Who’s In? Who’s Out?

Who do we work with and why do we work with them? This is a critical question that many organisations forget to ask when designing and delivering their programmes. Our choice of beneficiaries is often informed by a range of factors including personal interest, development theory, popular programming trends, new methods and approaches, and the availability of resources. Being more conscious about our biases and reflecting honestly on the consequences of our decisions could go a long way to improving the design and management of future programmes.

 

In the sessions within this thematic area organisations will share experiences of working with a variety of groups, their reasons for choosing these, and the intended and unintended consequences of their choices. The sessions will explore the roles and power that organisations occupy in the communities they work in and through this, ref ect on how their program choices impact on communities.

 

Rebecca Freeth

Monday 26th October 10:30 - 12:30 Venue 4

There is an increasing drive to deliver HIV prevention programs to and for men, specifi cally and separately. This raises a number of considerations for our programmes: Why work with men specifically – is working with them that different? How do we work with men who are particularly resistant to engaging in the HIV response? And will this mean that we do less work with women?

 

Fiona Macdonald

Monday 26th October 13:30 - 15:30 Venue 4

A range of services and programmes are made available to HIV positive people and/or people we assume to be HIV positive. They are however, not the only people in need of services who come into contact with our organisations. What programmatic obligations, if any, do we have towards HIV negative people given that their socio economic positions are indistinguishable from their HIV positive peers?

 

Navin Vasudev

Tuesday 27th October 8:00 - 10:00 Venue 2

Work with ‘sexual minorities’ is often perceived as niche work that can only be done by specialist organisations. HIV prevention work is increasingly being informed by approaches that have a basis in understandings of sexuality. How are ‘mainstream’ HIV and AIDS organisations responding to the need to incorporate sex and sexuality issues into their prevention work? How are the needs of marginal identities being incorporated into our programs?

 

Daniela Gennrich

Tuesday 27th October 10:30 - 12:30 Venue 4

Faith based organisations have always been at the forefront of the development response in South Africa. They present a great opportunity to reach large numbers of people in organised settings. How do we work with the faith based sector to extend the reach of our programs? How do we overcome the sometimes conservative opinions and views that are held by faith communities? How do we build consensus on what needs to be done to respond to the range of social issues impacting on development work?

 

Laura Washington

Tuesday 27th October 13:30 - 15:30 Venue 2

Young people are an important benefi ciary group, particularly for HIV prevention work, and lots of time and resources are allocated to this sector. While much effort has gone into youth work, the relative success of it is questionable. Are we working with youth in a way that is meaningful to them? Is our messaging appropriate and delivered in a way that young people can access and relate to? How do we improve the way we communicate with young people?