Child Rights and Protection program

 Description of the Organizations ability to carry out the Programme

Kenya Youths Against Gender Violence Programme (KYAGVP) is community-based organization founded as a Non-Governmental, Nonpartisan, Nonprofit making organization tailored to empower, rescue women, children and the community from any form of Gender-based violence and HIV/AIDS. It was formed as a result of young men and women wanting to empower the community through training, role plays and through focus group discussions.

KYAGVP has been involved in various activities in a quest to promote prevention, care and treatment of the HIV infected. KYAGVP is a true grassroots organization comprising of young men and women in touch with the reality of the impact of HIV on individuals, families and communities and also other issues affecting the community i.e. Fight against gender violence and FGM, conflict resolution, child rights and protection, sexual abuse and rape management and drugs and substance abuse, Youth empowerment amongst others.

The project team will engage in activities that are aimed at improving the lives of orphans and other vulnerable children (OVC) affected by HIV/AIDS. The team will deal with a manageable target of 1500 children aged between 0-17 years. A needs assessment will be carried out to identify needy cases. And this will be accomplished through the help of opinion members of the community (administrators, school managers’ religious leaders and other strategic persons to be identified). The team shall carry out interviews using a preset tool to assess the social economic strengths of individual beneficiaries, and the support will be on a case to case basis. Services to children will be based on the actual needs of the child and could include ensuring access to basic education (from early childhood development through secondary level), broader health care services, targeted food and nutrition support, including support for safe infant feeding and weaning practices, protection and legal aid, economic strengthening, training of caregivers in HIV prevention and home-based care, etc.

KYAGV will adopt Household-centered approaches that link OVC services with HIV-affected families (linkages with PMTCT, palliative care, treatment, etc.) and strengthen the capacity of the family unit (caregiver) will be included along with strengthening community structures which protect and promote healthy child development (schools, churches, clinics, child protection committees, etc.) and investments in local and national government capacity to identify, monitor and track children’s well-being. Programs will be included which strengthen the transition from residential OVC care to more family-centred models.

Referral Networks may either be formal or informal and are increasingly becoming necessary due to the multi-sectoral needs of vulnerable children and the adults within their family and the inability of any one provider to cater for the needs of the entire family on their own. 

Statement of Need

The majority of orphans in sub-Saharan Africa, Kenya inclusive, today are due to HIV/AIDS, most of whom are paternal orphans (Monasch & Boerma, 2004; UNICEF, 2006), Numerous census data, DHS and situation analysis, have indicated that the majority of orphaned children are living with a female household head, usually widowed, and most often their surviving mother. In most urban towns in Kenya, the potential impact on children includes loss of family and identity, loss of assets and their inheritance, depression, homelessness, migration, a decline in health status and health care, declining nutritional status, increase demands on them for labour and caregiving, and loss of educational opportunities. Currently, families and communities provide the majority of the care and support to children affected by HIV/AIDS. The vast majority of families and communities trying to care for infected children do not receive adequate external assistance. 

Research has demonstrated that children are better able to cope with their vulnerabilities when their adult caregiver is healthy and able to provide love and cognitive stimulation (Richter, Foster & Sherr 2006). If a child has a biological relationship with their adult caregiver or head of household, their health, educational and nutritional outcomes fare better (Adato et al, 2005; Verhoef & Morelli, 2007). This is sometimes referred to as Hamilton’s Rule where the greater the biological relationship of the child to an adult caregiver or head of household, the better their health, educational and nutritional status (Case, Paxson & Ableidinger, 2004).In many parts of Makueni,Muranga and Kiambu families living with HIV/AIDS are affected and are made vulnerable to HIV/AIDS and have been advocating for the need to strengthen families and support communities in caring for children living in the context of HIV/AIDS. The prevalent rate in the three counties in Kenya in context to the program we have Makueni at 4.7 per cent, Murang'a 3.8 per cent, and Kiambu 3.8 per cent (Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Counties_of_Kenya and The National

AIDS and STI Control Programme (2008) Kenya AIDS indicator survey 2007.)

Implementation Strategy

We hope the program to run for one year from June 2019 to June 2020. The program will adhere to our scope of work upon which the first 6 months we will entail ground testing and pre-trial stage, pilot stage and the final execution. We endeavour to have the full support of local government and administration cooperation and partnership with volunteers who will sign up and other likeminded local Non-governmental organization to help in creating a strong pillar towards the program sustainability. Our strategy will involve community capacity-building and sustainability, i.e. building technical and programmatic capacity through training and technical assistance; working with local individuals, organizations, institutions and structures; provided resources (people, currency, commodities, and structures) to continue to deliver quality services; or using another mechanism of sustainability. The caregivers and the OVC will be equipped with financial and business management skills, as wells as survival skills. The strategy will include group formation, financial education, business management and linkages to businesses and providers of finance.

Critical Assumption

The success of this program takes into account the following assumptions:

1. a) There will be adequate funding
2. b) The prevailing peace will be sustained
3. c) The Community will sign up and volunteer in big numbers
4. d) The local Authority and Administration will remain supportive and cooperative

 It is the program hope that during the period June 201 9 to June 2020 it will receive immense support from well-wishers locally and international support agencies to realize it’s full

Implementation. 

Program goals

1, Transform the lives of 1500 orphans and other vulnerable children (OVC), 0 to  17 years that are infected by HIV/AIDS.

2,To bring a smile of hope  and optimize the quality of life for 1500 HIV- infected clients and their families throughout the continuum of illness through the provision of clinical, psychological, spiritual, social and preventive services.

 Project activities

The project activities revolve around strengthening the capacity of families to protect and care for orphans and other vulnerable children made vulnerable by HIV/AIDS by: 

1. Linking surviving parents and/or other adult caregivers (s) to/facilitating their access to essential primary health care to prolong their lives;
2. Advocating for provision of HIV/AIDS-related health care (prevention, care and treatment) for the adults and children in the family directly;

• iii. Advocating for providing primary health care for the adults and children in the family directly;

1. Providing household economic strengthening support to adults in the family;
2. Providing educational and other essential support to children in order to relieve the economic strain on the household;
3. Providing access to vocational training or other skills acquisition in order to improve the employment opportunities of adults and older children in the household;

• vii. Providing psychosocial support to the adults and children in the family in order to minimize depression and anxiety;
• Providing spiritual support to the adults and children in the family to support their religious belief structures that promote hope;

1. Providing food security and nutrition support to the adults and children in the family;
2. Providing shelter support to the family;
3. Coordinating provision of shelter support to vulnerable children or children without adult care in as family-like structure as possible;

• xii. Providing training to caregivers on aspects of quality care and support to orphans and other vulnerable children made vulnerable by HIV/AIDS.

Project Scope of work

Sustainability plans