How do I identify eligible vulnerable children at the community level?
There are two main reasons for choosing a community-based selection procedure: first, it strengthens your ability to identify the children who are, indeed, most in need, and second, it strengthens community ownership of the intervention. However, community-based identification of beneficiary eligibility often works better in rural than in urban areas, mainly because people are likely to know each other better, there is a stable population and a certain level of group solidarity. Note that while this method is mostly used to target services to existing OVC, it can also be effective in identifying children (and therefore households) at risk, thus making it possible to provide preventive services. Community-based identification of eligible OVC can be done using well defined eligibility criteria agreed upon before approaching the community, or using criteria produced through a community consultation process. A combination of the two approaches is often the best strategy, that is, you prese
