The Alliance for Child Survival and Development, known more commonly as Konesans Fanmi for their motto “Konesans Fanmi Se Lespwa Timoun” (Family Knowledge is Children’s Hope) was founded as a public and private sector and media membership organization in February 1989. Initially a project of UNICEF for mobilizing the population in favor of children through family education, ASDE/KF is now autonomous with a mission broadened to include reproductive health for women and adolescents. It has received financing from State Ministries of Haiti, UNICEF, USAID, the European Union and Global Fund. Activities to date encompass IEC and advocacy. It involves 37 institutions and organizations in health and development education; media membership extends to 35 print, radio and television media which have been particularly effective in helping ASDE/KF gain free and low cost access to communications channels.
PAST PERFORMANCE/PAST EXPERIENCE
The Alliance pour la Survie et le Développement de l’Enfant/Konesans Fanmi was created to undertake advocacy Actions for the survival and development of children through social . mobilization and parental education. Based within UNICEF/Haïti during its first years of existence, it derived benefit from the expertise and sustained training of UNICEF in the above mentioned areas.
From 1988 to 1992, through a joint funding of USAID, OMS, UNICEF and FNUAP, ASDE/KF has conducted the parental education program Mobilisation Sociale et d’Education en Survie et Développement de l’Enfant at national level using a triple alliance strategy involving the media, the Institutions of the private and public sectors and community-based organizations. Thanks to this alliance with the media and to the Institutional partners, the program penetrated the majority of Haitian families. The results of the project assessment in 1995 outlined following facts:
ASDE/KF is well implanted in Haitian life
ASDE/KF options (objectives, strategies and approaches) meet real needs
ASDE/KF comes forward as an umbrella organization that greatly contributes to harmonize the actions in favor of children
ASDE/KF puts at disposal of local institutions facilitating tools to educate target groups
From 1995 to 1996, ASDE/KF implemented a similar program targeting public schools with the National Ministry of Education spread out in seven departments. Educational materials for teachers and pupils were produced. The project covered about 150,000 pupils and 20,000 parents. The experience has proven that children can effectively establish a dialogue with their peers and parents and take charge of siblings entrusted in absence of their parents.
From 1996 to 1999, taking advantage of a financial aid of ACDI, FNUAP, UNICEF and of Futures Group International, it has undertaken an Action d’Education et de Mobilisation des Organisations Communautaires de Femmes en Santé de la Reproduction aiming at reducing the impact of maternal morbidity and mortality on children. Nearly 200 organizations were mobilized in 5 departments of Haiti. Thanks to an alliance strategy with public health institutions and social NGOs, about 20,000 women and girls benefited from education sessions on prevention of early and unwanted pregnancies, of high-risk pregnancies, and family planning. As a result, organizations increased their mobilization capacity and the capacity of education of members, launching advocacy actions for the consideration of their strategic interests.
From 1999 to 2001, ASDE/KF developed by means of a funding of HS-2004/USAID the project Initiative Media, the goal of which was the training of 55 journalists and 27 health communication professionals based in 5 departments of the country with the assistance of of local JNU/PCS using the guide “Bringing the media to cover family planning”. Particularly interesting results were obtained:
A qualitative and quantitative increase of media coverage through production and dissemination of materials conceived by journalists ;
A substantial improvement of the level of the relations between health personnel and journalists.
During the same period, the Plan International/Haïti helped KF in the development of a project using the « Child to Child » approach to teach survival skills to children of the Western department. As a result, participating adolescents demonstrated the following facts:
A remarkable improvement in the degree of knowledge of nutrition, prevention of early pregnancies and STI-AIDS ;
Their capacity to educate their parents and to demand improvements in their living conditions ;
Their interest and enthusiasm to carry out concrete actions in their community.
In the same period, UNICEF provided a technical and financial support to ASDE/KF for the experimentation of a Community-based communication strategy in partnership with the the Ministry of Social Affairs and MSPP through the setting up of community action cells of community organizations. Training and sensitization tools and materials were developed and exploited by the beneficiaries. The project assessment executed in 2003 showed following results:
a strong mobilization of the communities involved;
the anchoring of cells members in their community;
an appropriate training material, adapted to the beneficiaries, proven and tested out.
For the period 2001/2004, HS-2004 contributed to the funding of interventions aiming at counterbalancing the information gap of the women and their aptitude to negotiate through a CommunityMobilization Strategy. The results indicated : (i) that women groupings can contribute to education of their peers, (ii) that knowledge improvement has lead to an increase of the request for services in STI-AIDS.
From 2003 to date, within the framework of projects financed by Global Fund, ASDE-KF initiated innovative strategies of DistanceEducation of Listening groups in the schools concerning sexuality and prevention of STI-AIDS, and of Community Mobilization with the help of local artists, community-based groups and the media. A Mobile Unit of Education and Health Services (UMESS) fosters the awareness of the youth above all on the social norms in relation to stigmatization, risk behaviors and the search for VCT services. This Mobile Unit guarantees referral and provision of VCT services for youth living in rural areas. These activities are monitored by accurate and measurable indicators every three months. The outcomes of the undertaken interventions are available.
As a matter of fact, the record of the realizations of ASDE/KF during the last years, as well as the quality of the achieved results, constitutes a demonstration that speaks by itself, and is the best plea for its institutional capacities to manage (technically, administratively, financially) large-scale projects comparable to the one of APS 521-05-013 subject of the bid for proposals of USAID/CDC Program. Its experience in implementation, development, follow-up and analysis of performance and management indicators are obvious. The field of HIV-AIDS in particular represents the favorite ground on which ASDE/KF successfully conducted actions the results of which are an example of transparency as regards the fight against the AIDS pandemic as a real problem of public health in Haiti.
In order to extend its institutional universe and reinforce the range of services offered to the target populations, ASDE/KF is opening up to other actors intervening in the sphere under study. It considers establishing partnership links with other Haitian organizations of the diaspora within the context of a more and more convivial approach that takes into account the interdependence of to-day’s world in all areas.
Lastly, ASDE/KF is patiently forging an increasing dense network of collaboration both with national technical and administrative entities and other partners of the NGO sector and actively advocates an interactive and permanent dialogue leading towards conceptualization, implementation and development of similar programs.
Such is the new institutional philosophy of ASDE/KF within this third millennium where collective survival calls for the pooling of all individual and collective skills.
The Alliance for Child Survival and Development, known more commonly as Konesans Fanmi for their motto “Konesans Fanmi Se Lespwa Timoun” (Family Knowledge is Children’s Hope) was founded as a public and private sector and media membership organization in February 1989. Initially a project of UNICEF for mobilizing the population in favor of children through family education, ASDE/KF is now autonomous with a mission broadened to include reproductive health for women and adolescents. It has received financing from State Ministries of Haiti, UNICEF, USAID, the European Union and Global Fund. Activities to date encompass IEC and advocacy. It involves 37 institutions and organizations in health and development education; media membership extends to 35 print, radio and television media which have been particularly effective in helping ASDE/KF gain free and low cost access to communications channels.