In Brief
Appeal target: CHF 374,836 (USD
297,370 or EUR 237,388);
Appeal coverage: 145.8%.
This Annual Report reflects activities implemented over a one-year period; they form part of, and are based on, longer-term, multi-year planning.
Operational context
Approximately 56.1% of the population still lives below the income poverty line (USD 2 per day). Lesotho is one of the southern African countries affected by HIV and AIDS, compounded by long spells of drought which led to food shortages. In 2005, Lesotho, not only experienced drought and inability to grow food, but also extreme winter and raging hail storms which destroyed plants and blew away roofs of several houses in the city of Maseru and the surrounding area. According to the Ministry of Health, the high HIV and AIDS infection rate (HIV prevalence - ages 15-49 estimated at 28.9%) results in increased number of orphans and other children made vulnerable by HIV and AIDS (OVC). Food shortages have posed challenges for efficient service delivery to home-based care (HBC) clients. This has increased the level of dependency. Lesotho is an agro-based economy complemented by light manufacturing industry and remittances from the South African mining sector.
Lesotho Red Cross Society focused on implementing activities within health and care, disaster management and organizational development. The strategic development plan (2002- 2006) was developed in accordance with the African Red Cross Health initiatives (ARCHI) 2010 and activities were implemented in line with the government's objective of reducing the vulnerability of communities affected by HIV and AIDS. The HIV and AIDS care support and prevention activities were scaled up to address the health needs and reducing the suffering of the affected communities. The HIV and AIDS programme has four components namely; prevention, HBC, OVC care and support, as well as food security in four districts under the supervision of the project officer. HIV and AIDS prevention was enhanced through information dissemination, training of adults and youth on HIV and AIDS prevention, and reduction of stigma and discrimination. Provision of prevention services included condom
distribution, voluntary counselling and testing (VCT) and prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) services. Advocacy activities were centred on anti stigma, protecting rights of people living with HIV and AIDS (PLWHA), OVCs and other marginalised groups of the population. The OVC projects targeted pre-school, in and out-of school youth and provided psychosocial, material and educational support. Support groups were instrumental in providing psychological support to HBC clients.
Through its clinics in Kena, Mapholaneng, Kolojane and Thaba-Bosiu, the national society provided services including immunisations for children under-five years, ante-natal care for expectant mothers, curative services for minor ailments and referrals of the major illnesses as well as follow-ups to HBC clients. Another important service is voluntary counselling and testing (VCT). The national society worked in close collaboration with the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare for purposes of referrals and support.
While there was a general improvement in programming, there remains a need to enhance management, and monitoring and evaluation of projects in order to sustain the programmes. The national society also lacked sustainable funding for volunteer management, staff development and motivation, replenishing disaster management stocks. The year 2005 presented some challenges in disaster management in the form of response to sudden onset (floods and hurricanes) and slow onset (food security) emergencies. However, the national society demonstrated an improvement in response capacity by investing in training in basic disaster management, technical and material resources.
In 2005, food security projects were successfully implemented in the most food insecure provinces The Federation launched the Southern Africa Food Insecurity Appeal (05EA023) in October 2005, for seven countries (Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe). Through a coordinated operation with the LRCS as the implementing partner, the Federation regional delegation appealed to support the affected population with food assistance, livelihood approach, provision of safe water and adequate sanitation. The establishment of the food security task force enabled the national society to develop a plan of action which guided the implementation of the operation and managed support and resources from other donors.
All International Federation assistance seeks to adhere to the Code of Conduct and is committed to the Humanitarian Charter and Minimum Standards in Disaster Response in delivering assistance to the most vulnerable. For support to or for further information concerning Federation programmes or operations in this or other countries, please access the Federation's website at http://www.ifrc.org
For further information specifically related to this Annual Appeal please contact:
- In Lesotho: Thabelo Ramatlapeng, Secretary General, Lesotho Red Cross Society, Maseru; Email: redcross@redcross.org.ls; Phone:+266.313.911, Fax:+ 266.310.166
- In Zimbabwe: Françoise Le Goff, Head of Southern Africa Regional Delegation, Harare; Email: francoise.legoff@ifrc.org; Phone: +263.4.70.61.55, +263.4.72.03.15; Fax: +263.4.70.87.84
- In Geneva: Terry Carney, Federation Regional Officer for Southern Africa, Africa Dept., Geneva; Email: terry.carney@ifrc.org; Phone: +41.22.730.42.98, Fax: +41.22.7 33.03.97
(pdf* format - 148 KB)