Detailed Mechanism Funding and Narrative

Years of mechanism: 2007 2008 2009

Details for Mechanism ID: 5310
Country/Region: Côte d'Ivoire
Year: 2007
Main Partner: EngenderHealth
Main Partner Program: NA
Organizational Type: Private Contractor
Funding Agency: USAID
Total Funding: $150,000

Funding for Health Systems Strengthening (OHSS): $150,000

The USG's New Partner Initiative (NPI) is designed to seek out new EP partners with important skills and infrastructure but little experience with USG funding. It will provide the USG with a broader base of partners while providing indigenous community- and faith-based organizations with an opportunity to build management and financial capacity and to translate local organizational capital into effective HIV prevention and care services. This opportunity is particularly critical for Cote d'Ivoire, where an extended political and military crisis has disrupted or impeded health and education services (including HIV prevention and care), leaving local NGOs, CBOs, and FBOs to play an increasingly important role in the fight against HIV/AIDS.

Among underserved populations in Cote d'Ivoire are women and girls infected or affected by HIV/AIDS. HIV-positive women and girls (estimated to total 400,000 in Cote d'Ivoire) are at particular risk for STIs, high-risk pregnancies, vertical and sexual transmission of HIV, and incompatibility between ART and some contraceptives and STI treatments, while women and girls in families affected by HIV/AIDS often face heightened financial, physical, and emotional stress. Both share the risks of stigma, discrimination, social isolation, and violence. Few health or other services are designed to address these issues.

EnGenderHealth, an international NGO will regional offices in Accra and Dakar (francophone) and gender-specific health activities as part of ACQUIRE, will use EP funding in FY07 to provide technical assistance to build the capacity of local NGO/CBO/FBOs, especially networks of women infected or affected by HIV/AIDS, to support, implement, and advocate for policies and programs that improve access to health and other services for these women/girls and their families.

EnGenderHealth will work in partnership with local organizations and build on existing networks of women living with HIV/AIDS (e.g. Femmes Actives de Cote d'Ivoire and AMEPOUH) and girls' clubs as well as RIP+ (network of PLWHA), REPMASCI (network of journalists, artists, and athletes), and AIBEF. EnGenderHealth's technical assistance will seek to enable these organizations to use and extend their competitive advantages to implement activities such as:

. Policy advocacy to improve quality of and access to services (e.g. general health services, HIV/AIDS care and treatment, sexual and reproductive health services, family-planning services) for women and girls infected or affected by HIV/AIDS. . Public outreach to promote awareness or access to services. . Promotion of HIV prevention, PMTCT, HIV counseling and testing, ARV treatment, and care, including OVC care, for women and girls. . Integration of reproductive health care and family-planning services into HIV/AIDS prevention, care, and treatment programs. . Capacity building of service providers. . Reducing stigma and discrimination against PLWHA seeking health care and other services, thereby increasing access to HIV/AIDS care and treatment. . Enhancing advocacy of PLWHA for their right to care and treatment. . Organizational capacity building for local partner organizations, including financial and programmatic management, M&E, and resource mobilization, with particular attention to encouraging and helping produce successful applications for NPI awards.

EnGenderHealth will provide technical assistance and capacity building in some or all of the following areas: • Financial Management: Organizations will have a practical accounting system & be able to account for all funds in accordance with USG & in-country audit requirements, analyze unit costs, make financial projections, and track funds. • Human Resource Management: Organizations will have an established personnel system for recruiting, paying, retaining, training, & supervising staff at all levels of the organization • Establishing Networks: Local networks are established/ strengthened that deliver prevention, care, & treatment services, monitor implementation, & report results. • M&E/Quality Assurance: Organizations will have institutionalized the capacity to collect, enter, store, & retrieve data for use in planning, monitoring, reporting, & improving quality & are able to fulfill reporting requirements. • Commodities, Equipment, and Logistics Management: Organizations will have established a system to access commodity needs, account for donated product, ensure adequate drug

supply, & eventually procure supplies, equipment, & drugs for HIV/AIDS services. • Facilities: Laboratories, clinics, and classrooms will be improved/renovated to provide HIV/AIDS training or services. • Fundraising: Organizations will have plans for raising funds from non-USG sources. EnGenderHealth and its partner organizations will set up a project advisory committee to guide and review project progress.