Drugs Programme aims to prevent new infections of HIV and TB and improve health outcomes and access to drug treatment for people who use drugs. With funding from the Global Fund, NACOSA uses peers to reduce human rights, social and structural barriers to HIV, Hepatitis, STI and TB prevention and care, as well as strengthen the advocacy and national commitment for programming. NACOSA managed a peer-led combination prevention Sex Work Programme which also successfully piloted an economic strengthening intervention for sex workers.

Human Rights interventions, including community mobilisation and advocacy, strengthening the delivery of legal support services, mainstreaming the reduction of harmful gender norms and addressing stigma and discrimination across key and vulnerable populations programming.

Community organisations and structures are powerful forces for change. NACOSA promotes networking and dialogue and helps to build systems that support the community response to HIV, AIDS, TB, GBV and other health and social challenges.

NACOSA builds the capacity of community organisations – with capacity assessments, training and mentoring – and manages a small and medium grant scheme for emerging organisations. NACOSA Learning has a capacity building methodology, training and tools developed and refined over 20 years. Funded by the Global Fund, the Community Systems Strengthening programme also works to strengthen planning and co-ordination of the HIV, AIDS, TB and GBV response.

Our Community-Led Monitoring and Advocacy project, in partnership with the  International Treatment Preparedness Coalition (ITPC), deploys trained community-level data collectors to monitor services in and around facilities to improve access to services for key and vulnerable populations.

Community organisations plug critical service delivery gaps, particularly in under-served communities, but they face significant challenges including a lack of consistent funding, governance, leadership and technical capacity challenges.

Networking is core to NACOSA’s history and DNA. As a network of organisations and activists, we were part of a movement to draft South Africa’s first national strategic plan for AIDS. With our network of community based organisations, NACOSA mobilises resources and advocates for flexible funding, capacity building support, and enables organisations to share and learn from each other and have a stronger voice in the HIV, AIDS, TB and GBV response.