PROJECT PLAN OF ACTIVITY

Strengthen capacity of youth organizations in Nickerie around positive lifestyles

Programme 2:                                       Adolescent and Life Skills

Sub-Project 2 and 3:                              Skills and Capacity Building of Youth Organizations and Development of media and communications materials for adolescents and youth.

Implementer:                                         Stichting Welzijns Instituut Nickerie (WIN) and the Nickerie AIDS Team (NAT)

Organisation requesting funding:      Stichting Welzijns Instituut Nickerie (WIN)

Background and description of problem

Nickerie, located in the North-Western corner of Suriname, has a multi-ethnic and multi-lingual population of over 45,000 persons, including a considerable number of Guyanese, who have migrated over the years from neighbouring Guyana. Traditionally, most people in Nickerie are earning their living from agricultural activities (mainly rice cultivation) but the sharp decline of this sector has brought severe economic and social hardship to this District, with high levels of unemployment.

The most important problems, as identified by the Nickerie Youth Council in 2000, were the high number of students dropping out of schools, the use of alcohol and drugs, violence in the home and the community, the lack of recreational facilities (especially for women and girls), lack of job opportunities and the extremely high suicide rates, caused (amongst other things) by poor communication between parents and children[1].

HIV/AIDS continues to threaten especially the youth and the adolescent boys and girls in Suriname. Based on available data and developed calculation models, the national prevalence rate is 1.2%[2]. Incidental sero-surveys found prevalence rates of 22.0% for street sex workers (1996), 20.2% for men having sex with men (1998) and 13.0% amongst TB patients (1999) and 1.4% amongst soldier (1999). Between 1995 and 1999 the AIDS mortality has tripled from 5.6 per 100,000 to 17.7 per 100,000. Since 2000, AIDS is the second leading cause of death in the age group 15-44 years. Between 6-8% of the reported cases of AIDS deaths were children between 0-5 years in 2001 and 2002. Between 1990 and 1999 the registered percentages (via pre-natal clinics) of HIV among pregnant women varied between 0.0 and 1.4%. According to MICS (2001)[3], 20% of the women aged 12-49 had sufficient knowledge of HIV/AIDS transmission, with the lowest knowledge levels existing in the districts of Sipaliwini, Saramaca and Brokopondo (7.9%, 7.7% and 4.4% respectively) and …% for Nickerie.

All young people have a right to information on issues that surround them and affect them. Unless they are fully informed of facts, options and choices the decision making is not only very difficult but they may be misled. Parents hardly guide boys and girls through their adolescence. Parents refrain from sharing critical enabling information pertaining to substance abuse, 'do's and 'don'ts, information on sexually transmitted diseases, HIY/AIDS and pregnancies.

Youth have limited opportunities to realize their right to participation, also in Nickerie. In the society the opportunities for youth participation are very limited. On the other hand adults often decide for youth. Thus, policy and family decisions that affect youth are often taken without consultation and participation of youth. As a result, educational and health services for youth are far from being youth friendly and are not supportive to youth to realise their rights fully in the society. Being deprived of skills and organisation, youth clearly face exclusion unless supported.

The Government of Suriname has started to take proactive stance to recognise the potential of youth and has started to mainstream support. However, integration of people living with HIY/AIDS has been slow. They often face peer discrimination, exclusion and neglect at home and at work place. The project, therefore considers adolescents and youth not as a problem but as a high positive potential to positively contribute to societal development.

Suriname has already started to envision the importance of youth participation and their contribution to development. UNICEF and IDB have assisted the Department of Youth Affairs to formulate a youth policy, hold elections for youth councils in all the 10 districts. A youth parliament was elected in August 2004. However, the full realisation of rights by youth is a continuous struggle. There is an urgency to create minimum enabling conditions which will include cultural sensitivity, family recognition and support, societal appreciation and support for youth. It is very essential that the educational and health services be youth friendly. Without necessary skills, space for participation, and access to support services, youth are more prone to be affected by HIV/AIDS.

In Nickerie, Government organizations, such as the Nickerie AIDS Team (NAT) and NGOs, such as Stichting WIN, have been active over the years trying to stop the spread of HIV/AIDS in the District. The main challenges are to make the problem of HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases discussable and to find prevention models that are culturally sensitive and acceptable and that are designed for and by young people of Nickerie themselves.

Goal

The goal of this project, therefore, is to contribute to adolescents’ knowledge, attitudes and skills and to help create opportunities for their active participation in societal development

Objectives:

The specific objectives of this project are:

· To increase availability of quality information relating to HIV/AIDS to reach 60-70% of the adolescents and youth in the Nickerie district

· To strengthen youth organisations in Nickerie with skills for their effective participation;

· To strengthen the capacity of key members of the organisations as facilitators for peer education, more specifically to train 20-25 HIV/AIDS ambassadors  who should:

- Have knowledge about life skills and HIV/AIDS

- Be able to pass on information about HIV/AIDS and Basic Life Skills to peers

- Be able to organise activities for and with members of their organization/community

- Be excellent role models themselves

- Be respected in their own communities and organisation

- Be culturally sensitive

Expected outputs:

1. 25 HIV/AIDS Ambassadors from 7 different youth organizations in the District of Nickerie, with enhanced knowledge about HIV/AIDS, sexual and reproductive rights, with Basic Life Skills to educate their communities and organize and/or strengthen youth groups and with a non-discriminatory attitudes towards persons living with HIV/AIDS

2. Seven (7) youth organizations in Nickerie and the surrounding polders with enhanced knowledge and information about HIV/AIDS and with their capacity enhanced to organize their activities to promote healthy life-styles

3. Seven Outreach Activities (addressing a problem concerning HIV/AIDS and/or the promotion of  healthy life-styles organized and implemented by the youth organizations.

4. The most culturally sensitive and appropriate communication materials produced during the entire process, assessed, multiplied and made available to the young people in Nickerie.

Beneficiaries:

Members of the groups listed below will be part of the training activities in Nickerie:

	Name and Location	Membership	Activities	Number of members to attend training
1	Jai Hind Courantijn Polder (western polder)	Executive Committee: 5-7 Number of young people involved: about 50+ boys and girls (aged 10-25)	- Youth Friendly Space - Wrestling - Home work guidance - Community Development - Speloteek (loan of toys) - Library - Computer courses	3
2	Stichting Ocon Clara Polder (western polder)	Executive Committee: 5-7 Number of young people involved: about 50+  boys and girls (aged 10-25); also has an active women’s group	- Youth Friendly Space - Home work guidance - Football and other sports - Literacy programme for women - Sport activities for women - Library - Computer courses - Speloteek (loan of toys)	3
3	Stichting Jopo Paradise (eastern polder)	Executive Committee: 5-7 Number of young people involved: about 50+ boys and girls (aged 10-25)	- Home work guidance - Computer course - Speloteek (loan of toys) - Computer courses - Football and other sports - Sport facilities	3
4	Rode Kruis Jongeren (Red Cross Youth) Nieuw Nickerie	Executive Committee: 5 members Number of young people involved: about 15 members (aged 14-25)	- Extension and outreach work - Getting young people to donate blood	3
5	Youth Group in Wageningen [NAME] Wageningen	Executive Committee: ?	- Sport activities -	3
6	Sport Clubs in Nickerie and polders: - Cricket Bond - YAPIN – volleyball club - Football clubs - Baseball club	Executive Committee: ?	- Cricket - Volleyball - Football - Baseball	5
7	Church Youth Groups in and around Nickerie (EBG and RK, Muslim, Hindu)			5
TOTAL		Approx. 300-400		25

Direct beneficiaries:

- 25 young people from 5 different youth organsiations from the Nickerie and the polders surrounding Nickerie, sport groups and church groups

Indirect beneficiaries:

- 300-400 young people from the 5 different youth groups, sport clubs and church groups in and around Nickerie

Information about the STichting Win, Nickerie AIDS team and the trainers

About Nickerie AIDS Team (NAT)

The Nickerie Aids Team (NAT) is part of the MOH of the Department of Dermatalogy. The NAT used to have 4 members (trainer, administrative support, communication person, counselor), but the team members took up other jobs so the NAT only has one active members now which is Mrs. Pearl Fraser. She has a back-ground in counseling and extension work.

About Stichting WiN

Stichting WiN:

[Add info here from Brochure about Stichting WiN]

Training Capacity available in Nickerie:

Pearl Fraser                  HIV/AIDS training – Nickerie AIDS Team

Rob Mooij                     Basic Life Skills Training – Stichting WIN

Tobi Graafsma              Basic Life Skills Training – Stichting WIN

Troy Wolfe                   Peace Corp Volunteer – Stichting WIN

ACTIVITY WORKPLAN STICHTING WIN/NICKERIE AIDS TEAM TRAINING IN NICKERIE

Activity: · Increase availability of quality information relating to HIV/AIDS to reach 60-70% of the adolescents and youth in the Nickerie district · Strengthen youth organisations in Nickerie with skills for their effective participation; · Strengthen the capacity of key members of the organisations as facilitators for peer education, more specifically to train 20-25 HIV/AIDS ambassadors

Expected output : 1. 25 HIV/AIDS Ambassadors from 7 different youth organizations in the District of Nickerie, with enhanced knowledge about HIV/AIDS, sexual and reproductive rights, with Basic Life Skills to educate their communities and organize and/or strengthen youth groups and with a non-discriminatory attitudes towards persons living with HIV/AIDS 2. Seven (7) youth organizations in Nickerie and the surrounding polders with enhanced knowledge and information about HIV/AIDS and with their capacity enhanced to organize their activities to promote healthy life-styles 3. Seven Outreach Activities (addressing a problem concerning HIV/AIDS and/or the promotion of healthy life-styles organized and implemented by the youth organizations. 4. The most culturally sensitive and appropriate communication materials produced during the entire process, assessed, multiplied and made available to the young people in Nickerie.

PHASE 1: May – July 2005

no	Tasks and sub-tasks	Person responsible	Start – End	Funding Required SRD
1.1	Selection of participants - Write letters to different youth groups - Explain purpose of training - Ask groups to send participants	Pearl Fraser and Stichting Win	2 weeks
1.2	First meeting with selected participants - Explain about training and fine tune the selection - Obtain commitment from participants - Explain the topics of the training and assess (additional) training needs - Decide on best time of training - Finalise training schedule	Pearl Fraser and Stichting Win	One afternoon
1.3	Basic Life Skills Training (6 sessions of three hours each) at Stichting WiN in Nickerie - Select/develop and duplicate materials - Conduct KAPB survey (questionnaire, focus group) to establish baseline information during the first training session - Organise six Training of Trainer sessions of three hours each for 25 people from the different youth groups; topics covered will include: o Communication o Getting to know yourself o Making decisions o Self-esteem o Problem solving o Planning skills (plan for your self, planning for your group)	Rob Mooij, Troy Wolfe and team Stichting WiN	Completion within two months
TOTAL PHASE 1

PHASE 2: August – October 2005

No.	Tasks and sub-tasks	Person responsible	Start – End	Funding Required (in SRD)
2.1	HIV/AIDS awareness training (12 sessions of three hours each) at Stichting WiN in Nickerie - Select/develop and duplicate materials - Organise 12 Training of Trainers sessions of three hours each for 25 people from the different youth groups; topics covered will include: o HIV/AIDS prevention o Alcohol and Drugs o Suicide o Domestic Violence - Plan an outreach activity for/with individual youth groups and communities (to be implemented in Phase 3).	Pearl Fraser, Rob Mooij and team Stichting WiN	Completion within three – four months
TOTAL PHASE 2

PHASE 3: November 2005 – February 2006

No.	Tasks and sub-tasks	Person responsible	Start – End	Funding Required (in SRD)
3.1	Implementation of a minimum of 7 Outreach Activities (focusing on HIV/AIDS, Healthy Lifestyles and/or Basic Life Skills in the different communities). - Planning meetings once a month, for three months - Monitoring by telephone - Monitoring visits by Stichting WiN and Nickerie AIDS team to the different youth groups - Implementatio of events -	Executive Committes of all Youth Organisations in collaboration with Pearl Fraser, Rob Mooij and team Stichting WiN	Completion within three – four months	nil
3.2	Conduct final KAPB survey to assess impact made on the participants of the training and the members of the groups. - Organise one three hour sessions with all 25 participants	Pearl Fraser, Rob Mooij and team Stichting WIN
3.3	Assess, compile, multiply and distribute the most appropriate communication and extension materials produced during the entire process and made available to the young people in Nickerie	Pearl Fraser, Rob Mooij and team Stichting WIN
TOTAL PHASE 3

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[1] SITAN Nickerie, Ministry of Regional Development and UNICEF (2003)

[2] National Strategic Plan for a Mulit-Sectoral Repsonse to HIV/AIDS in Suriname, 2004-2008. Ministry of Health, May 2004.

[3] Multiple Inidcator Cluster Survey, Bureau of Statistics (2001)