Pledge to make a difference, together.
NACC envisions health, resilient and prosperous communities. To achieve this, NACC work with vulnerable communities to develop household resilience in addressing development challenges in the rural, underserved and hard to reach areas in the southern Malawi focusing on: (i) Child development; (ii) Health; (iii) Education; (iv) Sustainable livelihood; (v) Protection and safeguarding of children and vulnerable adults; and (vi) Environmental restoration.
Needed Action for Community Care & Development (NACC), is a vibrant and unique registered not for profit making local NGO, founded in 1996 as a community response to HIV and AIDS pandemic in Namwera, Mangochi, Malawi. By then, Mangochi HIV prevalence rate was 21% (MDHS 2004). Over the years, NACC expanded its scope of work and geographical coverage beyond Mangochi to Machinga, Balaka, Zomba and Mulanje districts in Southern Malawi. Our target groups are children aged below 18 years, in school and out of school youth, lactating mothers, pregnant women, adolescent girls and young women, children with disabilities, street connected kids, People Living with HIV, Sex Workers, key population, local leaders, traditional healers and herbalists among others.
Strategic Objectives i. Improved caregiving environment for optimal child development ii. Improved equitable access to quality health care services in the rural and hard to reach areas iii. Improved learning environment to enhance transition, persistence and pass rate among girls and boys. iv. Improved sustainable livelihood v. Improved dignity of women, girls and children vi. Improved resilient to climate change through environmental restoration
NACC use innovative, sustainable, impactful, scalable and proven community driven approaches that ignite communities' interest to lead in defining the future they want and fulfilling their dreams. Below are some of the approaches.
a) Social and Community Mobilization - To raise awareness and act on issues affecting women, girls and children. NACC use multiple Social and Community Mobilization approaches such as Targeted Outreach Communication. This includes outdoor video screening, interactive drama shows, one on one and/or small group discussions, community dialogue and interface meetings. This helps adolescent girls, pregnant women, lactating mothers, caregivers, community leaders, and key populations to understand and play their role in addressing issues affecting their lives. The process also helps the program participants to rate their satisfactory in the delivery of services. b) Human Centered Design (HCD) Approach - Through HCD, NACC empathize, engage and interact with key actors in child development, education, health, livelihoods, environmental restoration, protection and safeguarding of children and vulnerable adults. Through this approach problems are identified, defined, prioritized and solutions are co-created. The process empowers the communities to define their future.
c) Capacity building - NACC facilitated the establishment of Community Based Organizations, Youth NGOs, People Living with HIV Support Groups (PLHIV), Care groups, Child Protection Committees, School Management Committees, Mother Support Groups, Children Corners, ECD Centre Management Committees, Expert Clients, Referral Hubs and Technical Working Groups at community and district levels among others. To properly execute their functions, NACC builds the capacity of these frontline worker through: (i) Specialized training which is relevant to their area of focus; (ii) Mentorship and coaching (iii) Learning cycles (iv) Peer learning (v) Supportive visits among others.
d) Infrastructure development - through Community mobilization, NACC is improving school and early childhood development infrastructure such as girls' hostels, classroom blocks, libraries, laboratories, teachers' houses, and wash rooms for girls. NACC established Community Education Fund that support school improvement plans.
e) Comprehensive Community Scorecard - To enhance transparency and accountability to people that we serve, stakeholders that we collaborate with, partners and funders, NACC uses participatory monitoring and social accountability tools such as Comprehensive Community Scorecard. This builds trust, promote program ownership and sustainability. The people we serve rate the quality of our service delivery against the national standards. It is through this process that program participants express their aspirations and improve the service delivery.
f) Education sponsorship to needy secondary school and university students NACC support needy students in public secondary schools and universities. This reduces school dropout rate and promote retention among adolescent girls and boys coming humble background. Using Community Education Fund, NACC is supporting thousands of students in accessing quality secondary and tertiary education.
g) Networking and collaboration NACC believes in multi-sector collaboration and networking. This helps NACC to maximize expertise and reach out to more program participants. In the process, skills transfer is enhanced.