1) A World Concern project in Kenya aimed to support over 150,000 orphaned and vulnerable children through local community groups and churches. The project provided some groups with training and funding to care for children 3-5 years prior. 2) An evaluation found that 87% of the groups that received both training and funding from the project continued to support children 3-5 years later, demonstrating that a combination of skills development and resources helped create sustainable support. 3) Factors that contributed to sustainability included empowering local groups to take ownership over support activities, establishing income-generating activities to financially support children, and engaging existing community and faith institutions.

1. Laying the Foundation for sustainabilitythe ‘how’ and ‘why’ behind sustainable outcomes resulting from AN ovc care and support project in Kenya Rogers Mutie M&E Specialist World Concern Africa Regional Office, Nairobi, Kenya CORE Group Spring Meeting/HIV/AIDS Working Group Baltimore, MD May 12, 2011 1

2. Brief Introduction To World Concern A Christian development & relief NGO (www.worldconcern.org ) WC serves the poor and marginalized communities in 22 countries 2

3. We Work In.. Health and Nutrition HIV and AIDS Water and Sanitation Food Security Economic Empowerment Edcuation and Vocational Training Disaster Response 3

4. Hope for the Children Affected by HIV/AIDS in Kenya, Zambia and Haiti“The OVC Project” Donor:USAID/PEPFAR Fund Prime: WCDO Partner Agencies: 10 INGOs consortium(FH, MAP, WR, NCM, CRWRC, OBI, WH, TSA, LIFEWIND/MAI) Beneficiaries: 150,000 OVCs Challenges: Many and varied needs of OVCs and Caregivers (esp. need for school education) Limited funding and time Pressure to innovate, reach this large target, keep coalition intact, and make project sustainable 4

5. Project Achievements 5

7. Embu and Narok Districts of Kenya

8. 45 Groups ( 23 supported and 22 unsupported)

9. 63 Churches (38 supported and 25 unsupported)

10. 174 OVCs in FGDs(87 supported, 87 unsupported)6

11. A Key Finding The OVC Project gave one time financial and training inputs to community groups 3 – 5 years ago 87% of the groups in 2 World Concern operation areas of Kenya were found to still support OVCs 3-5 years after WC trainings & funding ended 7

12. Foundation for Sustainability 1. FUNDS & SKILLS COMBINATION Overwhelming majority of the groups that currently support OVCs received both training and funding Other groups received training, materials or funding either as a single input or in some other combinations 8

13. 2. LOCAL OWNERSHIP & CONTROLDeliberate process to make groups lead agents IMPLEMENTORS, BEHINDTHE STEERING WHEEL LEAD AGENTS, INNOVATORS, CONTROL DESTINY RECIPIENTS, JUST MERE BENEFICIARIES Local groups’ contribution/effort increases with time WC support/effort reduces with time DONORS, LEAD AGENCY ROLE ADVISORY ROLE, IDEAS, MORAL ENCOURAGEMENT FACILITATIVE ROLE, OVERSIGHT, FOLLOW UP TIME 9

14. Ability Of Intervention Groups To Support OVCs(Following One Time Input from Project) 10 73% expressed varying levels of ability to support own OVC (Possible demonstration of initiative to drive sustainable processes)

15. Churches With One Time Input Continued To Support OVC 11 3-5 years following intervention supported churches did not stop providing OVC care. Almost all WC supported churches that had a prior OVC activity (addressing the problem before the project) were found to still continue

17. Helping to start joint IGAs (money, group cohesion)

18. Selecting IGAs identified by the groups, coupled with training, diversification (to absorb shocks), and follow-up

19. “Merry-go-round” esp. in Kenya is a key source of supportFollowing one time contribution from WCDO Groups continued IGAs using income to support OVCs

20. IGAs: A Possible Strong Factor For Group Sustainability 13

21. 4. POTENTIAL OF LOCAL GOVT & RELIGIOUS INSTITUTIONS Local church/Faith communities & government always present Government=duty bearer, heavily resourced Churches/religious institutions=Religious obligation to care 14 Apart from own income from IGAs, local churches & local government funds were found to be popular sources of support to groups. In Kenya there are a lot devolved funds at constituency level e.g. CDF, CACC, Bursary fund, LATF and line ministry sources of support among others.

22. For details on the OVC Project, lessons learned and best practices please pick up the CD of the book Our Children, Our Hope from the WCDO display table. 19303 Fremont Avenue North Seattle, Washington (WA) 98133 Toll-Free line: (800) 755.5022 Local: (206) 546.7201 Fax: (206) 546.7269 Email: info@worldconcern.org www.worldconcern.org 15

23. Thank You 16 Questions? Comments? www.worldconcern.org