Eswatini

As a partner to the government of the Kingdom of Eswatini, we are collaborating to strengthen the national social welfare system, health and education sectors, and scaling sustainable, evidence-driven programming in Eswatini.

Eswatini

We are uniquely positioned as both a direct implementer of programming, as well as a key technical partner collaborating with government counterparts for sustainable development at-scale. We deliver programming that supports a range of education, health/HIV, and social protection outcomes. This in-the-field experience lends deep insight into communities, which in turn, leads to successful initiatives as well as the development of programming innovation that addresses the real needs of children and caregivers. As a technical partner to government, we are positioned to support long-term, sustainable change at a systems-level, supporting government at national, regional, and local level to improve its capacity to respond to the needs of Eswatini’s most vulnerable children.

INNOVATIONS: 

The programming team is currently innovating break-through approaches to retain adolescent girls in school through an Early Warning System; reach adolescent girls with protective assets through mobile technology, and; curb stunting and developmental delays of infants through approaches targeting the first 1000 days of a child’s life (Early Childhood Stimulation and nutrition).

Health and HIV

The combination of a 37% youth population, 45% of which are orphans or vulnerable, and the world’s highest HIV prevalence at 26%, translates into a precarious health scenario for children, adolescents in particular. We are working closely with the Ministry of Health (MOH), and the Ministry of Education and Training (MoET) to deliver programming that decreases risk to HIV and increases resilience, strategically targeting and delivering programming across age bands and gender for optimum health outcomes.

 

Livelihoods

We have a deep programmatic footprint in the Lubombo region of Eswatini, a rural area faced with endemic poverty, food insecurity, and struggles under a severe drought due to the effects of the year-over-year impacts of climate change. We have worked with all of the communities of Lubombo since 2008 — in schools, in villages, in chief’s kraals, and as an advocate at national levels delivering comprehensive “wrap around” programming for orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) who need support to achieve health, education, economic and nutrition outcomes.

Education

In Eswatini, only 13% of young people complete secondary school. Adolescent girls who manage to attend school are able to delay marriage and childbearing, are less vulnerable to disease including HIV and AIDS, and acquire information and skills that lead to increased earning power. Evidence shows that each year of secondary education for girls correlates to a 25% increase in wages later in life. Providing girls with an education helps to break the cycle of poverty, creating a ripple effect of opportunity that influences generations to come.

 

Social Protection

With the highest HIV prevalence rate in the world (27%), the impacts of poverty and the AIDS epidemic has been particularly devastating for children; the government estimates that 45% of Swazi children are orphans and/or living in highly vulnerable conditions. We have worked hand-in-hand with the Department of Social Welfare (DSW) building a National Case Management System to strengthen government oversight and response to children in need of social protection and care.

The National Case Management System (NCMS) brings global best practice Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) to the country and helps to operationalize the 2012 Child Welfare and Protection Act. We work with social protection partners and stakeholders across the country to increase coordination for care and management of cases, and strengthen the DSW to deliver the NCMS, providing coaching and mentoring and supporting the rollout of a pilot leveraging community-based volunteers to identify and respond to abuse cases at the community level.

and young men tested for HIV and provided VMMC

and caregivers reached annually with HIV and gender-based violence services

reached annually with HIV and life skills education

Featured Eswatini Projects

DREAMS IC Beneficiary in eSwatiniDREAMS Innovation Challenge (DREAMS IC): Eswatini
Three Girls from Swaziland pose in front of their school. Photo by Rebecca Sliwoski.Go Girls Connect!
Social Worker in SwazilandNational Case Management System – Eswatini
Voluntary Medical Male Circumcision Service Delivery and Support (VMMC)

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Success Story

Happy to be in school

Sakhile Vilakati, age 21, lives in Siphofaneni in the Lubombo region of Eswatini. Since both of her parents passed away nine years ago, she has been living with her guardian, who is unemployed. After taking her Junior Certificate exams and passing only 3 of the 5 required subjects, Sakhile was not eligible to transition to high school, nor did she have the financial means to pay for her school fees. She dropped out of school in 2015 and then had a child in 2017.

When Sakhile’s Community Councilor informed her about the DREAMS Innovation Challenge, she saw the project as an opportunity to fulfill her dream of returning to school.

To learn more about Sakhile’s story, read our blog.

Testimonials

Without education, one’s life is doomed and more girls in the community want to be a part of the project. I am grateful, as this Dreams Innovation Challenge (DREAMS IC) project has fulfilled my dream of continuing with my studies.

Mother with baby
beneficiary