This programme takes care of the Social Development Goals of the MGDs. CULINKE acknowledges that economic growth is essential for poverty reduction, but it is not sufficient. Growth must be accompanied by measures that ensure its benefits reach all segments of the population. Beyond integrated and broad-based growth, social development goals through the Social and Community Services Programme takes into account both economic and social dimensions of well being, namely:-

 

1. Reducing income poverty and inequality;
2. Increasing levels of high-quality educational attainment and improving health outcomes;
3. Eliminating social exclusion, and gender and ethnic discrimination;
4. Increasing the participation of marginalized groups in the political and decision-making process;
5. Preventing crime and violence by teaching skills for employment and creating job opportunities.

 

The Social and Community Services programme is about CULINKE caring for, and effectively supporting the vulnerable  while promoting also social justice. The programme is a crosscutting one covering the following social concerns:-

 

1. Women and Poverty;

2. the Girl-child and her Education;

3. Youth and Youth Employability. 

 

It is the one programme that brings community members “together” in our poverty reduction efforts exploiting traditional knowledge and coping mechanisms. It is closely linked to the Health Concern Partnerships and is guided by the principle of Social Capital.

 

In Africa the term community or African Socialism means brotherhood, unity and a deep sense of belonging. Africans are by their very nature communal and have remained so inspite of the effects of the ravages of famine, drought, war, and disease especially HIV & AIDS not to mention the fragile health systems infrastructure. Africans therefore suffer from collective poverty whose effects have taken a holistic negative toll on all the social aspects and services resulting into the collapse of coping mechanisms which inherently calls for a social capital approach.

 

Evidently there is need for an integrated intervention, because poverty is a multi-faceted problem requiring a multi-stake holder approach, which is what we are doing through the social capital principle, building on the strengths and structures of the local community to help them in their self help efforts. We are do this in CULINKE by partnering with communities by guiding community-driven initiatives through our Social and Community Services programme.

 

Social capital refers to the norms and networks that enable collective action, in this case against collective poverty. Also referred to as social cohesion, social capital is critical for poverty reduction and sustainable human and economic development. Robert Putnam (Putnam, 1995, pp 664-5) defines it as the "features of social life - networks, norms, and trust - that enable participants to act together more effectively to pursue shared objectives. Social capital, in short, refers to social connections and the attendant norms and trust". The World Bank (1999) defines it as “the institutions, relationships, and norms that shape the quality and quantity of a society's social interactions." The OECD defines social capital as "networks together with shared norms, values and understandings that facilitate co-operation within or among groups." Social capital is not just the sum of the institutions that underpin a society - it is the glue that holds them together.

It is for the reason that through social cohesion societies can be helped to prosper economically and achieve sustainable development that CULINKE is revising approaches to poverty reduction by employing the use of this principle. Social capital for us is not just confined to communities we work closely with but all our partners globally in terms of the partnership approach we are advocating between the international partners, NGOs, corporates and local communities together with the Government. Broadly in CULINKE we see social capital as the “personal” relationships that aid in achieving goals and as social networks and features such as trust or norms of reciprocity engrained in them.

 

The CULINKE Social and Community Services programme therefore exists to basically facilitate the local communities to join hands amongst themselves and then with other like minded partners mitigate the effects poverty before they embark on direct poverty reduction activities. To ensure that the Social and Community Services programme is productive, CULINKE uses Community based and local social accountability monitoring methodologies through appropriate grassroots social accountability and monitoring tools including the community scorecard process.

 

 

 - Vocational Training e.g. business development skills, Computer training, tailoring, handicraft training - batik, tie.