Detailed Mechanism Funding and Narrative

Years of mechanism: 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

Details for Mechanism ID: 9910
Country/Region: Botswana
Year: 2012
Main Partner: National Alliance of State and Territorial AIDS Directors
Main Partner Program: NA
Organizational Type: NGO
Funding Agency: HHS/CDC
Total Funding: $500,000

The objective is to: 1) strengthen the capacity of public sector staff to plan, manage, and evaluate HIV prevention, care, and treatment programs at national and local levels; 2) build organizational capacity of public sector offices to support the delivery of national and local HIV programs, and; 3) create sustainability in national and local HIV programs. National Alliance of State & Territorial AIDS Directors (NASTAD) works with Ministry of Local Government (MLG) and National AIDS Coordinating Agency (NACA) to institutionalize the Community Capacity Enhancement Program (CCEP) in line with the goals of the 2nd National Strategic Framework for HIV and AIDS (NSF II) and the Partnership Framework. The implementation of CCEP and the National Community Mobilization Strategy (NCMS) will benefit other social development areas, and is aligned to the national rural development strategy. Technical assistance to MLG will focus on two model districts, strengthen alignment with government strategies and ensure implementation of CCEP with fidelity. NASTAD will support 14 project officers for the last year and train trainers and facilitators. NASTAD will work with MLG to fully integrate the NCMS and CCEP into the district structures and strengthen monitoring and evaluation. In line with NSF II, NASTAD proposes to work with MLG to implement a training program designed to qualify District AIDS Coordinators (DACs) as public health managers. This program will build the capacity of the DAC office staff to provide public health leadership needed for an effective district level HIV/AIDS response.

Funding for Health Systems Strengthening (OHSS): $500,000

Community participation in the HIV/AIDS response in Botswana remains weak. In response to this gap, NACA has developed the NCMS upon which the CCEP strategy will be anchored. NASTAD will continue to provide technical assistance for the implementation of CCEP, with a focus on quality assurance by supporting implementation with fidelity and ensuring that training is sustained. NASTAD will work with the Ministry of Health to include CCEP in the training of health education assistants. CCEP training will be cascaded and NCMS will be translated into district level implementation, with linkages to district plans for greater effectiveness. NASTAD and MLG will provide joint technical support, coaching and mentoring to two models sites through monthly visits.

Two skills refinement workshops for national trainers and model site review meetings will be held. During these workshops, master trainers (14) will learn to do process review and refine trainers skills to align with NSF IIs Operations Plan (NOP) and NMCS. The skills refinement workshop will review progress and ensure linkages with targets, in addition to sharpening facilitation skills. A total of 90 trainers will be trained. Based on a standard best practice selection criterion, NASTAD and MLG will facilitate assessment, selection and documentation of best practices. NASTAD will support bi-annual master trainers and national technical working group progress meetings to review and track the performance of the program.A District Multi-sectoral AIDS Committee (DMSAC) needs assessment conducted in 2007, as well as the country ownership exercise, identified strengthened coordination as a priority area for the response. The DAC office, the DMSAC secretariat and responsible for strategic direction and leadership and coordinating the response at district level, needs to be equipped with public health leadership competencies customized for application in the district HIV/AIDS response. This will position the DAC and the DACs office for effective leadership and optimal use of resources whilst ensuring that response activities adequately address drivers of the epidemic and weaknesses in all HIV/AIDS-related services. In this regard, NASTAD will develop the Applied Public Health Program Management Training Curriculum. The curriculum will be piloted with the participation of MLG and 10 candidates will be trained during the first year. The program will be aligned to other initiatives that focus on the DMSAC and DAC capacities, including the implementation plan for country ownership and the NOP, as well as MLGs implementation plan for the new DMSAC communication strategy. Strengthening of DMSAC capacity through better skilled DACs will have the spillover effect of improving leadership for other health initiatives, as DMSAC members are drawn from civil society organizations and district health management.

Cross Cutting Budget Categories and Known Amounts Total: $328,570
Human Resources for Health $328,570