AFR-02

Organization title: Association of Nutrition Services Agencies (ANSA) and The National Alliance of State and Territorial AIDS Directors (NASTAD)
Field Location: Cape Town, South Africa
Policy Location: Washington, D.C.

DESCRIPTION OF ORGANIZATIONS

The Association of Nutrition Services Agencies is a leading international association of community-based food and nutrition services providers. ANSA strengthens the capacity of member agencies, advocates for public policies that promote the impact of good nutrition on health, and expands resources for the field. Internationally, ANSA partners US-based global member agencies (GMAs) with community-based organizations in developing countries for the common purpose of ensuring nutrition is firmly integrated into the continuum of care for people living with HIV/AIDS and other health challenges. Please see www.ansanutrition.org for more information

ANSA member Ikamva Labantu is a large umbrella organization serving over 50,000 people in 17 Western Cape townships and two Eastern Cape communities in South Africa. For more information go to www.ikamva.com/

The National Alliance of State and Territorial AIDS Directors (NASTAD) represents the United States’ chief state and territorial health agency staff responsible for administering AIDS health care, prevention, education and supportive service programs funded by state and federal governments. Programs administered by NASTAD members serve every U.S. population affected by and infected with HIV.

The NASTAD Global Program increases the capacity of resource-constrained countries to plan, implement, and manage HIV prevention and care activities as part of a unified U.S. government response to the HIV/AIDS pandemic. Relying on the extensive experience of NASTAD members in organizational assessment, training, policy and program development, prevention, care, integration of STD and HIV, community planning, voluntary counseling and testing, decentralization, scaling up program activities, capacity-building, fiscal management, issue of stigma and denial issues, and evaluation, the Global Program responds to identified needs and priorities of country Ministries of Health, National AIDS Control Programs, and the CDC through peer-based technical assistance, delegation visits, and workshops/trainings.

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

In South Africa, 5.5 million people are living with HIV/AIDS. In these communities many individuals and families also suffer from extreme poverty, malnutrition and food insecurity, each intensifying and complicating the effects of the other. ANSA and South African member agency Ikamva Labantu (IL) have developed the Nutrition Project to ensure IL’s current nutrition programs serve as building blocks for sustainable, individual and community development by focusing on nutrition education, capacity building, skills development, economic opportunity, support for medical therapies and, most importantly, access to nutritious food. The Project is guided by a task force that includes leadership and staff of both organizations and four US-based ANSA global member agency partners as well as expert volunteers, world-renowned consultants in agronomy, agriculture production and marketing, professional and community-based nutrition education, and IL beneficiaries. The Nutrition Project operates through IL’s existing programs which are delivered centrally through strategically located multi-purpose centers, but is restructuring and revitalizing them so that the nutrition, food support and food production elements of each program incorporates current science and methodologies in culturally competent, age and disease specific contexts.

ANSA and Ikamva Labantu will work with provincial health programs through the National Alliance of State and Territorial AIDS Directors (NASTAD). NASTAD supports government-to-government twinning relationships between four South African provincial Departments of Health AIDS Directorates and four U.S. state health department AIDS programs, resulting in bi-directional exchange of expertise and improved capacity of provincial health systems. NASTAD works closely with several South African government departments to strengthen the reach and activities offered to people living with HIV (PLHIV).

FIELD PLACEMENT

The Fellow will help build and broaden the links between the community-based programs of Ikamva Labantu and the government-based services of the Western Cape Provincial Health Department. The Fellow will work closely with ANSA, Ikamva Labantu, NASTAD and the Western Cape Provincial Health Department to identify potential areas for collaboration with various government programs and PLHIV networks in the province. They will participate in meetings, identify challenges and opportunities and develop activity and recommendation reports accordingly. The Fellow will also participate in trainings and capacity building efforts with Ikamva Labantu and the Provincial Health Department.

The Fellow will play a key role in identifying strategies to replicate and expand Ikamva Labantu’s innovative food “systems” into other communities as an extension of the basic care and treatment as outlined in the National Strategy for HIV.

POLICY PLACEMENT

Based on the successes of the Nutrition Project and the coordination between community-based and government, policy recommendations will be made for the inclusion of food & nutrition as integral components to global health programs. Policy recommendations are expected in five areas:

• Investments in care and treatment programs that include sustainable food system models
• Coordination between PLHIV network mobilization and nutrition support programs
• Basic Care Package technical assistance needs, including food and nutrition
• Nutrition’s role in treatment adherence
• Coordination between support groups/PLHIV network mobilization and nutrition

The Fellow will be placed at the Hall of States NASTAD offices and the ANSA national office in Washington, DC. The Fellow will work alongside country managers and directors who supervise the work in the field to inform on policy and programmatic direction of global nutrition programs.

The Fellow will produce recommendations for government policies that promote food & nutrition as an integral part of HIV and other health programs care packages. Of particular interest will be recommendations for food & nutrition funding as part of the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). These recommendations will be informed by the Fellow’s experiences in the field and will be further shaped by networking with allies in the field of global nutrition and health with whom the Fellow will collaborate. The Fellow will be expected to participate in hill visits, coalition meetings, applicable conferences and other venues to network with like-minded organizations, government agencies and partners. The Fellow will be placed at the ANSA office and work with the Global Program Director and staff who work in the field to inform on policy and programmatic direction of the program.

EDUCATION/EXPERIENCE REQUIRED

• Masters degree in international development, public administration, public health or similar
• Afrikaans, Xhosa or other South African language beneficial but not required
• Knowledge of Southern Africa and U.S. public health systems
• Interest in building collaborative networks; must be able to see potential ways in which systems can work together where currently they do not
• Sensitive to the needs and limitations of grassroots organizations and government programs alike
• Experience working in densely populated poverty-ridden areas helpful
• Experience working with HIV/AIDS or other health concerns in developing country

OTHER

Violent crime does occur in some areas of South Africa, particularly in large urban centers such as Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban. Traveling at night is highly discouraged and the Fellow would be advised to observe caution when working in townships and central business Districts (CBDs). It is expected the Fellow observes the security advisories published by the American Embassy Regional Security Office (RSO).

Currently South Africa is experiencing escalated violence in some townships as a result of the continued influx of refugees from neighboring countries. This unrest is due to circumstances that are likely temporary; however applicants must be aware of the potential for continued challenging conditions. Ikamva Labantu, ANSA and NASTAD as well as all community partners operate with great caution at all times and do not enter townships if there are any known elevated risks.