June 2016

AMICAALL NewsLetter
Alliance of Mayors Initiative for Community Action on HIV/AIDS at the Local Level

Q & A with our Monitoring

& Evaluations Officer

An overview of the
Organization

Issue No. 1

Our Head of Programmes

talks about the Day of the
African Child

Urban AIDS Response

AMICAALL Peer Educators at work

EDITORS
NOTE

Urban AIDS Response

t has been a while since

we last published a
Newsletter! Well, the wait
is over as we publish our
introductory monthly
Newsletter.
In this edition we feature our
bubbly and welcoming
Monitoring and Evaluations
Manager, Goodness Mkhabela,
who tells us about her journey
this far at AMICAALL in an
exciting Q&A session.
Speaking of features, we also

have Ms. Thinie Mutyaba, who

is the Head of Programmes in
the organization telling us about
this years Day of the African
Child and the signicance its
had over the years. You can
expect a clear and interesting
insight from the well informed
Ms. Mutyaba.
We a l s o p r o l e t h e
organizations work, vision,
mission and values. This
information will be provided in
full only in this maiden edition

so make use of it and learn as

much as you can about our
work. Lastly, its a pleasure to
be of service to you, and join us,
the country and the entire
African continent as we
commemorate the Day of the
African Child!
Well meet again next month,
Enjoy!
__________________
Mayibongwe Dlamini

Table of Contents
Editors Note

..................................................

About Us

...................................................

The SCORE project continues ..................................

The Head of Programmes talks about the Day of the

African Child
..................................................

Q & A with the Monitoring & Evaluations Manager ....

About Us

Urban AIDS Response

what you need to know about AMICAALL

MICAALL is a
national NonGovernmental
O rg a n i z a t i o n ( N G O ) t h a t
operates under a public-private
partnership arrangement with all
the 12 urban local government
b o d i e s i n t h e c o u n t r y.
AMICAALL-Swaziland has a
comprehensive, decentralized
management structure and seeks
to ensure accountability and
transparency at all levels of
program delivery.

IMPACT MITIGATION

Our Vision

Home Based Care

Social Centers (Orphan
Care Points) Social Centers
(Orphan Care Points)
Child Protection (Lihlombe
Lekukhalela - A shoulder to cry
on)
Food Security
Income Generating Projects
(IGPS)
Provision of Anti-Retroviral
Therapy

Healthy and productive urban

communities in the era of HIV
and AIDS

Our Mission
To build the capacity of urban
communities and local
government to respond to
HIV/AIDS

Values and Guiding

Principles

Our Services

PREVENTION
Prevention of Mother to
Child Transmission
Youth Mentors & Peer
Education
Condom Promotion and
Distribution
Workplace Programs
School Health Clubs
Voluntary Counseling and
testing

Region
Hhohho
Manzini
Shiselweni
Lubombo

Respect for Human Rights

Inclusive
Responsive
Accountable
Professional
Innovative

Cities/Town
Mbabane, Piggs Peak, Ngwenya, Ezulwini

Mankayane, Matsapha, Manzini

Hlathikhulu, Nhlangano, Lavumisa
Siteki, Vuvulane

PROJECTS

Urban AIDS Response

...THE SCORE PROJECT CONTINUES

M IC A A LL is
implementing the
Sustainable
Communities of Real
Excellence programme
(SCORE), funded by
SAfAIDS.
This is a strategic initiative
that seeks to address HIV,
TB, GBV and SRH needs of
young people, women and
key populations.
AMICAALL is partnering with
SAfAIDS to contribute
towards the provision of
support towards gender
equality including a
commitment to address
gender dynamics, the norms
and socio-cultural structures
underlying inequality, as well
as harmful gender roles and
discriminatory practices by
women and men of diverse
cultures in marginalized
settings within Hhohho,
Manzini and / Lubombo

regions.
Implementing towns are
Manzini, Mbabane,
Vuvulane, Piggs Peak and
Mankayane
Activities for the project
include two (Youth Peers In
Sexual Reproductive Health
Advocacy (YPISA)
Refresher training courses,
of which both have been
conducted.

...target for this

intervention is
young people...

listening and reading clubs,

mostly conducted in schools,
whereby students listen to an
audio clip and have a Q & A
session over a specic topic.
A total of nine Sexual
Reproductive Health Bashes
have been done which is the
maximum
for the
intervention.
The primary target for this
intervention is young people
aged 10-24 years who live in
the informal sectors.
At the end of the month
(June) 5 selected people will
be going to Zimbabwe where
the SAfAIDS headquarters is
housed for the SCORE
project. These will constitute
of the project focal person,
one lead teacher, one out of
school youth and two in
school youth.

Another activity is the radio

FEATURE

Urban AIDS Response

AMICAALL HEAD OF PROGRAMMES,

MS. THINIE MUTYABA TALKS ABOUT
THE DAY OF THE AFRICAN CHILD

Interviewer: What is the Day

of the African Child and its
signicance?
Head of Programmes (HOP):
The day of the African Child as
we all know is celebrated in
June every year. The actual date
is June 16 - after the Soweto
Uprisings against Apartheid by
students in South Africa. Many
in- school and out-f-school
children died during that event
so much that Africa, in
particular Southern Africa, felt
it would be worthwhile to
celebrate the day.
It is a day when Swaziland
brings children to celebrate the
day. It is normally at a selected
Inkundla every year, in a
selected school. Children are
encouraged to celebrate the
theme of that particular year
through poem, drama and song.
It is also a day when the country
is reminded of the plight of
children particularly the OVC.
June is the month of the child
mostly in countries that are

members of the UN, countries

that observe the Rights of the
child, countries that are
signatory to the UN Convention
on the Rights of the Child.
Swaziland is one of those
countries. The country signed
nd
the UNCRC on 22 August
1990 and in 1995 ratied the
Convention.
Under the terms of the
convention, governments are
required to meet children's
basic needs and help them reach
their full potential. Central to
this is the acknowledgment that
every child has basic
fundamental rights. These
include the right to:

life, survival and

development

protection from
violence, abuse or
neglect

an education that
enables children to full
their potential

relationship with, their

parents

express their opinions

and be listened to.

Interviewer: What is this

year's (2016) theme?
HOP: Protecting Children
under emergencies. Reason for
this theme is the drought
situation I the country which
has been declared a disaster
putting the country into an
emergency mode. It is common
knowledge that when there are
such disasters children suer
most in that i. there is usually
not enough food and many
children suer malnutrition
related illnesses; ii. Children are
taken advantage of by
emergency workers and are
exploited sexually and
otherwise in exchange for food;
...continued on page 6

be raised by, or have a

FEATURE

Urban AIDS Response

...CONTINUES
iii. Children will be withdrawn
from school due to drought
related issues, iv. In some
homes food is only for adults
when it is not enough, just to
name a few, therefore, it is very
important to protect children
during such times, thus the
theme for the year
Interviewer: Has there been an
impact such as a positive
change from previous years?
HOP: There is positive impact
in that even those who may have
forgotten that children are very
vulnerable and need protection
are reminded of their
responsibilities. In the UNCRC
they are referred to as Rights
holders.
Most of all, the government of
Swaziland in particular the
DPMO, takes a very leading
position and once that oce
shows interest in such things,
the whole country is bound to
follow suite.
There is a lot of impact, people
know that if they are caught
abusing children the law will
take its course and that they are
reminded that children, belong
to the State which is the Duty
bearer. The State is therefore
duty bound by her signatory to
the UNCRC, to always be
protect and assist the rights

holders to access their rights by

all means.
Interviewer: What does
AMICAALL do pertaining
child welfare?
HOP: According to the
UNCRC, the Swaziland
Constitution and the Child
Protection and Welfare Act of
2012 a child is a child from 0
years till they turn18 years.
i. For those OVC who are
aged 3 years to 6 years
AMICAALL provides them
with ECCD and nutrition which
is accessed at the 49 Social
Centers catering for about 4,
000 such children.
ii. For those who may be
above the age of 6 years to 18
years but not in formal school or
not at school at all, AMICAALL
allows them to come in and
access food and playtime at the
Social Centers. Maybe here I
should also mention that the
Social Center Concept initially
was meant to include Life Skills
development for those out of
school due to various reasons
but the short coming has been
lack of funding for that
initiative.
Interviewer: How eective is
the relationship between
government and NGOs towards

children support?
HOP: Very eective. The
government of Swaziland
realizes that NGOs are an
extended arm of government,
not a competitor or enemy of
government. Some of the NGOs
are funded by government to
carry out some of her activities
as she is also thin on the ground
when it comes to human
resources and transport. NGOs
are development partners to the
government.
Interviewer: Does
AMICAALL have children
services and has there been an
impact?
HOP: As mentioned above,
AMICAALL manages 49
Social Centers which provide
nutrition; playtime and
facilities for the little ones;
scheduled child health days
through the MOH and ECCD
for those preparing for school.
Interviewer: Last word?
HOP: Personally I would
recommend that instead of
celebrations, the money be
given to a selected school for
development.
End

Q&A

Urban AIDS Response

Goodness Mkhabela, AMICAALL Moinitoring & Evaluations Manager

n an attempt to get our

readers familiar with our
stu, we rst introduce our
Monitoring & Evaluations
Manager, Goodness Mkhabela
who tells us bout herself and her
experience with the
organization in this interesting
Q & A session.

Interviewer: What is the work of

M&E Manager?
G o o d n e s s : B a s i c a l l y, i t s
monitoring the progress of the
program and evaluate it. This is
done by collecting reports,
entering data, and then generate
information from the reports and
surveys.

Interviewer: Greetings
Goodness, kindly tell our readers
briey about Goodness.
Goodness: Im a very patient,
down to earth and hardworking
person.

Interviewer: How has it been so

far at AMICAALL?
Goodness: So far, it has been nice
working for AMICAALL and the
M&E oce is one oce that is
very busy! In short, being here is in
overall interesting and exciting
and simply put, its like working in
a family business whereby I know
whatever eort I put in is for the
benet of everyone.

Interviewer: When did you join

AMICAALL?
Goodness: I joined AMICAALL
in September, 2014 as a UNDP
M&E volunteer & rose through the
ranks to my current position of
M&E Manager.

Goodness: Having to represent

the organization in high prole
meetings! Although this one is yet
to happen, Im also quite excited
about a coming trip to Zimbabwe
for the SCORE project month end
of June.
Interviewer: ...& what has been
the most challenging part?
Goodness: Trying to meet
deadlines only to nd I have to
push people to submit their reports
for processing, that one can be
very daunting at times! But then
generally, most of the times have
been good.
Interviewer: Last words?
Goodness: Be strong in the Lord!
Interviewer: Amen!

Interviewer: What has been your

most exciting moment so far?

AMICAALL SWAZILAND
National Coordinating Office
LaMvelase Building, Cnr Sandlane & Nkoseluhlaza Streets, Manzini
P.O. Box 519 Ezulwini, Swaziland
Tel: +268 2505 7755/ 7792/ 7143
Fax: +268 2505 7259