Thohoyandou Victim Empowerment Programme

SHOULD CSI PROGRAMMES BE SUPPORTING WELFARE SERVICES?

Presenter: Fiona Nicholson

Speaker Introduction

I have been the Programme Director and sole fund-raiser of TVEP since its registration in 2002. The programme currently consists of an integrated model of nine prevention, empowerment and support interventions, requiring an annual budget of R10mil+.

To date, less than 3% of TVEP’s funding has come from the Dept. of Health & Social Development.

Context of Presentation

Status of Services –

The current status of services for vulnerable women and children in SA, with specific reference to victims and potential victims of child and gender-based violence, can be summarised as follows:

• There are small pockets of excellence, but the vast majority of women & children have no access at all to specialised services

• The quality and range of services not standardised• Monitoring of service provision is ineffective at best, and often non-

existent• No accountability when things go wrong• Funding is hap-hazard, sporadic, unreliable and totally inadequate

Role players •CBOs, FBOs & NGO’s•Government Departments (DoH&SD, SAPS, CJS, NPA •Donors

Service Availability –Services currently available from the NPO sector are mostly welfare-based, i.e. they provide support to people who have already been abused. Little is being done in the field of prevention and empowerment mainly because CBOs lack the capacity and funds to implement effective campaign strategies. National campaigns such as the 16-Days of Activism are generally regarded by the NPO sector as being a waste of time and resources, as they have minimal impact and enable stakeholders to focus only on those few days whilst ignoring the rest of the year.

Question of the Day:

Should Corporate South Africa fund welfare services?

Answer:

ABSOLUTELY NOT!!!

Why?

In terms of the Bill of Rights and Constitution of South Africa, the provision of welfare service, or in this case, the provision of essential services to victims of crime, is a statutory obligation. It is the mandate of the State to either provide such services themselves, or to fund those that do. Currently, they do neither.

By funding these services themselves, Corporate South Africa is guilty of enabling the DoH&SD to renege even further on their responsibilities. Furthermore, funding is generally very short-term, unsustainable, and does little to strengthen the recipient organisation.

So what, if anything, could CSI programmes do to help strengthen welfare services?

• Assist CBOs to mobilise and lobby for the effective implementation of the DSD’s “Policy on Financial Awards to Service Providers”. This very comprehensive document was published in 2005, but has yet to be holistically implemented in most – if not all – Provinces.

• Use their own in-house resources to help strengthen the institutional sustainability of the recipient organisation. For example, share their financial and HR policies, and provide mentoring services in such competencies.

How can CSI assist help to ensure the implementation of the DSD’s funding Policy?

• Provide funding for an NPO funding lobby group, to enable them to meet and strategise effectively

• Use their Corporation’s in-house resources to assist in building a strong case to present to government

• Use their Corporation’s “clout” to encourage government decision-makers to meet with the lobby group

• Assist the DoH&SD to develop appropriate service-level agreements and monitoring systems to ensure that partner NPOs are delivering services in accordance with both needs, and minimum standards.

What will be the purpose of a funding lobby group?

To facilitate & enable the long-term sustainability of NPOs that provide essential services on behalf of the State

Side bar: Reflections on the impact of non-sustainability

in the NPO sector

Consider for a moment what it must be like to work on a month-to-month basis, without a contract, on a meagre salary and with no benefits at all – no pension, medical aid, performance bonuses or 13th cheque. Then consider that most of these positions are in remote rural areas with little infrastructure. How can CBOs attract and retain good staff under such conditions? How can they run effective programmes?

Exploding the Sustainability Myth

Currently, most CBOs have to rely on sporadic, unreliable and totally inadequate government funding, often received many months after the services have been provided. Welfare-based services are generally delivered by people who are themselves extremely poor, with no source of income. These people are being shamefully exploited by the DoH&SD, who capitalise on their lack of sophistication, & treat them with great disrespect.

Demands are now being made on CBOs to generate their own funds and become self-sustaining. This requirement is as offensive as it is unrealistic; to assume that resource-deprived service-based CBOs have the capacity to simultaneously run a highly profitable business, is nothing short of ridiculous.

The simple truth is that NPOs who provide essential services ON BEHALF OF THE STATE can only be sustainable if they are the recipients of appropriate and regular government grants, for as long as their services meet the needs and standards required.

I contend that it is morally wrong and exploitive to expect any different.

So, how can Government be convinced?

By illustrating the benefits of a sustained and healthy NPO sector! First and foremost, the potential of the NPO sector to create jobs –

The Swilling & Russell report, commissioned by the DSD in 2002, revealed that the NPO sector in SA employs more people than any other sector; more than the mines, more even than National Government themselves. In light of our country’s unemployment challenges, how can this reality be disregarded?

Therefore, the purpose of the lobby will be to convince policy makers that

“the sustained funding of the non-profit sector is no longer a social necessity, it is an economic imperative”

But the non-profit sector is not only highly labour intensive – it also

•delivers essential social services, on behalf of government, to victims of crime and the HIV/AIDS pandemic•develops skills, some as their mandate, others out of necessity•facilitates food security, through the development of food gardens and income-generating projects •promotes equality, and combats gender-based and child violence, and•holds government accountable to policy and their departmental mandates

In other words, the NPO sector has the potential to considerably alleviate many of the major challenges faced by our country – but only if reliably and consistently funded by the State.

Thank you for listening – I hope I have stimulated debate!