This is the first of four case-studies examining social transfers to orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) in Swaziland. Such social transfers began in the early 2000s as a response to rapidly rising numbers of AIDS orphans as well as rising vulnerability in the population at large due to a combination of adverse trends and factors. The four policies are neighbourhood care points, school bursaries, chiefs’ fields and farm input support to child-headed households, and while these have separate origins in Swaziland government and institutional structures, as well as in partnerships with donors, they were brought together in 2006 in a single overarching strategy called the National Plan of Action for Orphans and Vulnerable Children 2006-2010 (Swaziland, 2006).
A Neighbourhood Care Point (NCP) in simple terms refers to a place or point in a community where neighbours come together to provide care for orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) from the neighbourhood.