PROGRAMMES
Health Sector
In South Africa, the issue of utmost importance with regards to the Health sector is the need to rebalance the use of available resources to benefit those communities that were profoundly disadvantaged during the Apartheid era. Among other things, this issue must also be handled in a context in which most of the middle Management and Executives working in the competent South African Departments are new and do not have specific managerial experience.
In this context, Italy has started various cooperation projects with the intention of preparing and supporting the collection and analysis of information needed to rationalise the use of the available resources.
Other projects were then introduced to combat South Africa’s major health emergencies, and first among these is the fight against HIV/ AIDS.
The above mentioned projects (a direct result of the agreements reached between Presidents Ciampi and Mbeki in 2002) are managed by highly qualified personnel from the Italian Superior Institute of Health as well as by technicians from the Italian Cooperation project who are continuously working in close collaboration with the competent South African Institutions. Such activities are taking place at Central and Provincial levels.
Currently, the main projects in the Health sector are as follows:
· Training of human resources and providing support to national Institutions in the fields of information and health management in South Africa - Period: 2003 – 2006: Value: approx. 4,7 million Euros.
· Providing support to the programme for mothers of infants and information systems in KwaZulu Natal – Period: 2003 – 2006: Value: 1,6 million Euros.
· Providing support to the South African Health Department in terms of the development of the strategic planning and the coordination of health policies - Period: 2004 – 2009: Value: approx 3,2 million Euros.
· Providing support for the improvement of planning capabilities by the Health Department of Health in KwaZulu Natal and supporting the fight against big epidemics. Period: 2004 – 2006: Value: approx 2,2 million Euros.
Education
Between 2002 and 2004, approximately 1,000 scholarships a year were distributed to students from the more disadvantaged backgrounds.
Furthermore, Italy also financed the construction of a Museum of photography focused around the historical figure of Alf Khumalo, with an attached School for the Professional Training of Photographers, in Soweto, one of the most depressed areas of Johannesburg.
Supporting the private sector
In the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises sector, two portions of the 1996 plan were fulfilled (worth about 3 million Euros) as part of a greater programme totalling a value of about 9 million Euro, carried out by the UNOPS in 5 South African provinces (Eastern cape, Northern Cape, Northern Province, Mpumalanga and Free State). This recently concluded programme (Small Enterprises Human Development – SEHD) saw to providing assistance to the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) with respect to local and outlying areas and was based on an integrated approach, through systematically supporting the entire cycle of an enterprise as well as of the interdepartmental coordination structures as they exist in the country.
Still with regards to the support provided to the private sector, an important project has now entered its start-up phase worth 8,7 million Euros that is geared towards benefiting the development of Small and Medium Enterprises: Innovative Local Development Initiatives (ISLED).
In this field the following two projects managed by Italian NGO’s were carried out: Support to the programme for Local Business Service Centres, Northern Cape Province and Support to the organisation of the Civil Society in the Northern Cape (CISP).
Multilateral Programmes
Via multilateral channels, Italy, through the UNDCP, has furthermore contributed to two specific programmes in the fight against drug trafficking, (approximately 1 million Euro) concerning South Africa and certain neighbouring States (Mozambique and Swaziland) and it contributes to a regional programme by UNESCO on the development of informal education through the use of information technologies that also concerns Benin, Mali, Mozambique and Uganda.
Protecting the Environment
In 2003, the cross-border environmental programme with Mozambique and Zimbabwe was approved, for a value of 2 million Euro, for which a protocol for its fulfilment is being negotiated with the World Union for Environmental Conservation (IUCN), which has been chosen as the Institute in charge of carrying out the programme.
In conclusion, it is certain that the Italian cooperation programme is very much appreciated, particularly, as regards its support to the Health sector and to local institutions.
Of these two components, the Health sector, which has expanded much more than originally forecast, to the mutual satisfaction of both parties, has made Italy one of the principal partners that the Department of Health speaks to, also thanks to the numerous activities carried out, autonomously, by the ISS (Italian Superior Institute of Health).