Training beyond borders

NACOSA’s motto is ‘we’re stronger together’ which has proved to be the case recently with the NACOSA Training Institute sharing its expertise beyond borders in partnership with Frontline AIDS (previously known as the International HIV/AIDS Alliance).

Frontline AIDS’s Regional Financial Management Initiative is providing a year-long accompaniment package of assessment, training and long-term mentoring support to Frontline AIDS partners to strengthen their financial management and onward granting capability. As part of this, the Training Institute visited Frontline AIDS partners in Nigeria, eSwatini and Malawi with a tailored Capacity Assessment Tool (CAT) to establish the baseline functioning of each organisation. A Capacity Building Plan has been developed to guide the training and ongoing support needed.

Education as a Vaccine (EVA) in Nigeria works in partnership with children and young people to advance their rights to health and protect them from all forms of violence in the most vulnerable and marginalized communities. With programmes on sexual and reproductive health education, HIV prevention education, care of orphans and vulnerable children and advocacy, EVA is a youth and young people focused organisation fulfilling an increasingly important role in the region.

She [the EVA director] was VERY positive about your time with her. Hand on heart, she did not have a negative word to say about your approach. – David Christie, Frontline AIDS

The Coordinating Assembly of NGOs (CANGO) is the ‘NACOSA’ of eSwatini and was established in 1983 originally as a network of primary health care organisations. Now with a broad vision of a society which enjoys a decent standard of living, its programmes include children welfare and social protection, gender equality, elections and governance, health, capacity building and advocacy, and food security. The sustainability of the network is of critical importance and their emphasis is on strengthening internal operations and longevity.

Pakachere Institute of Health and Development Communication (Pakachere IHDC) in Malawi was founded in 2002 under the Soul City Regional Programme. The organisation specialises in social and behaviour change communication with strategic priorities including health development, resource mobilisation, monitoring, evaluation and learning, and human resource management.

Practical training at the NACOSA Training Institute is taking place this month focusing on a risk approach to governance and financial management. This will provide the base on which further mentoring will start to shape organisational budgets, cost recovery policy, onward granting, standard operating procedures, risk management, donor reporting and procurement, as required by each partner. Further online support and mentoring will be provided to the organisations and a concluding CAT, to measure improvement in capacity levels over time, will be conducted at the end of the project.

“We are so excited to be part of this initiative,” says Training Institute Manager, Annelie Terblanche. “Organisations in the global south have much to learn and share with each other and, most importantly, we really understand the context of the work to end AIDS on this continent.”

David Christie from Frontline AIDS agrees,

This partnership between Frontline AIDS and NACOSA will be an enriching experience. We recognise NACOSA’s strengths in good practice and think there is a great deal we can all learn from each other through this process.

Introducing Frontline AIDS

Frontline AIDS is the new name for the International HIV/AIDS Alliance. Working through local, national and global action with communities in over 40 countries on four continents, it is on the frontline of gender equality, harm reduction, HIV prevention, HIV care and treatment, human rights, sexual and reproductive health and rights, and supporting adolescents and young people.

We exist because the most marginalised people must be heard and supported. We need to innovate and work together to create a future free from AIDS.

NACOSA is proud to be a Frontline AIDS Accredited Partner. Accreditation means that NACOSA has demonstrated strong governance and organisational management. Its HIV programming is good practice programming – effective, targeted and human rights based. NACOSA has demonstrated specialist expertise in the areas of Integration of HIV and sexual and reproductive health and rights and family-centred HIV programming for children to target the HIV/AIDS response in South Africa.

Find out more at frontlineaids.org