MIET AFRICA has just started on the Leveraging Partnerships to Achieve the Goals of South Africa’s HIV& AIDS and STI National Strategic Plan 2012-16, or as it is otherwise known, “Keeping Girls in Schools”. This is a Department of Basic Education (DBE) initiative that is funded by the Global Fund. NACOSA (the Networking HIV/AIDS Community of South Africa) is the managing agent, and MIET AFRICA has been brought in as the implementing partner. It will run until 31 March 2016.
The aim is to provide support to the DBE to strengthen its ability to keep girls in schools. This will be done by strengthening the quality of existing life skills, peer education and other support programmes in schools. A “basket of support services” will be targeted at young women in the schooling system in order to retain them until they complete Grade 12.
The project will be run in Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal and Mpumalanga in 286 schools that have female learners in Grades 7-9. In total, 40 000 girls will be targeted.
