PROGRAMMES

The PCRD has two main programmes, these are:

Community Transformation and Capacity Building Programme

The PCRD has developed an effective community development model over the past eleven years of working in rural communities. The aim is to equip CBO’s, NGO’s, Faith Based Organisations, Women’s and Youth Forums with capacity building skills such as Conflict Management, Mediation, Financial Management, Strategic Planning, Fundraising and Gender Awareness. These skills are necessary if conflict is to be reduced and managed and for development to take place or continue, as too often in community development, organisations and communities have had conflicts over financial control, governance and organisational development as they did not have the skills to implement these properly. Training communities and organisations in these and other skills will assist with the conflict resolution process as it removes many minor issues, which could escalate into a protracted conflict situation in which limited or no development will occur. These organisations would then use these newly acquired skills to improve their effectiveness in their community by delivering a better service. An important addition to the Community Programme in 2006 was the Conflict Management Programme (COMAP) that trained 12 members of CSO’s throughout the Eastern Cape as mediators.

Due to the changes to local government in South Africa and the importance these municipalities are to play in people’s lives in the future, the PCRD has become increasingly involved in supporting the transformation of these local governments and to help local communities to engage on an equal footing with the councillors and officials. The PCRD has also partnered with District Municipalities to increase the impact of our work, as the District Municipalities are tasked to facilitate the development of the local municipalities as well as to coordinate activities that can have an effect on the whole District. Currently the PCRD has worked with the CACADU District Municipality (CDM) and the Chris Hani District Municipality (CHDM) has ensured we have been able to reach a larger number of municipalities and structures in these municipalities.

The work undertaken in these local and district municipalities has been training of municipal officials to support ward committees, Development of Ward Committee Training Modules, Training Ward Committee members and Councillors in various skills, undertaking research in the area of Good Governance.

It delivers the following services:

Delivery of a Knowledge and Information process that enables local communities to take ownership of their development processes through the effective and efficient use of local information,

· Capacity building of Civil Society Organisations (CSO’s) in disadvantaged and/or at risk communities with a special focus supporting Youth, Women and Disabled Persons Structures. The support provided to these organisations focuses on assisting them to effectively interact with their local government in particular in the area’s of IDP’s and Municipal Budgets to ensure that the needs of these structures are taken into account in these processes.

· Research and development of community conflict management systems including conflict management training and the training of conflict interveners who can assist organisations and communities with dealing with conflicts once the PCRD has left the community.

· Engaging with local governments - in particular councillors, officials, ward committees and Community Development Workers - to assist them in their interactions with the broader community they serve

· Ensuring that communities have access to information and skills that will improve their living conditions by extensive networking with other development organisations.

The Education Programme

The PCRD has been training in educational institutions since its inception and has developed a considerable body of knowledge and skills to assist these institutions in their development. The PCRD has been able to successfully pilot a number of processes in schools, working with all the stakeholders in a school, Educators, Learners & School Governing Bodies. These interventions have enabled us to develop good working relationships with the Education Districts & with other NGO’s working in the same field. With the alarming increase in the levels of violence at schools that were reported in the media in 2006 PCRD feels that its focus to work to create a culture of safe and peaceful schools and to develop the capacity of district officials to continue the programme has become very relevant to the needs of schools and District Education Offices.

Background

In 2002 the PCRD tested a project called New Frontiers in Education. This programme entailed engaging with educators and other NGO’s around issues that schools are having to confront but did not either know how to or did not wish to. The topics that were dealt with were: Values and Diversity, Sexual Harassment, Gender Equity, HIV & AIDS, Inclusion, Drug Policy and Sexual Orientation. The seminars and workshops proved very popular with an average of 65 people attending. The PCRD felt that this programme needed to go further to link the policies, the resources and the practical steps a school can take to prevent conflicts into a holistic process with a primary goal in mind of creating safe places of learning for children. In 2003/04 the PCRD ran two projects to achieve this aim the EDO Project was to help the District Officials and the Safe School Project was to assist schools. As a result of the overlap between the projects it was decided that the EDO Project would collapse into the Safe School Programme, as it would allow for the more effective use of human, financial and other resources. This decision to focus on safe schools has resulted in the PCRD providing a very effective service to Education Districts and schools. An external evaluation of the programme in 2005 recommended that PCRD continues to focus its capacity on research, materials and support to schools in the area of Safe Schools.

In 2007 the PCRD will focus on building the capacity of Education District Officials to manage conflicts that arise at schools, it will also continue to develop materials to assist schools to improve their ability to create safer schools. PCRD will also actively seek partnerships with other NGO’s working in the area of safe schools and provide training and support to them as well as continue its long term research into developing effective safe school strategies for schools.

This programme delivers the following services:

The development of Safe School Programmes which include policies, information and resources that can be used by schools and education districts in the Eastern Cape to ensure that schools become safe places of learning.

¨ Assisting schools in implementing the Safe School Programmes.

¨ A longitudinal study of the levels of safety at schools in the Port Elizabeth Education District and assisting the Schools to implement recommendations from the study.

¨ Training School Safety Committees to ensure a successful implementation of the Programmes.

¨ Conducting organisational development intervention programmes with District officials in the various Education Districts to assist in the processes of transformation in education.

Providing a resource to schools seeking information on issues confronting them in education