Vulnerability interventions in the context of multiple stressors: lessons from the Southern Africa Vulnerability Initiative (SAVI)

This paper describes an initiative to develop a model for understanding the multi-faceted nature and effects of vulnerability. The model is designed to enable analysis and assessment of interventions that address vulnerability, a concept that is widely used across disciplines and in development planning in Africa, particularly in southern Africa. The model is being developed to accommodate analyses of ‘multiple stressors’ and to identify the intersection and interaction of stressors in different contexts. Using three case studies related to vulnerability reduction and HIV/AIDS, we show how multiple processes interact and can influence the outcomes of vulnerability interventions in ways that may not be readily apparent when focusing on one stressor alone.