NICRO Annual Report 2001 - 2002

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The Community Victim Support Programme (CVS)

Programme innovations, all of which were made in response to the needs of the external environment and the evolution of the victim support movement, have ensured that CVS has stayed ahead of victim support developments in the country.
Advocacy initiatives at a national and local level remain critical components of the programme.

Statistics: 2001 - 2002

• A staff complement of 42 service deliverers and over 1 025 active volunteers worked in 85 specific communities.
• 47 victim support centres operated from police stations, courts, clinics, community centres and other venues.
• The CVS programme served over 34 800 individuals, a 58.3% increase on last year; an additional 8 504 were reached through workshops.
• Domestic violence cases continued to form a large percentage of the work in all provinces with over 10 583 domestic violence victims accessing services.
• Females constituted 74% of our clients.
• A total of 2 363 external service providers were trained during the period under review.
• Over 1 557 community volunteers were trained to render support services to victims and to run community projects.
• Community outreach and educational programmes reached 13 917 people.
  

  New initiatives undertaken in the past year include:

• The Journey wilderness therapy programme for abused women in the Western Cape
• A preventive programme for perpetrators of domestic violence in the Eastern Cape and Western Cape
• Job creation projects for female victims of abuse in rural communities
• HIV/AIDS related projects
• The introduction of support programmes at schools to address the high incidence of violence in schools and the growing number of children affected by violence in their homes and communities - over 3 000 individuals were reached through these intervention programmes
• Rural models of intervention to address the needs of rural communities and provide services where they are required most
  
  
  Participants in a march to parliament, in support of victims
  in South Africa

Diversion (DIV)

• The NICRO/JUTA Xpressions Essay and Art Competition attracted 1 750 entries, approximately 800 more than in 2000; 1st prize awarded to Abri de Swardt (13) in November 2001
• National Diversion training for all programme staff in July 2001
• Diversion training for NICRO workers and volunteers: management, group facilitation and presentation skills - February and March 2002
• The output-based performance of the Eastern Cape, Free State, Limpopo and North West Programmes were consistently high throughout the year with each achieving outputs significantly higher than target; similarly the Northern Cape and KwaZulu- Natal performed well, exceeding target.

Statistics: 2001- 2002

• Direct services rendered to 17 370 young people, representing a 26% increase in comparison to the previous year
• An additional 6 795 individuals were reached through interactive workshops - 3 330 more than the intended target of 3 465. Of these, 240 were individuals who were involved in volunteer training workshops
• Gender profile: 78% of clients were male
• Race profile: African 62%; Coloured 28%; White 7% and Asian 3%
• Offence profile: property crimes 74%; crimes against the person 14%; victimless/other crimes 12%
• The Youth Empowerment Scheme (YES) Programme continues to serve the largest number of clients (8 371) and is now facilitated mainly by volunteers
  

Youth participants - Gauteng

If you remove hunger you remove poverty. NICRO really assisted me. Suwa Nono - De Aar

I was blind but NICRO and SIYB opened my eyes and now I can see far away concerning my business. Shadrack Jele - Nelspruit

Economic Opportunities Project (EOP)

The Economic Opportunities Programme is geared towards training and developing former offenders, victims of crime, youth at risk and other marginalised, vulnerable individuals, equipping them with the necessary entrepreneurial skills, tools and support services to become economically self sustaining. By stimulating and supporting the development of small businesses and job creation within the informal sector NICRO makes a significant contribution towards promoting the self-sufficiency and economic independence of its EOP clients.

EOP has made me my own boss. The relationship with NICRO is always like that of a mother to a child. They are always there for me. Hetser Thamae - Kroonstad

Statistics: 2001- 2002

• 21 service points in all nine provinces offered business skills training, counselling and other support and after care services, business linkage opportunities and financial support services
• 195 Business Awareness Workshops were conducted, reaching a total of 3 032 clients, 43% of whom were women
• 81 Start and Improve Your Own Business (SIYB) training programmes were run for 1 056 individuals with an average of 13 participants attending each training programme
• 628 new businesses were started and 1 729 new jobs created
• EOP service deliverers provided support services and after care to 2 493 clients

Offender Reintegration Programme (OR)

The Offender Reintegration Programme comprises five components:

• The Tought Enough Programme (TEP)
• The Esther Lategan Study Fund (providing bursaries for both adult prisoners and the children of imprisoned persons)
• The Creative Arts Competition
• The Working for Water Project
• The NICRO Bus Service (Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal).

Despite being relatively new and having only been implemented for the last two years TEP, an intensive 9-12 month intervention programme, has become the main focus of NICRO's Offender Reintegration Programme. Beginning in prison six month prior to release, TEP continues during the crucial months while ex-offenders are reintegrated into society, thus providing support on both sides of the prison wall. National TEP training for all programme staff was conducted in Gauteng in June 2001. Statistics: 2001-2002

• 2608 individual beneficiaries and 3700 reached through workshops
• 890 clients participated in TEP, which is operational in 29 prisons in eight provinces and involves 28 service delivery staff and five provincial programme managers
• 268 children's educational bursaries were disbursed
• the Working for Water Project, which involves placing NICRO clients within existing Working for Water teams to clear alien vegetation, is currently operational in five provinces and provided employment opportunities for 96 beneficiaries

Copies of this Annual Report are available from the NICRO National Office nicro@wn.apc.org