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Seminar on the impact of HIV/AIDS on land reform in KwaZulu-Natal
Hosted by the Southern African Regional Poverty Network and the Centre for HIV/AIDS Networking University of Natal, Durban
Scott Drimie
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Deborah Heustice
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[Briefing note]
[Seminar proceedings]
[Delegates]
[Annexures]
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Seminar proceedings
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5.2. A "way forward": An intervention at the local level to help develop
an effective policy
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Considering the lack of success the DLA HIV/AIDS desk had experienced in integrating their mandate in some provinces, it was suggested that it would be strategic to implement such an overview in KZN where the seminar had already served to strengthen ties between the HIV/AIDS desk and provincial officials. This process would be built on in other provinces at a later stage.
This also meant an integration of detailed information of how HIV/AIDS was impacting at local situations—namely the level of the individual and household. This information would allow appropriate, practical considerations to be made in addressing how locally based people could sustain land and food in the face of the pandemic. There was therefore suggested that there was a need to establish relevant information through:
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Mapping and integrating information on current land reform activities which would focus HIV/AIDS efforts where there is high prevalence;
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Monitoring and evaluation of such projects;
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Household studies / quality of life surveys; and
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Multiple land and non-land based livelihood activities.
Once this type of information was established it would be possible to think through appropriate interventions for land reform for beneficiaries that were affected in specific ways by HIV/AIDS. Relevant strategies could then be operationalised to target particular areas as pilots, e.g. the Drakensberg development projects. If HIV/AIDS was factored in as a major component of the pilot project then attention would be gained from a range of agencies, particularly international institutions such as donors who have targeted the pandemic. Such strategies should include
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Settlement and land use planning;
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Rural re-organisation; and
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Access to roads, energy, water.
This implies that the strategies should be integrated with other agents of development such as government departments, NGOs, CBOs, research institutions and international agencies. The specific intervention should be workshopped with local government in terms of planning and service provision to the beneficiaries of land reform. In order for such strategies to be followed through it was suggested that a local institution, possibly an NGO, should facilitate the process to ensure that a policy change was implemented with the required commitment from the responsible agencies.
It was debated at the seminar whether this “local” workshop should be with officials or with community representatives or a combination of both. It was decided that while a community level workshop was needed, this would have to be preceded by discussions with officials at the national and provincial level. This was in order to sensitise management in both DLA and NDA about the issue. This has been discussed in
Section 5.1.1.
Once support has been achieved with this level then local workshops should be conducted with officials (planners, extension officers), local councillors and agencies such as the UNDP who would bring in experience of similar initiatives from around the region.
An additional strategic objective of the pilot should be to integrate HIV/AIDS into the performance management system in the project being implemented. This would enable the HIV/AIDS desk at DLA to persuade the management and leadership within the department to realise what the pandemic is doing at the beneficiary level. Another objective of the HIV/AIDS desk should be to persuade management that job descriptions and performance management systems should include clauses that encourage or ensure that HIV/AIDS is factored into work being done, and also in the work place policy. This would be coupled to the implementation of HIV/AIDS awareness programmes amongst the staff and the land reform beneficiaries.
The purpose of such a process would be to develop a clear approach on how to integrate HIV/AIDS practically into policies before involving communities in implementation.
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