CAPAIDS Network Inc.

Published purpose

This project provided tools to grassroots, community-based African HIV/AIDS organizations, AIDS orphans, and caregivers, to reduce their socio-economic vulnerability to HIV/AIDS. It used a coaching and mentoring approach to capacity development. It assisted community-based organizations (CBOs) in developing systems, processes, policies, and relationships with other institutions. It also helped the CBOs create simple, sustainable, and transparent processes and systems for decision-making and accountability, project planning and implementation, client-focused service delivery, revenue generation, and financial management. The CBOs developed and coordinated the delivery of vocational skills training and employment support to AIDS orphans and caregivers. The vocational and business training incorporated life skills training, including basic HIV awareness and more sensitive topics such as gender relations and gender equality, negotiating safer sex, and preventing and responding to violence. The CBOs coordinated self-employment skills development activities for participants and microsavings and lending mechanisms that facilitated participants' access to financing for their businesses.