Introduction
Unit 1 describes a process that a mobiliser can follow to help a community start or strengthen care
for orphans and other children made vulnerable by HIV/AIDS. Community care coalitions (CCCs)
are groups or committees of individuals and organisations that are already taking responsibility for
assisting OVC and other vulnerable community members, or who are interested in doing so.
World Vision and many other organisations have recognised that short-term relief and service provision
strategies are not fully appropriate or viable to address the large-scale, long-term, multi-sectoral OVC
crisis generated by the HIV/AIDS pandemic. Thus the CCC strategy for OVC care is fundamentally
developmental, allowing for the delivery of emergency assistance as needed within community-led
initiatives that build on local resilience and assets; and especially to strengthen community capacities
to co-ordinate support efforts and mobilise resources for the care of vulnerable children.
CCCs should represent a broad spectrum of stakeholders, including the participation of OVC
themselves, in order to operate effectively within a community. A coalition of diverse community
stakeholders engenders co-operation towards a common response to OVC. A coalition structure
also improves referrals between service providers and the management and mobilisation of resources;
and strengthens project planning, accountability and advocacy.
World Vision recognises that community coalitions require both capacity building and training to achieve
their potential. This guide outlines a process for mobilising a community care coalition that covers
these important aspects. It recommends the following stages to mobilising a community care coalition,
as outlined in this module:
1 Preliminary institutional mapping
2 Community stakeholders’ meetings
3 Forming a community care coalition
4 Action planning
5 Training community care coalitions
6 Identifying OVC
7 Identifying home visitors
8 Training home visitors
9 Supporting home visitors
10 Monitoring and reporting
11 Mobilising resources.
In the course of describing these stages, this guide shares some of the experience World Vision has
gained and the lessons it has learned in working with community care coalitions.
Guide to Mobilising and Strengthening Community-Led Care for Orphans and Vulnerable Children Unit 1, Module 1^5