Results: strengthened capacity of family and communities for the provision of care to children orphaned by

AIDS

Peace Corps Botswana proposes to develop a program to address the urgent need for civil society to play a

more significant role in the care and support of orphans and to fully participate in the country's fight against

HIV/AIDS. Peace Corps seeks support for the creation of an FBO/CBO/NGO Capacity Building project.

The NGO Capacity Building project meets the Emergency Plan's objectives in terms of the prevention of

new infections and increasing access to quality care and support. To a lesser degree, but also importantly,

the project will promote an increase in the access to and the use of services, including HIV Counseling and

Testing, home based health care, and ARVs. These objectives all neatly overlap with the Government of

Botswana's National Strategic Framework for HIV/AIDS (2003 - 2008).

Inputs: EP funding will support 11 Peace Corps Volunteers working with FBO/CBO/NGOs which are

mobilize and implement community-based programs for OVC. Program costs include: trainee prearrival

costs, travel, pre-service training, training materials and medical costs for 10 new volunteers (this should be

for only the extended PCV) ; in-service training (in FY 05 not IST costs are requested), living and

readjustment allowances, housing and medical costs for one volunteer extending for a third year of service;

administrative and staffing costs including PC/Washington administrative costs and funding of a Program

Assistant to support this project, he/she is expected to join Peace Corps Botswana in June 2005. (See

attched Peace Corps EP Budget FY05-07, for more information.)

Activities/Outputs: Following ten weeks of training, the PCVs will be placed with one or more organizations

for the full period of two years. Emergency Plan Volunteers will report to an NGO Capacity Building

Program

Assistant an/or the Associate Peace Corps Director in accordance with Peace Corps guidelines and

program specifications. NGO Capacity Volunteers will live in the communities where the host organizations

are located. Preliminary talks with the three national NGO membership organizations have yielded exciting

possibilities in terms of developing creative partnerships. Peace Corps is planning to partner with either one

or all of these networks (specifically the Botswana Network of AIDS Service Organizations [BON/ASO], the

Botswana Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS [BONEPWA] and the Botswana Christian AIDS

Intervention program [BOCAIP). Because of this, Peace Corps Botswana requests an additional (third year)

Volunteer to work directly with these NGO membership organizations. The third year Volunteer will serve

as both a resource and point person for NGO Volunteers in the field, as well as a capacity builder with a

specific mandate to help the host organizations (and their memberships) to increase skills in project design

and management, monitoring and evaluation, reporting and the documentation of best practices

Outcomes: These Volunteers will have a mandate to work toward the following:

•The introduction and/or strengthening of appropriate programming strategies and programming skills (i.e.

design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation)

•The growth of organizational capacities (management, financial, administrative, etc.) and the establishment

of appropriate and effective systems;

•The development of networks between NGO's/CBO's/FBO's, government, private sector, and international

partners;

•The stimulation of creativity and growth of both the confidence and skills needed for successful resource

mobilization;

•The reinvigoration or introduction of the value of volunteerism leading to an increase in the number of

citizens participating in HIV/AIDS programming and activities at the community level;

•The expansion of community understanding about HIV/AIDS and the growth of a commitment to the values

of Botswana's Vision 2016, leading to the reduction of stigma and discrimination;

•The expansion of community understanding concerning available government HIV/AIDS programs,

services and resources and the increase in citizen use of what is available.

•The strengthening or creation of support for PLWHAs and those affected by HIV/AIDS.