A former USAID/PEPFAR funded Go Girls! Initiative project was implemented in Francistown, Tonota and Tsamaya. The NGO selected will be instrumental in mobilizing communities to take part in the project. The aim of this Go Girls! Initiative program will be to build on the technical expertise previously provided to a NGO during the first phase of project implementation and use and build in the management expertise provided by the USAID Maatla project, to support the selected NGO with management support to this program. This will be a national NGO whose main focus is to contribute to the Botswana National Strategic Framework on HIV and AIDS through using the religious community to prevent further transmission of HIV; that promotes positive changes in behavior and practices. The organizations objective will be to reduce the impact of HIV/AIDS through a provision of psycho-social, economic and spiritual support. The organization will set up or strengthen the grass-roots structures that ensures sustainability of the interventions and mobilize church membership for counseling, home-based care, material assistance and establish support groups for those affected.

The National Integrated Early Childhood Development (IECD) Framework is defined as the coordinated provision of all the support necessary for every child under the age of eight, to realize his/her right to survival, growth, development and care within a protective, caring and stimulating environment, that ensures the childs optimal well-being. While IECD is a broad, multi-sectoral vision, early child development efforts in Botswana have focused mainly on pre-school services, most of which are provided by private sector and are not affordable to the poorest families. As a result children who are orphaned and vulnerable often do not have access to IECD services as their families/care-givers cannot afford to pay fees for them. This effort will increase access of IECD for the most vulnerable children aged between 3-6 years old. Priority will be given to reach children from poor households to ensure that they can receive low-cost, local, community-based integrated early childhood development (ECD) services to enhance a successful transition to formal school. The provider will use the IECD resource pack that comes with a facilitators module that has recently been developed with PEPFAR support by Project Concern International. The local organization implementing this project will receive training and implementation support from Project Concern International on how to use the IECD resource pack before implementation. This will be done to ensure that children receive quality IECD that includes the mastery of essential skills that enable children to succeed in the transition to school. Through effective referrals, this effort will help address the basic nutritional needs of young children and increase access to basic health monitoring, including coverage of childhood immunizations.

n order to increase reach for TB patients early in the course of their illness, the Government of Botswana made a decision to engage a wider range of stakeholders including civil society organizations to implement TB activities at community level. While diagnostic tests for TB continue to be performed in clinical settings, community-based TB activities are conducted outside the premises of formal health facilities in community-based structures e.g. schools, work places and homes. Community-based TB programs cover a wide range of activities contributing to prevention, diagnosis, improved treatment adherence and care that positively influence the outcomes of drug resistant HIV-associated TB. Community TB services to be provided by the partner will include active case finding, TB screening, referrals to health facilities for diagnosis, administering Direct Observed Treatment (DOT), provision of health education, contact tracing and family counseling. All HIV positive clients tested by the implementer will also be screened for TB and the necessary referrals will be initiated and followed up to ensure services have been accessed. The activities also include community mobilization to promote effective communication and participation among community members to generate demand for TB services.

The NGO will contribute to the prevention of HIV infection by advocating for a range of prevention activities at community level. For this project, the NGO will implement HIV prevention activities using the Go Girls! Initiative (GGI) methodology. This methodology is a Johns Hopkins University (JHU) research-action project that has been implemented in Botswana (Francistown, Tonota and Tsamaya) to reduce vulnerability of young girls to HIV transmission. Rather than focus on individual-level behavior change without consideration of the socio-economic structural factors that fuel the epidemic, the GGI used a social ecological framework for interventions at multiple levels. The GGIs multi-sectoral, integrated program methodology is based on community mobilization, adultchild communication, reality radio, school and community-based life skills, training for school personnel on creating a safe school environment, and economic strengthening. Experience in playing a critical role of mobilizing communities during the implementation of the project will be a key determinant in expanding this work to two more sites. The NGO will work with the church, community leaders, schools and other community structures including the police, health and social and community development to identify places in the community where girls are most vulnerable and where they are safest and develop and implement interventions to reduce their overall risk. Development and implementation of interventions will be done using resources developed by JHU which include Go Communities, Go Teachers, Go Girls and Go Students and Go Families training manuals. For maximum impact, The NGO will implement multiple interventions at the same time that are meant to address the structural, community, family and individual factors that put girls at risk of HIV infection. Participants of the program will learn more about bio-medical HIV interventions and will be referred to appropriate facilities to receive them. In addition to counseling students about abstinence and delayed sexual debut, information about HIV counseling and testing, consistent and correct condom use, benefits of family planning, delayed and spaced pregnancies, mitigating gender-based violence and post exposure prophylaxis will also be provided and a directory of where these services are provided will be developed and given to the girls and their families.