07-P0222: Peace Corps Life Skills Program.

This activity has USG Team Botswana Internal Reference Number P0222. This activity links to the following: C0818 & P0208 & P0224 & P0516 & X1402.

This entry represents the AB part of the program. The program's funding is split between the two program areas (AB and OP), at 85% and 15%, respectively. The reason for dividing the funding is to allow the program to address the HIV prevention needs of a wider range of beneficiaries than they would with funding from only one of the prevention program areas. The program's effort will reflect the funding proportions noted here.

Background Over a three-decade period from 1966 to 1997, the majority of Peace Corps (PC) Botswana Volunteers (over 2000 in total) served as teachers, primarily at secondary schools. Batswana, including those at the highest circles of government, talk about the positive impact that an individual Peace Corps Volunteer (PCV) had on them during their formative years.

Since their return to Botswana in 2003, PCVs have taken on HIV/AIDS related assignments in district AIDS coordination, community capacity building (PMTCT/HBOC) and EP-supported NGO capacity building. Like their predecessors, many have gravitated to working on youth development activities such as supporting school clubs, running mentoring programs, spearheading sports and recreational activities, and organizing events such as Girls Leading Our World (GLOW) camps as secondary activities.

Overall Proposal To expand upon what our current PCVs are doing and to help support HHS/CDC/BOTUSA efforts, the PC is proposing a life skills capacity building initiative, in collaboration with the MOE and other key partners working with youth in Botswana. In a nutshell, the idea is for a new group of fully dedicated "life skills" PCVs in FY 08 and current, interested PCVs assigned to other projects (now numbering 70) to support the implementation of the new MOE Life Skills materials (developed with the support of HHS/CDC/BOTUSA) through a mix of activities. This scope would include support to teachers within the classroom as well as activities outside the classroom and within communities. With respect to the campaign against HIV/AIDS, these efforts would be aimed at the development of decision-making and interpersonal skills on the part of young people, including the nature and timing of the onset of sexual activity on their part.

The PC would likely target its efforts to upper primary, junior & senior secondary students because these stages appears to be the critical ones in the development of life skills and precedes or coincides with the typical dropout juncture. A final decision will be made in collaboration with MOE and other stakeholders.

Minister of Education Jacob Nkate has pledged the support of his Ministry regarding the design of appropriate PCV contributions and interventions, training, and the prioritization of site placements, once MOE and PC finalize an agreement on the scope of PC's support to the broader MOE Life Skills effort.

FY 2007 Proposed Activities In order to extend the work and impact of our current PCVs and to lay the groundwork for the initiative, PC will undertake the following activities in 2007:

(1)Two week-long trainings for our current PCVs in skills-based HIV prevention for youth; (2)Placement of up to five third-year extension PCVs to help pilot the life skills initiative; (3)Preparatory groundwork for the arrival of a group of 15 new life skills PCVs in April/May 2008

After the above-mentioned training, our current PCVs would be expected to undertake and/or support new or modified efforts inside and outside the classroom to reinforce the new Life Skills materials, with age-appropriate activities. PC will post the third-year extension PCVs, in collaboration with MOE, with a school or cluster of schools for a 12-month period starting in June 2007. They would be assigned full-time to life skills

capacity building within their host communities and undertake a range of activities, based upon MOE approval and community assessments:

?Serving as a resource and a facilitator to teachers and counselors on classroom and in-school life skills activities ?Supporting efforts to help teachers to develop their own life skills and the emotional resilience to teach the Life Skills materials to students ?Promoting and implementing "out of school" activities to take the Life Skills materials out of the classroom through practical experiences for students such as service learning projects, after school clubs, mentoring, and special events such as GLOW camps ?Being available as a resource person either to individual children or groups of children, on potential youth activities ?Working with parents and community leaders to instill a deeper understanding of the importance of life skills, within the community and at home and promoting parental participation in related activities ?Working with out-of-school youth, serving in a mentoring capacity, and assisting their development of life skills ?Supporting and assisting PCVs assigned to other projects (district AIDS coordination, community capacity building, and NGO capacity building) to undertake life skills activities as secondary projects; expanding the reach of the overall project ?Assisting in the monitoring of the program implementation and related reporting to district and national educational offices, on the part of their assigned schools

In addition to the leadership at their respective schools, the PCVs will also report to either the Associate Peace Corps Director (APCD) or a Program Assistant in accordance with PC guidelines. The APCD will be responsible for the compilation of PCV reporting of their activities and providing the Mission EP team with a summary reports, based upon the Office of the Global AIDS Coordinator (OGAC) and Country Operational Plan (COP) requirements. In advance of the start of the initiative, HHS/CDC/BOTUSA, PC Botswana and MOE will establish appropriate reporting requirements for both life skills PCVs and those assigned to other projects that undertake life skills projects as secondary activities.

In consultation with MOE and HHS/CDC/BOTUSA, PCV will collaborate with other partners such as UNICEF that are involved in youth-related life skills development in order to maximize the impact of collective efforts and donor resources.

FY 2008 Proposed Activities In 2008, PC would recruit, train and place 15 new PCVs to expand beyond the pilot phase launched in 2007—with up to five PCVs working at educational district level. Five third-year PCVs would also be recruited in 2008, to replace those who pilot the effort in 2007.

In consultation with MOE and HHS/CDC/BOTUSA, PC would place up to five of these 20 PCVs at the educational district level to assist in the development of monitoring and reporting capacity (e.g., systems and procedures, refinement of reporting formats and data requirements, and the compilation and synthesis of data). Such an assignment would allow these PCVs to assist with implementation activities at schools within their communities and would be housed, if possible, at or near these schools.

FY 2007 funds will support new and existing PCVs under the Life Skills project. Program expenses include PCVs support such as trainee pre-arrival costs, travel, pre-service and in-service training, living and readjustment allowances, housing and medical costs and in-country and HQ administrative and human resource costs including local staff positions to support this project. It would include the home leave costs for the third-year PCVs.

07-P0516: Peace Corps Life Skills Capacity Building.

This activity links with P0222 from the AB Prevention program area, which provides for additional funding for this activity. This entry represents the OP part of the program. The program's funding is split between the two program areas (AB and OP), at 85% and 15%, respectively. The reason for dividing the funding is to allow the program to address the HIV prevention needs of a wider range of beneficiaries than they would with funding from only one of the prevention program areas. The program's effort will reflect the funding proportions noted here.

Background Over a three-decade period from 1966 to 1997, the majority of Peace Corps Botswana Volunteers (over 2000 in total) served as teachers, primarily at secondary schools. Batswana, including those at the highest circles of government, talk about the positive impact that an individual Peace Corps Volunteer had on them during their formative years.

Since their return to Botswana in 2003, Peace Corps Volunteers have taken on HIV/AIDS related assignments in district AIDS coordination, community capacity building (PMTCT/HBOC) and PEPFAR-supported NGO capacity building. Like their predecessors, many have gravitated to working on youth development activities such as supporting school clubs, running mentoring programs, spearheading sports and recreational activities, and organizing events such as Girls Leading Our World (GLOW) camps as secondary activities.

Overall Proposal To expand upon what our current Volunteers are doing and to help support CDC BOTUSA efforts, the Peace Corps is proposing a life skills capacity building initiative, in collaboration with the Ministry of Education (MoE) and other key partners working with youth in Botswana. In a nutshell, the idea is for a new group of fully dedicated "life skills" Volunteers in FY 08 and current, interested Volunteers assigned to other projects (now numbering 70) to support the implementation of the new MoE Life Skills materials (developed with the support of CDC BOTUSA) through a mix of activities. This scope would include support to teachers within the classroom as well as activities outside the classroom and within communities. With respect to the campaign against HIV/AIDS, these efforts would be aimed at the development of decision-making and interpersonal skills on the part of young people, including the nature and timing of the onset of sexual activity on their part.

The Peace Corps would likely target its efforts to upper primary, junior & senior secondary students because these stages appears to be the critical ones in the development of life skills and precedes or coincides with the typical dropout juncture. A final decision will be made in collaboration with MoE and other stakeholders.

Minister of Education Jacob Nkate has pledged the support of his Ministry regarding the design appropriate Volunteer interventions, training, and the prioritization of site placements, once MoE and Peace Corps finalize an agreement on the scope of Peace Corps' support to the broader MoE Life Skills effort.

FY 2007 Proposed Activities In order to extend the work and impact of our current Volunteers and to lay the groundwork for the initiative, Peace Corps will undertake the following activities in 2007:

(1) Two week-long trainings for our current Volunteers in skills-based HIV prevention for youth; (2) Placement of up to five third-year extension Volunteers to help pilot the life skills initiative; (3) Preparatory groundwork for the arrival of a group of 15 new life skills Volunteers in April/May 2008

After the above-mentioned training, our current Volunteers would be expected to undertake and/or support new or modified efforts inside and outside the classroom to reinforce the new Life Skills materials, with age-appropriate activities. Peace Corps will post the third-year extension Volunteers, in collaboration with MoE, with a school or

cluster of schools for a 12-month period starting in June 2007. They would be assigned full-time to life skills capacity building within their host communities and undertake a range of activities, based upon MoE approval and community assessments:

? Serving as a resource and a facilitator to teachers and counselors on classroom and in-school life skills activities, for example, through the development of lesson plans that will appeal to young minds and stimulate thinking; ? Supporting efforts to help teachers to develop their own life skills and the emotional resilience to teach the Life Skills materials to students ? Promoting and implementing "out of school" activities to take the Life Skills materials out of the classroom through practical experiences for students such as service learning projects, after school clubs, mentoring, and special events such as GLOW camps ? Being available as a resource person either to individual children or groups of children, on potential youth activities ? Working with parents and community leaders to instill a deeper understanding of the importance of life skills, within the community and at home and promoting parental participation in related activities ? Working with out-of-school youth, serving in a mentoring capacity, and assisting their development of life skills ? Supporting and assisting Peace Corps Volunteers assigned to other projects (district AIDS coordination, community capacity building, and NGO capacity building) to undertake life skills activities as secondary projects; expanding the reach of the overall project ? Assisting in the monitoring of the program implementation and related reporting to district and national educational offices, on the part of their assigned schools

In addition to the leadership at their respective schools, the Volunteers will also report to either the Associate Peace Corps Director (APCD) or a Program Assistant in accordance with Peace Corps guidelines. The APCD will be responsible for the compilation of Volunteer reporting of their activities and providing the Mission EP team with a summary reports, based upon OGAC and COP requirements. In advance of the start of the initiative, CDC/BOTUSA, Peace Corps Botswana and MoE will establish appropriate reporting requirements for both life skills Volunteers and those assigned to other projects that undertake life skills projects as secondary activities.

In consultation with MoE and CDC BOTUSA, Peace Corps will collaborate with other partners such as UNICEF that are involved in youth-related life skills development in order to maximize the impact of collective efforts and donor resources.

FY 2008 Proposed Activities In 2008, Peace Corps would recruit, train and place 15 new Volunteers to expand beyond the pilot phase launched in 2007—with up to five Volunteers working at educational district level. Five third-year Volunteers would also be recruited in 2008, to replace those who pilot the effort in 2007.

In consultation with MoE and CDC BOTUSA, Peace Corps would place up to five of these 20 Volunteers at the educational district level to assist in the development of monitoring and reporting capacity (e.g., systems and procedures, refinement of reporting formats and data requirements, and the compilation and synthesis of data). Such an assignment would allow these Volunteers to assist with implementation activities at schools within their communities and would be housed, if possible, at or near these schools.

FY 2007 funds will support new and existing Volunteers under the Life Skills project. Program expenses include Volunteer support such as trainee pre-arrival costs, travel, pre-service and in-service training, living and readjustment allowances, housing and medical costs and in-country and HQ administrative and human resource costs including local staff positions to support this project. It would include the home leave costs for the third-year Volunteers.

07-C0818: Peace Corps.

This activity has USG Team Botswana Internal Reference Number C0818. This activity links to the following: C0801 & C0805 & C0816 & C0907 & P0222 & X1402 & X1406.

The aim of the Peace Corps (PC) Botswana NGO program is to help build the capacity of local, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to provide services to OVC as well as to others affected directly by HIV/AIDS. It is widely recognized that NGOs in Botswana are at a nascent stage, particularly in the HIV/AIDS service sector, and thus are in need of assistance in areas ranging from organizational development, program planning, service delivery, data collection tools, development of strategic plans, resource mobilization, volunteer recruitment, reporting, and monitoring and evaluation.

In the first two months of being placed in an organization, the Peace Corps Volunteers (PCVs) carry out community assessments. These assessments enable the PCVs to understand the communities better and to develop their work plans. These work plans are used to assess and monitor their input into the respective organizations.

In FY05/06, PCVs have been able to help organizations achieve a number of objectives, which include improved reporting and monitoring of their OVC activities. PCVs have also assisted NGOs/CBOs/FBOs to develop tools for identifying the OVC being served.

PC currently has 16 volunteers assigned under this program, with one posted to BONASO and the remaining fifteen to community-based member organizations. The proposed plan for FY 2007 is to bring in an additional ten PCVs to expand support to new organizations and to replace the current PCVs who will be departing in 2007. A targeted effort will be made to place the PCVs in OVC-serving organizations (NGOs/CBOs/FBOs) that are being supported by EP to address the needs of orphans and other children made vulnerable by HIV/AIDS. Following eight weeks of training (currently scheduled from April to June 2007), the new PCVs will be placed in the OVC-serving organizations for a two-year period. The PCVs will live within the villages and towns where their host organizations are based and assume the following roles:

• Introducing and/or strengthening programming strategies and skills (i.e. design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation); • Developing organizational capacities (management, financial, administrative, etc.) and implementing appropriate and effective systems and procedures; • Creating networks among NGO, governmental, private sector, and international partners; • Sparking creativity and instilling confidence and skills needed for successful resource mobilization; • Reinvigorating/introducing the value of volunteerism leading to an increase in the number of citizens participating in HIV/AIDS programming and activities at the community level; • Expanding community understanding of HIV/AIDS and encouraging commitment to the values of Botswana 's Vision 2016, leading to the reduction of stigma and discrimination; • Expanding community understanding concerning available government services; • Generation of new ideas on care and activities for OVC; • Staff development to ensure sustainability • Serve as a resource during training for NGOs/CBOs/FBOs depending on skills needed

In FY07, as part of its partnership with BONASO, PC will continue to assign a volunteer to BONASO to work as a resource and point person for the NGOs/CBOs/FBOs PCVs in the field. The BONASO-based PCV will also be tasked with building capacity in program design and management, M&E, reporting and the documentation of best practices within the umbrella organization.

FY07 EP funds will support the current and new PCVs placed based in NGOs engaged in community-based OVC programs and BONASO. Program expenses include PCV support such as trainee pre-arrival costs, travel, pre-service and in-service training, living and readjustment allowances, housing and medical costs and in-country and HQ administrative

and human resource costs including two local staff positions to support this program. The NGO/CBO/FBO PCVs will report to the leadership of their respective organizations, and also will report to either the Associate Peace Corps Director (APCD) or to the Program Assistant in accordance with PC guidelines. The APCD is responsible for the compilation of PCV reporting of their activities and for providing the Botswana EP team with summary reports, based upon Office of the Global Aids Coordinator (OGAC) reporting requirements. To avoid the potential problem of double counting, PC will report qualitative summary reports focusing on capacity building, while quantitative data will be provided by the NGOs and BONASO through their reporting channels to HHS/CDC/BOTUSA.