Sponsored Field Visit to Swaziland

Issued : Thursday 3 April, 2008

In October 2008, Skillshare will bring members of leading Irish NGOs to visit two of our partner organisations and their projects in Swaziland, the country with the highest HIV/AIDS prevalence in the world and a severe problem with gender-based violence (GBV).

Swaziland Action Group Against Abuse (SWAGAA) works with survivors of GBV to develop sustainable livelihoods, strengthen their voices at all levels in raising awareness of the problem, advocate for the development of relevant policies in the area of GBV and play active roles in implementing SWAGAA programs. Click here for further information on SWAGAA.

Swaziland Network of People living with HIV & AIDS enables greater involvement of people living with the condition, to encourage positive living, through strengthening their support groups and their capacity to advocate, facilitating shared learning and experiences and developing support for psycho-socio and livelihood support. It is also piloting a holistic approach towards proving support to orphans and vulnerable groups. Click here for further information on People Living With HIV and AIDS project.

The purpose of the sponsored field visit is to:

• develop a dialogue between Irish and Swazi NGOs;
• build long-term development links;
• raise funds to support survivors of gender-based violence and people living with HIV and AIDS.

The visit will provide an opportunity for Irish NGOs to share experiences, learning and best practice with sister NGOs from Swaziland. It is open to representatives of NGOs and relevant agencies and professionals. The event will last ten days (a working week) in October. Each organisation is asked to pay both costs of their delegates and a contribution to the Swazi NGOs.

If you are interested in joining us or sending someone else from your organisation, please contact Bruce Clark for a briefing pack - email bruce.clark@skillshare.org or telephone (01) 874 8188.

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