MTN-Trialogue R300 000 cash prize for child support programmes
Author: Trialogue
A not-for-profit organisation (NPO) that provides country-wide support for orphaned, vulnerable and at-risk children can now strengthen and better monitor its much-needed programmes, thanks to a R300 000 cash prize.
The National Association of Child Care Workers (NACCW) took the honours in the MTN Awards for Social Change, in the large NPO category. NACCW’s Isibindi programme (‘courage’ in isiZulu), deploys child and youth care workers in communities, and the award acknowledges its robust monitoring and evaluation systems.
The MTN Foundation announced this win at the recent Trialogue Business in Society Virtual Conference.
The NACCW acts as a professional network, development partner, information source, training provider and advocacy body, says Nicia de Nobrega, NACCW Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) Manager. Its Isibindi programme was started in 2001 in response to the HIV/AIDS crisis and provides child and youth care services in homes and virtually. The focus is on education, health, food security, household income and cases of abuse and neglect.
“We are very grateful to have received such a prestigious award. Our M&E journey has involved many team members, and we are thankful to all our partners, funders, child and youth care workers, and our staff at NACCW,” says de Nobrega.
“For us, the award speaks to the systems we have created over the years to ensure accountability. The importance of routine M&E is critical in the work we do, and we continually strive for evidence-based work to ultimately be able to measure the impact of our programmes on children and youth.”
De Nobrega says the award money will flow directly back to the projects and ultimately to the programmes’ beneficiaries.
“The NACCW has recently developed a ‘sister’ model called Isibindi Ezikoleni (‘courage in schools’ in isiZulu) for the deployment of child and youth care workers in schools. We aim to use the award money to strengthen the M&E of this programme to track the wellbeing of vulnerable and at-risk learners.
“We are closely watching the attendance and potential drop-out of learners through M&E (especially during this time of COVID-19 and beyond) and aim to use the award money to enhance the data management system for tracking educational outcomes for children.”
De Nobrega says NACCW has a memorandum of understanding with the Department of Basic Education for implementing the model. The organisation plans to work in partnership with the provincial and national Departments of Education to ensure that their indicators, data collection tools and other components of the M&E system are aligned to national (and international) standards.
Says Trialogue Director Cathy Duff: “The MTN Foundation, in partnership with Trialogue, launched the MTN Awards for Social Change in 2019, to encourage and reward good M&E practice in the non-profit sector. This year, a total of R1 million in prize money has been awarded to winning NPOs in three categories, as well as a fourth bonus award winner.
“We warmly congratulate NACCW on a well-deserved win, and hope they will inspire other NPOs to take M&E more seriously and incorporate it into their programmes. The MTN Awards for Social Change have highlighted the importance of M&E and we so appreciate the support of the MTN Foundation.”
