CUBS Project
Community Based Support for Orphans and Vulnerable Children (CUBS) Project:
CUBS project was a USAID project funded through Management Sciences for Health (MSH), ESERC was one of the CSOs that implemented the project in Enugu State.
ESERC implemented the CUBS project in Enugu East LGA, between June 2011 and June 2014. In total ESERC enrolled 1,401 OVC and 550 caregivers and provided 6+1 services to them.
Goal/Objectives: To support the government of Nigeria to implement its National Plan of Action on OVC by developing and strengthening community based services delivery for OVC as well as building community ownership, reducing gender discrimination and increasing OVC involvement and advocacy.
Activities/Interventions: The activities targets OVC aged 0-17 years and adult caregivers. ESERC served 1,401 OVC and 550 households in Enugu East LGA with 6 + 1 in consistency with the National OVC Guidelines. These services included:
• Psychosocial support,
• Health
• Education and skills
• Legal protection
• Shelter and Care
• Food and Nutrition and
• Household Economic Strengthening.
The project additionally offered a variety of innovative OVC service delivery approaches that were community-based and Family-centered, reaching the most venerable and hard-to-reach populations such as Street Children, OVC who do not attend school, church, etc.
Other activities carried out by ESERC included:
• Formation of Child Protection Committee (CPC) in 5 Communities in Enugu East LGA
• Provision of Birth certificate
• Re-application of CSI
• School monitoring
• Provision of Block Grant to 3 Schools for education access for the OVC.
• Organized different trainings for the Caregivers on different areas such as; Food and Nutrition, Psychosocial support, household economic strengthening etc
• Provided seed grants for 50 caregivers to start up a business
• Training of community volunteers
• Recreational activities for the OVC
• Home/schools visits
• One-on-one and group counseling for the OVC and their households
• Formation of Adolescent Girls Club in communities of intervention
• Formation of Village Savings and Loans Association (VSLA) in Enugu East LGA
• Formation of Kids' Club in communities of intervention.
• Provision of Life Skills & RH, HIV Prevention activities/HCT through Kids/Youth Club to 90 OVC in 3 communities. (30 in each community)
Project Indicator: Number of OVC enrolled = 1,401
Number of OVC maintained = 1401
Number of caregivers trained on different skills= 550
Number of caregivers empowered economically = 50
Challenges: Some specified interventions are sometimes not consistent with the traditional values of the intervention communities.
Some services like HES do not make provisions for up to 20% of the OVC and their caregivers
Inadequate funding which has not reflected into effective household strengthening of the families involved in the programme
