Alliance for Open Society International (AOSI)

This 34-page report examines the Sister to Sister Model as developed under the United States Agency for International Development (USAID)-funded Drug Demand Reduction Program (DDRP), which aims to address social problems among vulnerable populations involved in or at risk of involvement in drug use in Central Asia. Conducted from 2002 to 2007 by a network of international organisations active in HIV prevention and drug demand reduction in the region, DDRP sought to engage all levels of society in reducing demand for heroin and other opiates by educating populations on drug-related issues, promoting healthy lifestyles, providing access to alternative occupational and leisure activities, assisting in solving social problems, and supporting the development of pragmatic DDR strategies at national and local levels.

As detailed here, DDRP implemented 9 Sister to Sister projects to reach both rural and urban vulnerable women from adolescence to middle age in Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Six sites were visited to capture the experience of these projects as they were implemented and evolved. Each of these interventions focused on reducing the economic and emotional vulnerability of women to criminal drug trafficking activities, drug use, and sex work. Methods to achieve these results combined DDR education with a variety of skills training and other activities.

Core findings:

• Despite concerns that strict traditional approaches to child-raising and women's roles might prevent full involvement, it was found that careful advocacy and explanation with local authorities and tailoring skills-building and other activities to fit local conditions enabled projects to reach "substantial numbers" of women and girls. Organisers find that "Credible, relevant education and information is the backbone of an effective response to preventing drug use and related harms....[E]ach project sought to identify issues of importance to women as well as the community leaders of the environments in which they found themselves." For instance, the problems created by male economic migration were found to resonate strongly with community leaders and women across the region and, thus, were integrated as contextual considerations in all interventions.
• Through advocacy and explanation, several projects have raised the visibility of problems faced by women and girls related to drug use and crime at the local level.
• "Profound changes in self esteem, appearance and communication style were noted at a number of projects following relatively short interventions at low cost. For instance, local parents in Sheykhak village "are increasingly responding to pressure from daughters to allow them to complete school, and local families have noted women are able to feed their families and able to help their relatives."
• "Sister to Sister projects led non governmental organizations (NGOs) and other agencies to identify further business opportunities appropriate to the region....Provision of commercial courses alongside non-commercial courses was seen as offering greater scope of sustainability in Chirchik (Uzbekistan); computing and professional food service courses are two such opportunities."

A brief literature review follows the report's outlining of key findings. This overview of the theoretical assumptions underpinning the individual projects within the DDRP Sister to Sister Model covers issues such as male migration, resurgence of traditional values, feminisation of poverty, trafficking, HIV, etc.

The next section provides an overview of each site surveyed during the DDRP Sister to Sister Model development process. Six sites are reviewed:

1. NGO "Sadokat", Istaravshan city, Sughd province, Tajikistan - When the DDRP project commenced in November 2005, parents and community leaders were informed that vulnerable young women could gain some economic independence, develop vocational skills, and receive health education through the project. Sadokat then undertook additional promotional activities, including local television advertising supplemented by word of mouth via personal networks. Although the project originally aimed to educate only 30 Tajik-speaking young women up to 25 years old, strong demand meant that an additional group of 30 students was enrolled. Two days per week were devoted to practical work - following vocational training in production of traditional Tajik handicrafts - and one day to DDR education and health education. The latter component consisted of a range of interactive seminars and exercises, including poster production and role-playing. The project acted as an informal drop-in centre, where participants could improve their social skills.
2. Samarkand Business Women Association "Tadbirkor Ayol", Samarkand, Uzbekistan - Working in collaboration with mahalla committees (whose advice was sought about what vocational skills adolescent females might be most interested in developing), Tadbirkor Ayol offered 2 courses, in traditional culinary arts and pastry-making, to young women in need. Once the project commenced, it was word of mouth that proved most successful in generating very strong demand for enrollment in both courses. Over 3 months, 2 groups of 10 women completed the courses, which were combined with DDR sessions featuring health and human rights education and group counselling sessions with a psychologist.
3. NGO "Nuri Umed", Dushanbe, Tajikistan - Forty female high school age students were enrolled. Each day class consisted of life skills, drug use prevention, and vocational education (e.g., learning how to bake small pies, or pirozhki). "Only after a rapport was developed was it possible to introduce drug use prevention." The project has evolved to provide business training to Nuri Umed clients. All participants are now given regular reports about project profitability and the development of the business.
4. NGO "Z. Rustamova Center of Women and Children Support", Khujand, Tajikistan - The DDRP Sister to Sister project commenced in December 2005. Three-month-long vocational training courses (e.g., in computer skills) were provided for 15 vulnerable women between the ages of 30 and 40. The educational component served 80 people, including children, in 4 groups made up of 20 people each. From among the permanent participants of the projects, 20 people received additional training in physical education as a part of a healthy lifestyle programme.
5. NGO "Assol", Sheykhak village, Varzob district, Tajikistan - Assol reached out to primarily Tajik-speaking young women aged 7-22. At any one time, approximately 40 young women attended Sister to Sister activities and seminars (e.g., street business seminars, and DDR/health education seminars), conducted at Assol for 2 hours per day at least twice weekly. Supervised social events and talent quests also encouraged socialisation, and local youth were encouraged to visit the facility to ask questions about any part of their lives in a safe environment where staff were not perceived as authority figures. Local school teachers attended seminars at the project and at other times approached the project on their own initiative.
6. Chirchik Shohsanam, Chirchik, Uzbekistan - Launched in 2004, the DDRP Sister to Sister project involved 32 women between the ages of 16 and 35 in an intensive 20-day course from 9 am to 5 pm each day. Each morning was devoted to vocational education (e.g., decorative arts and business training) and afternoons were devoted to DDR, which included sessions dedicated to psychology, human rights, and health.

Lessons learned:

• Pre-project planning: The characteristics of the intended group to be reached through the project should be clearly defined, and areas of disadvantage, high migrant populations, and drug dealing should all be considered. Furthermore, "Involvement and approval from parents, husbands, religious and community leaders is crucial to ensure the acceptance and promotion of projects involving women. Barriers to attending activities outside the home should be considered in the planning phase." Poor literacy, social skills, hygiene, and nutrition should be considered, with strategies for addressing these lapses integrated into planning.
• Grant process: Local community leaders and decision makers should be engaged as early as possible to support grant activities.
• Project initiation: Roundtables with parents as well local religious and community leaders introduced the project activities to local communities and also served to promote them. Word of mouth following project commencement was found to be a particularly effective method of increasing enrollment in courses after earlier seminars and information sessions had been held. Local television was also an effective means of promotion.
• Service delivery: The physical environment in which many of the projects took place was very poor (e.g., cold and damp conditions limited the ability to leave a computer on-site at one project), and should be considered. Service delivery timing should also be researched with the intended participant group (e.g., early afternoon was regarded as a time with few domestic demands on the adolescents being reached). The language in which services are delivered can assist or hinder effectiveness. Also, basic social skills training should be seen as building blocks and desirable outcomes of an education process, which culminates in DDR. Programmes should be structured in a manner to allow the site to be used as a drop-in centre to provide informal socialisation opportunities; supervised social events were also offered through these centres, such as for World AIDS Day, International Women's Day, and Navruz.
• Monitoring and evaluation - "Baseline behavioral surveys of knowledge, attitudes and behavior (KAB) were undertaken on most projects to assess progress on drug demand reduction measures. This should be undertaken on all projects where feasible. Improvements in behavior, social skills and appearance were noted as a project outcome in several locations. It may be appropriate to include additional behavioral indicators to capture this improvement in self-esteem."
• Staff training and capacity building - Staff and volunteer training in the principles associated with DDR, offered at the commencement of the project, "served a valuable function in facilitating the development of inter-organizational referral networks and information sharing among recipients."

Please scroll to page 29 of the report to locate contact details for the specific organisations that may provide additional information about the DDRP Sister to Sister model.

Development Experience Clearinghouse (DEC) Express, May 29 2009.