This activity is also supported with country funds. The proposed targets are for both funding sources

combined.

ANCHOR is a five-year, six-country project implemented as a partnership by Hope Worldwide, Rotary

International's HIV/AIDS Fellowship (RFFA), the Emory Schools of Public Health and Nursing, the

International AIDS Trust, and Coca Cola. In Cote d'Ivoire, its focus is on strengthening OVC care activities

in the highly affected greater Abidjan area and extending OVC care and support to new sites. ANCHOR

activities support OVC with home- and community-based counseling, psychosocial support, and health and

nutritional services.

Hope Worldwide Cote d'Ivoire (HWCI) places a strong emphasis on technical assistance - including

training, mentoring, and supervision - to local organizations to strengthen their capacity to provide better

services for OVC (through program materials, technical training, and supportive network affiliation through

social center OVC platforms), to ensure better-quality data on OVC needs and services (through M&E

training, standardized forms for assessing progress, and database access), and a more sustainable civil-

society response to OVC needs (through improved financial and programmatic management processes for

small and medium-size organizations). HWCI participates in the national OVC technical working group

(CEROS-EV) to help coordinate efforts with the National OVC Program (PNOEV) and other PEPFAR and

non-PEPFAR partners.

In FY06 and FY07, HWCI developed and implemented a program approach that helped identify and provide

technical and organizational capacity-building assistance to 36 local organizations involved in the care and

support of OVC in the greater Abidjan area. HWCI provided direct care and facilitated care and support to

more than 5,500 OVC and trained 128 caregivers in provision of psychosocial support and other care to

OVC.

In FY07, HWCI is expanding its program to four new municipalities (Yamoussoukro, Daloa, Bondoukou, and

Bouaké) and will reach 8,000 OVC and train 140 caregivers to provide psychosocial support and other care

to OVC. HWCI is collaborating with the Ministry of Education (MEN) to select 25 teachers and social

workers to be trained to implement OVC care and support activities in six schools.

In FY08, HWCI will continue to train, mentor, and supervise local organizations to build their organizational

and service-delivery capacities. HWCI will require new sub-partners to participate in social center OVC

coordination platforms to facilitate networking and strengthen referral systems, contributing to the

community's long-term capacity to assess and meet the needs of its OVC. In collaboration with the PNOEV,

the project will work to build and strengthen the organizational capacities of the social center OVC platforms

as resource centers and referral hubs for small C/F/NGOs serving vulnerable children. HWCI will strengthen

collaboration with the MEN to ensure OVC care and support in schools. Involvement of schoolteachers,

social workers, and youth will contribute to ensuring sustainability. Through Kids Clubs and other care

opportunities, older OVC will have a forum for applying life skills and leadership skills to benefit younger

children in need of support.

With FY08 funds, HWCI will:

• Provide technical, programmatic, and administrative assistance to 40 NGO/CBO/FBOs, enabling

identification and care of 4,500 more OVC (for a total of 12,500). HWCI staff will conduct site visits to

provide supportive supervision. Sub-partners will be selected in collaboration with Alliance Cote d'Ivoire and

the PNOEV in order to avoid duplication of effort and double-counting of OVC served.

• Through CEROS-EV and in collaboration with the PNOEV, HWCI will contribute to the development of

national policies, plans, and training and other materials, including definition of targeted OVC care packages

to support OVC within the community, as well as to ongoing coordination at the national level. HWCI will

help implement nationwide use of the Child Status Index (CSI) by participating in the CEROS-EV adaptation

process and by training local organizations and HWCI staff in using the adapted and translated tool.

• Formalize a process of collaboration with the PNOEV to strengthen the capacity of social center-based

OVC collaborative platforms, which serve to coordinate local organizations involved in the care and support

of OVC, by training and mentoring members of the platforms. HWCI will provide technical assistance to

platform members, organize an evaluation plan for them after one year, and provide a report to the PNOEV.

• Assist local partners whose capacity is increasing to prepare strategies and proposals in support of their

goals, including qualifying for sub-grants managed by Alliance or other funding sources.

• Train and mentor 180 caregivers from CBO/NGO/FBOs and other community stakeholders in OVC

identification, needs, and care, as well as provision of basic community- and home-based palliative care

and referral to health facilities. This includes training in community-mobilization strategies, psychosocial

support, counseling, nutritional support, succession planning, and play skills. Training sessions will be

conducted in conjunction with the PNOEV and relevant partners such as Alliance, ANADER, and CARE

International.

• Strengthen the capacity of CBO/NGO/FBOs by providing IEC materials for OVC Kidz Clubs and

connecting them with AB prevention and other psychosocial-support activities.

• Assure greater quality assurance for services provided to OVC. This includes better monitoring and

evaluation of sub-partners' organizational capacities and activities on the ground. Supervision of mentored

organizations' trained caregivers will include monthly site visits. HWCI will organize an evaluation plan for

them after one year and participate in PNOEV-led efforts to share and evaluate the effectiveness of

organizational assessment tools used by PEPFAR implementing partners and others in Cote d'Ivoire.

• In collaboration with the MEN, iniitiate OVC activities at five more schools and continue to facilitate after-

school programs to provide multilevel support for children through support groups for OVC. This includes

counseling, play therapy, nutritional support, referrals, and educational support. Child participation and

interaction will be promoted.

• Assure supervision of child-care providers, caregivers, and volunteers.

• Support OVC-focused home-based care activities for children with special needs, including assessment of

living conditions and family needs and concerns with the goal of providing holistic care to OVC and their

families.

• Develop and facilitate a referral system within the network of mentored NGOs and with other PEPFAR-

funded partners, as well as with other funding organizations, to contribute to ongoing platform efforts. This

includes links with other organizations (local and international) that provide different services, as well as

with other programs (HIV prevention, PTMCT, health care, etc.).

Activity Narrative: • Sub-contract for an independent evaluation of HWCI's OVC and related community-mobilization activities

to assist documentation of its best practices and identify areas for improvement and program gaps. The

evaluation will cover HWCI's monitoring and evaluation plan as well as service provision and internal

organizational capacity.

• Collaborate with other PEPFAR partners (such as Alliance, CARE, ACONDA, and FHI) as well as with

other donors (Global Fund, UNICEF) to avoid duplication of services and reach the most vulnerable

children.

HOPE Worldwide South Africa (HWSA) will continue to provide technical assistance to the program, both in

terms of programmatic support and organizational capacity development. HWSA will share key documents

and manuals, conduct site visits, and conduct a regional ANCHOR conference in South Africa.

HWCI will continue to mobilize additional material and financial resources and develop a plan to promote

local ownership and long-term sustainability of quality services for OVC. In addition to strengthening the

capacities of organizations working on behalf of OVC, HWCI will work to revise and harmonize selection

criteria for NGO/CBO/FBOs to be mentored and individuals to be trained. Local "Fighting AIDS" committees

will be established within those organizations (especially religious organizations) in order to initiate and

encourage activities around resource mobilization and care and support for OVC. To ensure greater

sustainability, monthly review meetings will be held with these organizations to assess their activities and

help them identify other long-term funding resources within the community.