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How
to identify and work with relevant stakeholders and partners
We recommend that at a minimum you meet individually with UNICEF, the relevant Government Ministry and an NGO recommended by UNICEF. UNICEF will have a good overview of the status of children in general, OVC in particular, and of the main actors. The Government ministries most likely to have the mandate for handling OVC issues are the Ministry of Social Affairs, the Ministry of Community Services, or the Ministry of Women and Families. If child labor is one of your concerns, ILO, through its International Program for the Elimination of Child Labor (IPEC), may prove to be a valuable partner. The Ministries of Health, Education, Labor, Youth and Justice may also have some relevant information about OVC.
When approaching international and national NGOs, there is often an umbrella organization that represents them. In fact, there may be multiple umbrella organizations specialized by sector or region. You should be aware that some of these umbrella organizations may also have political connotations or agendas (e.g., represent only NGOs close to the opposition or affiliated with one donor). NGOs may provide useful information on the OVC activities of civil society. If you have the time, you should also reach out to interagency bodies, such as HIV/AIDS Committees, set up specifically to address issues directly related to OVC and to other bilateral or multilateral lenders and donors who have or plan to fund projects benefiting OVC.
In individual meetings with relevant partners, you should:
- Find out which
OVC categories exist in the country;
- For each category
of OVC try to get answers for the following questions:
- How many
are they?
- Are the numbers
increasing, stable, or declining?
- What factors
are contributing to these changes?
- Which children
are most at risk of becoming OVC?
- Where are
they concentrated?
- What problems
do they currently face?
- What future
risks will they face if nothing is done?
- What government
or NGO programs exist to respond to their needs?
- What gaps
exist in satisfying their needs?
- What is being
done to prevent more children from falling into this OVC category?
- Get input on
the potential impact of the proposed project on OVC and children at
risk;
- Find out who
is doing what to benefit the OVC groups of most interest - this should
include prevention;
- Assess the level
of interest and availability for further collaboration (including
participation in a stakeholder meeting).
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