Grassroots HIV/AIDS Projects in Swaziland Receive Boost from World Bank

Mbabane, Swaziland, April 23, 2008 -- “It looks small but to us it means a lot.” This was the consensus among the four grant recipients of funding for their community-based projects to fight the HIV/AIDS pandemic at the grass-roots level in Swaziland.

The excited recipients received certificates form the World Bank to commemorate their achievement. Their community activities range from looking after orphans and vulnerable children, to assisting the elderly who must care for children without parents, to organizing school fees and uniforms, to ensuring people understand the drugs they need to take and stay with the daily regime. They also assist through income-earning activities such as planting vegetable gardens and raising pigs for sale in the market.

The World Bank partnered with the National Emergency Response Council on HIV/AIDS (NERCHA) to assist grassroots organizations in fighting the HIV/AIDS pandemic through the Social Development Civil Society Fund (previously the Small Grants program). NERCHA and the Bank issued a Call for Proposals in January that reached deep into the country’s four regions. NERCHA has assisted the Bank in implementing the program, while the government, other development partners and the country’s umbrella NGO organization joined an independent assessment panel that selected the four recipients of funding after scores of projects were screened at the regional level. Each winning project received $5000.

The projects that received funding:

• Siyikhatsalele Imphilo Yetfu Support Group — Shiselweni Region
• Litsemba Lisekhona – Hhohho region
• Asihlangane Malindza – Lubombo Region
• Vezokuhle Savings & Cooperatives Society – Manzini Region

NERCHA and the Bank will monitor the projects over the next year and each recipient will produce a final report on outcomes.

Our Champions

Speaking to more than 30 invited guests and media, she said history is being made with community members from all four of Swaziland’s regions gathered together due to their hard work and merit.

“We can get overwhelmed by difficult problems at the national level while communities live with the impact of HIV/AIDS on a daily basis,” she said. “It is when communities decide to address the issue that they make an impact – they must be the ones to drive the response.”

Motsa expressed hope that successful implementation will lead to more support, not just from the World Bank but other development partners. She said World Bank support will increase the community’s ability to look after their own. “We need the partnership to help act on our dreams. The World Bank did not act like a Bank – it showed trust.”

Big Impact but Huge Challenge

“It is time to refocus and increase our energy,” he said. “We have to think about the future of Swaziland. We must ask ourselves whether we are doing enough to create a future for our children.”

Swaziland has the highest HIV rate in the world. An estimated 16,000 people die as a result of HIV each year – 45 people each day. Life expectancy has dropped from nearly 60 years old in the 1990s to just over 30 years today. It has become a national crisis that is being dealt with as a national emergency.

World Bank Country Office Representative Mallory Saleson congratulated all the recipients and thanked everyone who gave their time to participate in the process. She stressed the Bank hopes the program can really make a difference.

“We know at the Bank that often times small things lead to big results,” Saleson said. “The challenge can be daunting – but it is important to start. We hope you can really achieve something back in your communities and we look forward to visiting you and receiving your feedback.”

Broadening Engagement

The Civil Society Fund program, though small, will complement the work of the World Bank in its engagement with the government to fight the HIV/AIDS pandemic that poses a severe development challenge to Swaziland. The CS Fund program is just part of the Bank’s broadening engagement with the mountain kingdom.

The awarding of grants follows World Bank board endorsement of the new Interim Strategy Note for Swaziland, the first in 14 years. The Interim Strategy is a product of joint discussion between the Bank and Swazi government and sets out the framework for strengthening the Bank group’s engagement with Swaziland over the next two years. The strategy builds on three particular areas for Bank assistance: HIV/AIDS, governance and competitiveness. The grants also follow the launch of the Development Information Center at the University of Swaziland.