In 1995, Save the Children/US- Malawi introduced a small pilot project called COPECommunity-
based Options for Protection and Empowerment, to provide direct services
to prevent and mitigate the impact of HIV/AIDS on children, families and communities
in 1district. Over the past six years, the program has evolved and expanded to four
districts, covering 9% of the national population. The goal of COPE is to mobilize
sustainable community action utilizing existing indigenous social infrastructures and a
three tier structure - District AIDS Coordinating Committees (DACCs), Community
AIDS Committees (CACs) and Village AIDS Committees (VACs). The program is
multisectoral and involves partnerships with government, business communities, local
leaders, other NGOs/CBOs and religious organizations.
Program success includes: the ability of communities to identify the most vulnerable
members and provide them with care and support; the DACC/CAC/VAC structures
mobilized MKI.5 million during the 5 year period; 295 VACs formed; health centers in
COPE focus communities reporting substantial drop in cases of STD infections; and a
drop in school drop-out rates of orphans. Frequently cited benefits by participating
communities include: community-cohesiveness, increased awareness of HIV/AIDS and
its consequences, involvement, participation and empowerment to deal with orphans and
PLWHAS in their midst; peace of mind for HIV+ parents in the knowledge that when
they die, the community will take care of their surviving children.
Challenges for COPE include: lack of resources to go to national scale; donor support
often unreliable, unrealistic and inconsistent in terms of timeframe and resource
availability. Some of the lessons learned are: prevention messages can be conveyed
effectively using care and support focused responses; community members who are
directly affected need to be equally involved in all program processes; multisectoral
approach the most effective to address multiple and interrelated impacts of HIV/AIDS;
and lastly not least no single approach is appropriate for all communities, hence the need
for flexibility and relevance in HIV/AIDS programming.