Detailed Mechanism Funding and Narrative

Years of mechanism: 2007 2008 2009

Details for Mechanism ID: 5315
Country/Region: Côte d'Ivoire
Year: 2008
Main Partner: National Agency for Support to Rural Development - Cote d'Ivoire
Main Partner Program: NA
Organizational Type: Private Contractor
Funding Agency: HHS/CDC
Total Funding: $2,623,151

Funding for Sexual Prevention: Abstinence/Be Faithful (HVAB): $562,401

This activity is part of a broad four-year project launched in FY05 to build a local response to HIV/AIDS in

underserved rural areas, where 60% of Côte d'Ivoire's population lives, much of it functionally illiterate. The

project is expanding access to HIV/AIDS prevention, care, and treatment and improving links to health,

social, and education services, accompanying expansion of these services as national programs scale up.

The implementing consortium brings together and applies the expertise of:

- The National Agency for Support to Rural Development (ANADER) for rural community mobilization and

HIV prevention based on participatory risk-mapping and village HIV/AIDS action committees

- The Network of Media Professionals and Artists Fighting Against HIV/AIDS (REPMASCI) for BCC,

including local outreach and radio, training, and use of its lexicon to communicate about HIV/AIDS in 16

local languages

- PSI-CI for HIV counseling and testing activities, including training and CT promotion, and procurement for

palliative care

- ACONDA-VS CI for health-provider training in CT, PMTCT, and PLWHA support, as well as palliative-care

provision and referral to ARV treatment

MSD Interpharma and the HIV/AIDS Alliance are providing technical assistance.

In the program area of AB, FY08 funds will be used to continue and strengthen FY07 activities in six

departments (Dabou, San Pedro, Abengourou, Tanda, and, starting in FY07, Soubre and Daloa). These

activities, implemented through village HIV/AIDS action committees in 24 village sites per region, draw on

ANADER's risk-mapping approach, which includes segmenting village populations to allow young women,

young men, older women, and older men to discuss sexuality and HIV-related risks and risk-reduction

strategies separately and together. Local HIV/AIDS action committees and community counselors will be

supported, with the help of JHU/CCP, in applying culturally appropriate BCC strategies, curricula, and

educational materials with abstinence, faithfulness, and gender-based violence-prevention messages.

Specific programs will be developed for and with youth groups, with an emphasis on vulnerable girls and

young women. Within the ANADER project, community counselors will also link HIV prevention with

promotion of HIV counseling and testing (through the project's mobile CT units and fixed-site CT services at

rural health centers) and with provision of palliative care services and OVC care and support.

Activities include coordinated BCC campaigns mediated by influential figures and peers and designed to a)

delay sexual debut among youth, b) decrease number of sexual partners and c) promote mutual fidelity with

knowledge of one's own and one's partners' serostatus. Use of methods of proximity (debates, sketches,

videos, peer education, traditional events, etc.) in the community, schools, sporting fields, mosques, and

churches are reinforced by radio in local languages. Traditional and religious leaders are empowered

through tools such as the HIV/AIDS lexicon and use of participatory approaches to lead communities to

address HIV/AIDS in their socio-cultural context, including addressing issues of negative gender attitudes

and HIV-related stigma and discrimination. ANADER works with teachers to reach youth in primary and

secondary schools, drawing on Ministry of Education (MEN) life-skills materials and approaches.

Project activities complement and build on other initiatives, including PEPFAR-funded efforts, such as

Ministry of AIDS and JHU/CCP activities to develop effective BCC approaches and mobilize faith-based

communities and opinion leaders; MEN and Ministry of Family and Social Affairs activities in support of

youth and OVC; CARE International and Alliance Cote d'Ivoire support for CBO/FBOs and PLWHA; and

MOH and EGPAF/ACONDA support for expanded PMTCT, CT, and treatment. Activities are coordinated

through relevant village, district, regional, and national forums.

Activities conducted with FY05, FY06, and FY07 funds include:

- Identification of 144 village sites (each serving multiple surrounding villages) for intervention

- Baseline needs assessments in the six departments

- Training of 130 ANADER staff in AB-targeted prevention

- Training of 30 ANADER workers/facilitators (five per department) and 432 community counselors (three

per village site) in use of the local-language HIV/AIDS lexicon and AB-targeted prevention

- Training of 144 schoolteachers (one per village site) in AB-oriented prevention

- Training of 12 local radio announcers (two per department) in AB prevention, with REPMASCI providing

the training and drawing on IRIN/JHU/CCP materials

- Delivery of video campaigns with community mobilization (at least one per village) and prevention

campaigns on local radio (at least two per village)

- Creation of linkages among village action committees and agricultural cooperatives by involving members

of cooperatives in village action committees

- Broadcast of radio spots and radio programs with AB prevention messages in all six departments

- Training for schoolteachers and development, with technical assistance from JHU/CCP, of the Sports for

Life program with youth organizations in all six departments

In FY08, AB activities will be guided by quantitative and qualitative assessments conducted in FY06 and the

2005 national AIDS Indicator Survey. To expand AB and other prevention and care activities, ANADER will

expand the number of community counselors per village site from three to five. ANADER will continue to

work with schoolteachers and youth associations and will work to build REPMASCI's sustainable

organizational capacity and ability to identify and creatively meet the needs of rural families, particularly

women and youth without access to mass media, for HIV and other health-related information.

Activities supported by FY08 funding will reach 150,000 people (including 90,000 youth (60%) with A-only

messages) through community outreach that promotes AB-oriented prevention and will train 158 people to

promote AB-oriented prevention.

Specific activities with FY08 funds will include:

1. Training of 10 ANADER facilitators (five per department beginning activities in FY07) and 288 community

counselors (two new CC per village site in the 144 villages to increase the number of CC to five per village

site) in use of the local-language HIV/AIDS lexicon, AB-targeted prevention, and stigma reduction

2. Training of 144 schoolteachers (one per village site in all six departments) in AB-oriented prevention

3. Training of 720 village community counselors in their functions

4. Training of four local radio announcers (two per new department) in AB prevention; REPMASCI will

provide the training, drawing on IRIN/JHU-CCP materials

Activity Narrative: 5. Delivery of at least 48 video campaigns (one per new village) and at least 96 prevention campaigns (two

per new village) on local radio

6. Creating linkages among village action committees and agricultural cooperatives by involving one or two

members of cooperatives in village action committees

7. Broadcast of AB prevention spots (1,920 emissions in the six departments) and educational programs

(156 emissions) on local radio

9. At least one video campaign in each village (a total of 144 video film projections in the six departments)

10. Piloting of using HIV-positive mothers as counselors and "accompagnateurs" for pregnant women and

new mothers identified as HIV-positive

11. Production of educational materials on AB prevention (targeting rural cultural practices) and drug use

among youth, with assistance from JHU/CCP.

Activities will strive to build capacity among CBOs and village and district HIV/AIDS action committees to

achieve local ownership and sustainability. Training of community counselors (members of village HIV/AIDS

action committees) and rural health center staff and initiation of income-generating activities are designed to

enable communities to carry on palliative-care activities after PEPFAR funding for the project has ceased.

Funding for Sexual Prevention: Other Sexual Prevention (HVOP): $200,000

This activity is part of a broad four-year project launched in FY05 to build a local response to HIV/AIDS in

underserved rural areas, where 60% of Côte d'Ivoire's population lives, much of it functionally illiterate. The

project is expanding access to HIV/AIDS prevention, care, and treatment and improving links to health,

social, and education services, accompanying expansion of these services as national programs scale up.

The implementing consortium brings together and applies the expertise of:

- ANADER for community mobilization and HIV prevention based on participatory risk-mapping and village

HIV/AIDS action committees

- The Network of Media Professionals and Artists Fighting Against HIV/AIDS (REPMASCI) for BCC,

including training, local radio and community outreach, and use of its lexicon to communicate about

HIV/AIDS in 16 local languages

- PSI-CI for HIV counseling and testing activities, including training and CT promotion, and procurement for

palliative care

- ACONDA-VS CI for health-provider training in CT, and PLWHA support, as well as palliative-care

provision and referral to ARV treatment

In Condoms and Other Prevention, FY08 funds will be used to continue and strengthen FY07 activities in

six districts (Dabou, San Pedro, Abengourou, Bondoukou, and, starting in FY07, Soubre and Daloa). These

activities, implemented through village HIV/AIDS action committees in 24 village sites per region, draw on

ANADER's risk-mapping approach. Traditional and religious leaders will be empowered through tools such

as the HIV/AIDS lexicon in local languages and use of participatory approaches to lead their communities to

address HIV/AIDS, including addressing intergenerational sex, gender inequity, and HIV-related stigma and

discrimination. Local HIV/AIDS action committees and community counselors will be supported in applying

culturally appropriate BCC strategies and materials with messages about abstinence, faithfulness, and

prevention of infection through other safe practices.

Activities include coordinated BCC campaigns mediated by influential figures and peers. Use of methods of

proximity (debates, sketches, videos, peer education, traditional events, etc.) in the community, schools,

sporting fields, mosques, and churches are reinforced by radio in local languages. Traditional and religious

leaders are empowered through tools such as the HIV/AIDS lexicon and use of participatory approaches to

lead communities to address HIV/AIDS in their socio-cultural context, including addressing issues of

negative gender attitudes and HIV-related stigma and discrimination. ANADER works with teachers to reach

youth in primary and secondary schools, drawing on Ministry of Education (MEN) life-skills materials and

approaches.

Activities complement and build on other PEPFAR-funded initiatives, such as Ministry of the Fight Against

AIDS and JHU/CCP activities to develop effective BCC approaches; Ministry of Education and Ministry of

Family and Social Affairs activities in support of youth and OVC; CARE International and Alliance Cote

d'Ivoire support for CBO/FBOs and PLWHA; and Ministry of Health and EGPAF/ACONDA support for

expanded PMTCT, CT, and treatment. Activities are coordinated through village, district, regional, and

national forums.

The project trains action committee members and community counselors to provide information to adults

about the correct and consistent use of male and female condoms as part of a comprehensive HIV/AIDS

prevention package that also includes behavior-change communication promoting delay of sexual debut

among youth, partner reduction, and mutual fidelity with knowledge of one's own and one's partners'

serostatus. The project supports or helps establish condom vending points at sites selected by the village

action committees. An initial supply of male condoms is provided free of charge, and a restocking structure

ensures that the adult community has a continuous supply of condoms.

Other Prevention linkages with the project's CT services (at rural health centers and through mobile CT

units) emphasize testing for couples. HIV-positive people are provided counseling and access to support

groups of PLWHA, which focus on secondary prevention messages and healthy lifestyles, drawing on RIP+

(network of PLWHA organizations) expertise and materials. Community counselors work with support

groups to facilitate PLWHA disclosure of their status to optimize protection of HIV-free partners and

encourage psychological support through the family. Community outreach events (e.g. video projections

with community discussion) address barriers to CT and disclosure, including stigma. Existing tools such as

films on PLWHA testimonials support communication activities to promote acceptance and minimize stigma.

Discordant couples are a target population for prevention counseling, CT promotion, and free condoms; it is

estimated that 20,740 male condoms will be distributed in FY08 to discordant couples. Community

awareness sessions will deal with reducing other risk factors for HIV infection, often revealed during risk-

mapping sessions, such as sharing knifes and razors for male circumcision, female genital mutilation, and

scarification. Whenever possible, traditional "doctors" and midwives will be trained, based on materials

developed by JHU/CCP, to reduce the risk of HIV infection through unsafe practices. The project will work

to build REPMASCI's sustainable organizational capacity and ability to identify and creatively meet the HIV-

information needs of rural families, particularly women and youth without access to mass media.

Within the ANADER project, community counselors will also link HIV prevention with promotion of HIV

counseling and testing (through the project's mobile CT units and fixed-site CT services) and with provision

of palliative care services, OVC care and support, and ART adherence support.

Activities conducted with FY07 funds include:

1. Identification of 48 more village sites (each with multiple surrounding villages) in Soubre and Daloa for

intervention

2. A situation analysis in three departments

3. Training of 60 ANADER staff in ABC-targeted prevention

4. Training of 10 trainers and 144 community counselors in use of the local-language HIV/AIDS lexicon and

ABC-targeted prevention

5. Community outreach reaching at least 52,292 people with Other Prevention messages

6. Broadcast of 922 spots and 248 educational programs with ABC prevention messages on local radio

7. 144 video campaigns (one village site)

8. Initiation of at least one support group for PLWHA in each village

9. Training of four local radio announcers (two per new departments) in ABC prevention, with REPMASCI

and using IRIN/JHU/CCP materials

10. Distribution of 71,720 male condoms

Activity Narrative: 11. Strengthening of linkages between village action committees and agricultural cooperatives by involving

one to two members of cooperatives in each action committee

The project is also piloting income-generating activities for community counselors and village committee

members to help support their HIV/AIDS prevention work (including transport and lodging when they work in

distant villages), motivate them to continue working, and help ensure the sustainable functioning of the

action committees, IGAs will be selected by community members and implemented with ANADER

agricultural technical assistance.

FY08 OP activities will be informed by assessments in FY06 and the 2005 AIDS Indicator Survey. The

project will reach 40,550 people through community outreach that promotes HIV prevention through

condoms and other prevention methods beyond AB and will train 720 people (five community leaders per

village) to promote such prevention.

Activities with FY08 funds will include:

1. Community-wide, small-group, and individual outreach promoting condom use and other HIV prevention

methods, as well as HIV counseling and testing, including at least 288 theatrical presentations

2. Delivery of at least 144 video campaigns with community mobilization and discussion (one per village)

3. Broadcast of 612 ABC prevention spots on local radio

4. Broadcast of 156 radio programs with ABC prevention messages

5. Competition (e.g. on local radio) with an HIV prevention theme to generate attention and interest

6. Strengthening of linkages between village action committees and agricultural cooperatives

7. Expand income-generating activities to 48 villages in Soubre and Daloa

The project will continue to implement an M&E plan based on national and USG requirements. ANADER

will report to the USG strategic information team quarterly program results and ad hoc requested program

data. To participate in the building and strengthening of a single national M&E system, ANADER will

participate in quarterly SI meetings and will implement decisions taken during these meetings.

Project activities will strive to mobilize and build capacity among CBOs and village and district HIV/AIDS

action committees to achieve local ownership and sustainability. Training of community counselors and peer

educators, creation of support groups, and involvement of agricultural cooperatives are designed to

enhance sustainability.

Funding for Care: Adult Care and Support (HBHC): $360,000

Noted April 16, 2008:

This funding represents a percentage of Alliance CI 's palliative care funds reprogrammed to ANADER to

conduct needed training and supervision activities in support of palliative care services in rural areas.

This activity is part of a four-year project launched in FY05 to build a local response to HIV/AIDS in

underserved rural areas, where 60% of Côte d'Ivoire's population lives, much of it functionally illiterate. The

project is expanding access to HIV/AIDS prevention, care, and treatment and improving links to health,

social, and education services, accompanying expansion of these services as national programs scale up.

The implementing consortium brings together and applies the expertise of:

- ANADER for rural community mobilization and HIV prevention based on participatory risk-mapping and

village HIV/AIDS action committees

- The Network of Media Professionals and Artists Fighting Against HIV/AIDS (REPMASCI) for BCC,

including training, local radio, and use of its lexicon to communicate about HIV/AIDS in 16 local languages

- PSI-CI for HIV counseling and testing (CT) activities, including training and CT promotion, and

procurement for palliative care

- ACONDA-VS CI for health-provider training in CT and PLWHA support, as well as palliative-care provision

and referral to ARV treatment

In the program area of Basic Health Care and Support, FY08 funds will be used to continue and strengthen

FY07 palliative-care activities in six districts (San Pedro, Dabou, Tanda, Abengourou, and, starting in FY07,

Soubre and Daloa). Palliative-care activities are led by ACONDA at rural health centers and by ANADER at

the community level. Building on ANADER's structure of HIV/AIDS action committees in 24 village sites per

region, the project uses nationally approved approaches and materials to train actors at the village level -

community counselors, ANADER rural development agents, and rural health center and mobile CT unit staff

- to provide facility- and home-based palliative-care services, including psychosocial support, prevention-for

-positives counseling (including referral to partner/family testing, "ABC" behavior-change communication,

and counseling for sero-discordant couples), ARV-adherence monitoring, and referral and counter-referral

to medical (including TB) and social services for children and adults identified as HIV-positive through CT at

rural health centers and the project's mobile CT units.

These community actors distribute palliative-care kits containing a 20-liter jerry can, two long-duration

pesticide-impregnated bed nets, and products replenished on a monthly basis, including male condoms

(20), rehydration salt, water-purification solution, and cotrimoxazole tablets. They also promote the creation

of peer support groups for PLWHA and their families and work to ensure linkages between palliative-care

services and other health care (including HIV, TB, and STI treatment), CT, HIV prevention, and OVC

services.

Project activities complement and build on other PEPFAR-funded efforts, including palliative-care policy and

guidelines for clinic- and home-based care as part of a continuum of care as well as HIV prevention, care,

and treatment activities by ministries (AIDS, Health, Education, Social Affairs) and other PEPFAR partners

(CARE International, Alliance CI, EGPAF). Activities are coordinated through local, national, and district

forums, with involvement of the district health management teams to maximize capacity-building and

coordination with the MOH.

In 2007, ANADER has a target of providing palliative care for 5,574 PLWHA. Activities include:

1. Identification of 48 new village sites in the districts of Soubre and Daloa for intervention, bringing the

project total to 144 villages (each serving multiple surrounding villages) in six districts

2. Identification of 10 additional rural health centers (five in each new district) where palliative-care activities

are aligned with fixed-site CT services

3. Training of 54 ANADER agents to provide palliative-care services

4. Supply of palliative-care services and kits for identified PLWHA

FY08-funded activities will support 147 service outlets (one per rural health center or village, plus three

mobile CT units) and provide HIV-related palliative care services for at least 6,000 PLWHA.

Emphasis will be placed on strengthening linkages among CT, health care, palliative care, and OVC care

services. To improve effectiveness and efficiency, community counselors will be cross-trained to provide

both palliative care and OVC care at the home level.

Activities with FY08 funds will include:

1. Provision of home-based palliative care, including kits, psychosocial support, and referral to district health

centers, social services, and OVC services

2. Supply of palliative-care services and kits for identified PLWHA

3. Support for the establishment and operation of 30 PLWHA support groups

4. Income-generating activities for 30 PLWHA groups (five per district) established around rural health

centers. The activities will be designed by the groups, with technical assistance and training from ANADER,

and will take into account lessons learned in the FY07 pilot. Part of the income will help fund operations of

the support group.

5. Distribution of 1,000 posters and 20,000 brochures with messages designed to reduce stigma and

discrimination against PLWHA.

ANADER will continue to implement an M&E plan based on national and USG requirements and tools. Data

will be collected by village action committees using simple tools and will be transmitted to district, regional,

and central units. Project reporting will occur monthly at the regional level and quarterly at the central level.

ANADER will report to the USG strategic information team quarterly program results and ad hoc requested

program data. To participate in the building and strengthening of a single national M&E system, ANADER

will participate in quarterly SI meetings and will implement decisions taken during these meetings.

Sustainability and project effectiveness are enhanced by consortium members' past and current

collaborations with multiple ministries (Health, National Education, Family and Social Affairs, and others) as

well as RIP+ (Network of Organizations of Persons Living with HIV/AIDS), Lumière Action (an NGO of

PLWHA), youth NGOs, and faith-based communities. Project partners have been successful in mobilizing

internal resources and attracting Global Fund, MSD, and other funds/partners to support their activities.

Activity Narrative: ANADER has a broad rural development mandate with initiatives to address poverty, gender inequities, and

food insecurity and seeks to maximize opportunities for wraparound activities. The World Bank, UNICEF,

WFP, AfriJapan and others have offered or do offer ANADER such opportunities.

Activities will strive to build capacity among CBOs and village and district HIV/AIDS action committees to

achieve local ownership and sustainability. Training of community counselors (members of village HIV/AIDS

action committees) and rural health center staff and initiation of income-generating activities are designed to

enable communities to continue palliative-care activities after PEPFAR funding for the project has ceased.

Funding for Care: Orphans and Vulnerable Children (HKID): $1,050,000

This activity is part of a broad four-year project launched in FY 2005 to build a local response to HIV/AIDS

in underserved rural areas, where 60% of Côte d'Ivoire's population lives, with high levels of youth not in

school, and adult illiteracy. The project is expanding access to HIV/AIDS prevention, care, and treatment

and improving links to health, social, and education services, accompanying expansion of these services as

national programs scale up. The implementing consortium brings together and applies the expertise of:

- ANADER for rural community mobilization and HIV prevention based on participatory risk-mapping and

village HIV/AIDS action committees;

- The Network of Media Professionals and Artists Fighting Against HIV/AIDS (REPMASCI) for BCC,

including training, local radio, and use of its lexicon to communicate about HIV/AIDS in 16 local languages;

- PSI-CI for HIV counseling and testing activities, including training and CT promotion, and procurement for

palliative care;

- ACONDA-VS CI for health-provider training in CT, palliative care and PLWHA support, plus referral to

ARV treatment.

In the program area of orphans and vulnerable children (OVC), activities conducted with PEPFAR support

in FY07 includes training 436 people (52 rural development agents, 96 community counselors, 144 school

teachers, and 144 rural health center workers) in OVC identification, needs assessment, and care. Direct

care is provided to 7,000 children in hard-to-reach areas, including psychosocial care and support for

schooling and vocational training, legal aid, and referral and counter-referral to social services. This

provides a key complement to the work of other PEPFAR partners to ensure geographic coverage in a

national strategy to scale up services across the country.

FY08 funds will be used to continue and strengthen FY07 activities in six departments (San Pedro, Dabou,

Abengourou, Tanda, Soubre, and Daloa) in five regions of the country. OVC activities in 2008 will be

informed by baseline assessments conducted in FY07 and results of the 2005 national AIDS Indicator

Survey. They will continue to complement and build on other PEPFAR-funded efforts, including Ministry of

Education (MEN), Ministry of the Fight Against AIDS (MLS), Ministry of Family and Social Affairs, ANS-CI,

CARE International, and Hope Worldwide activities in support of AB and Other Prevention activities for

youth and OVC. The project will operate in consultation with the National OVC Program (PNOEV) and will

participate in the national OVC committee (CEROS-EV).

ANADER will continue to work through HIV/AIDS action committees in 24 village sites (each with several

surrounding villages) per department, which help implement and coordinate its OVC, HIV prevention, CT,

and care activities in collaboration with other actors and relevant ministries. The project's OVC strategy

involves establishing or reinforcing a four-member OVC team (1 community counselor, 1 rural health

worker, 1 schoolteacher, and 1 ANADER rural development agent) in each village. Team members are

trained to educate and mobilize communities around the need for OVC identification and support; to identify

vulnerable children and their families through CT at rural health centers, PMTCT at rural maternity centers,

and the project's mobile CT units; and ensure that OVC needs are identified and met with the minimum

package of care, including psychosocial support and monitoring, educational and legal assistance (school

fees, vocational training with an emphasis on providing opportunities for girls, birth certificates), support

packages (school kits, basic health-care supplies, impregnated bed nets, safe-water products, nutritional

and food items, hygienic products), HIV prevention messages, and referral to needed health (including HIV

and TB) and social services. Follow-up at the household level by social workers and community counselors

trained in OVC and palliative care will identify and address needs of different OVC groups, including HIV-

infected children and their families, children of HIV-infected parents, adolescent girls, orphans requiring grief

support, and different age groups. This process will be improved in 2008 with introduction of the Child

Status Index to simplify and standardize the monitoring of the child's well-being and the effectiveness of

services delivered.

Based on FY07 experience, ANADER will add training in OVC support and care for community leaders (four

per village site). ANADER will also extend income-generating activities (started in 24 villages in FY07) to 12

more villages to build self-sufficiency among OVC families, with links to school feeding programs in

collaboration with the Ministry of Education and with WFP wraparound programming for OVC and host

families identified as needing nutritional support. In addition, ANADER will provide incentives to ensure that

community counselors are able to sustain their OVC work.

FY08 expanded funds will provide OVC services to at least 2,000 newly identified OVC (for a total of 9,000

children receiving direct support) and to build capacity of at least 1,214 people, including 588 people to be

trained in the use of harmonized OVC data-collection tools (144 ANADER rural development agents, 12

ANADER district head office workers, 144 rural health workers, 144 schoolteachers, and 144 community

counselors). Training in OVC care and support will be provided for at least 50 replacements for reassigned,

deceased, retired, and inactive members of the village OVC teams and for 576 community leaders (four per

village site). In addition, community counselors providing OVC services will be cross-trained to provide

home-based palliative care services.

Specific activities conducted with FY08 funds will include:

1. Community sensitization by community counselors about the importance of community-based support for

OVC and HIV-affected families, including information about and referral to existing sources of care and

support, including educational support. This will include efforts to engage religious leaders and other

influential community members in creating a supportive environment for OVC.

2. Training replacements and encourage partnering to compensate for deceased and transferred village

committee members.

3. Stigma reduction through local radio and community outreach. Collaboration with JHU/CCP, the Ministry

of Education, and other partners will ensure synergy and avoid duplication with other BCC and IEC media

and outreach activities.

4. Provision of support to ensure a minimum standard of OVC care for at least 9,000 children, including at

least 2,000 newly identified in FY08.

5. Procurement and distribution of inputs for support packages to meet needs of at least 9,000 OVC, with

renewed efforts to engage other donors/partners (UNICEF, UNDP, WFP) and local contributions to ensure

that other children in OVC families receive support.

6. Support for adaptation and use of the Child Status Index.

7. Training for village committee members to improve monitoring, linkages with other service-delivery

organizations, and direct care support.

Activity Narrative: 8. Monitoring and technical support for income-generating agriculture/school canteen activities in 24 village

sites begun in FY07.

ANADER will implement a project-specific monitoring and evaluation (M&E) plan based on national and

USG requirements and tools. Data will be collected by rural health center personnel, community counselors,

ANADER rural development agent and village schoolteachers and will be transmitted to ANADER's district,

regional, and project central units. Project reporting will occur monthly, quarterly and yearly. The project will

contribute to the implementation of an integrated M&E system in collaboration with national and

international stakeholders, including the ministries of AIDS, Health, and Family and Social Affairs.

Both sustainability and project effectiveness are enhanced by consortium members' past and current

collaborations with multiple ministries (Health, National Education, Family and Social Affairs, and others) as

well as RIP+ (Network of Organizations of Persons Living with HIV/AIDS), Lumière Action (a PLWHA

organization), youth NGOs, faith-based communities, and community leaders. Project partners have been

successful in mobilizing internal resources and attracting PEPFAR, Global Fund, MSD, and other

funds/partners to support their activities. ANADER has a broad rural development mandate with initiatives to

address poverty, gender inequities, and food insecurity and seeks to maximize opportunities for wraparound

activities. The World Bank, UNICEF, WFP, AfriJapan and others have offered or do offer ANADER such

opportunities.

These activities strive to build capacity among CBOs and village and district HIV/AIDS action committees to

achieve local ownership and sustainability. Training of community counselors (members of village HIV/AIDS

action committees), rural health center staff, village schoolteachers, and community leaders and initiation of

income-generating activities are designed to enable communities to carry on OVC identification and care

activities after PEPFAR funding for the project has ceased.

Funding for Testing: HIV Testing and Counseling (HVCT): $350,750

This activity is part of a broad four-year project launched in FY05 to build a local response to HIV/AIDS in

underserved rural areas, where 60% of Côte d'Ivoire's population lives, much of it functionally illiterate. The

project is expanding access to HIV/AIDS prevention, care, and treatment and improving links to health,

social, and education services, accompanying expansion of these services as national programs scale up.

The implementing consortium brings together the expertise of:

• The National Agency for Support to Rural Development (ANADER) for rural community mobilization and

HIV prevention based on participatory risk-mapping and village HIV/AIDS action committees

• The Network of Media Professionals and Artists Fighting Against HIV/AIDS (REPMASCI) for BCC,

including training, local radio, and use of its lexicon to communicate about HIV/AIDS in 16 local languages

• PSI-CI for HIV counseling and testing activities, including training and CT promotion, and procurement for

palliative care

• ACONDA-VS CI for health-provider training in CT, PMTCT, and PLWHA support, as well as palliative-care

• Provision and referral to ARV treatment

ANADER's CT activities complement the integrated and free-standing CT services provided by PEPFAR-

funded partners ACONDA, EGPAF, Alliance Cote d'Ivoire, PSI, and FHI by extending mobile and fixed-site

CT services and promotion to rural areas while strengthening a referral network linking CT services to HIV

prevention, PMTCT, palliative care, OVC care, and treatment services.

Overall project strategies rely on village HIV/AIDS action committees in 24 villages in each of six

departments and draw on ANADER's risk-mapping approach, which includes segmenting village

populations to allow young women, young men, older women, and older men to discuss sexuality and HIV-

related risks and risk-reduction strategies separately and together. Local HIV/AIDS action committees and

community counselors are trained and supported in applying culturally appropriate BCC strategies,

curricula, and educational materials with ABC prevention and CT promotion messages. Activities include

coordinated BCC campaigns mediated by influential figures and peers and using methods of proximity

(debates, sketches, videos, peer education, traditional events, etc.) in the community, schools, sporting

fields, mosques, and churches, reinforced by radio in local languages. Traditional and religious leaders are

empowered through tools such as the HIV/AIDS lexicon and use of participatory approaches to lead

communities to address HIV/AIDS in their socio-cultural context, including addressing issues of negative

gender attitudes and HIV-related stigma and discrimination.

Trained community counselors (three per village site, increasing to five in FY08) and ANADER rural

development conduct community-mobilization, CT uptake-promotion, and stigma-reduction activities (using

existing tools, such as a documentary film on PLWHA testimonials). They join the mobile-unit staff in

providing counseling and testing, TB screening, HIV prevention education, and referrals for ART and care.

They also provide psychosocial support for PLWHA and follow up with home-based palliative care, OVC

care, and ART adherence support.

With FY06 and FY07 funds, the project initiated and is providing mobile-outreach CT and basic health and

support services at 144 village sites in the departments of San Pedro, Dabou, Abengourou, Tanda and,

starting in FY07, Soubre and Daloa, covering five regions. Two mobile CT units serving four districts were

installed in FY06, with training for 291 community counselors and other community members, and a third

mobile CT unit is being added in FY07. Each mobile unit covers two departments.

In addition, CT services are provided at rural health centers supported by ACONDA. ACONDA has trained

20 health providers from rural health centers in CT screening and 40 health workers in counseling, and 28

rural health centers have been equipped for CT services.

HIV/AIDS action committees have been strengthened in all 144 villages through training and provision of

one sensitization kit per committee. REPMASCI developed and broadcast 18 radio spots in six local

languages using its HIV/AIDS lexicon, as well as preparing and delivering video/film projections with

community discussion. Communication campaigns were conducted in 2006 and 2007 to promote CT in the

144 rural sites.

At the end of June 07, 9,005 people in the villages had received HIV counseling and testing with receipt of

test results, including 7,632 through mobile CT service delivery. The project's target is to test 15,360 in

FY07. In addition, ANADER expects to make up for a slow start of CT activities in FY06 to reach its

combined FY06-07 target of 42,280.

CT quality assurance is provided through supervisory visits with regional and local health district teams.

Quality assurance for HIV tests is provided by the RETRO-CI laboratory in collaboration with the National

HIV/AIDS Care and Treatment Program (PNPEC) and local health authorities. Project activities were

coordinated through village, district, regional, and national fora, in consultation with relevant ministries and

other PEPFAR partners.

FY08 funds will be used to continue and strengthen FY07 activities in the six departments. Activities will

incorporate lessons learned and sustainability strategies identified during the first two project years,

including the importance of retraining community counselors; of conducting regular supervision of these

counselors to ensure quality service provision; of repeated exposure to health messages (particularly in

small-group or individual settings) to achieve behavior change; of communication and coordination with

partners at the local, regional and national levels; and of finding ways to motivate community counselors.

The project will seek to take advantage of a simplified national testing algorithm (expected within the year)

permitting the use of finger-prick, whole-blood rapid tests by lay personnel. Once rapid tests are available,

ANADER will work with the USG team to devise and implement a strategy for their introduction and use in

coordinated, carefully monitored approaches that may include community- and home-based testing, with the

mobile units switched to a supervisory function.

The project expects to test at least 31,130 people in FY08, including 27,330 via the mobile CT units and

3,800 at the rural health centers. Activities with FY08 funds will include:

1. Refresher and/or updated training in CT (including training in the new algorithm and rapid tests, if

Activity Narrative: approved) for 432 community counselors

2. Training for 56 health workers (two per center) for CT at rural health centers with integrated CT and for

56 health workers (two per center) in counseling.

3. Training for six CT supervisors for Bas Sassandra and Haut Sassandra regions according to the national

supervision tools

4. Mobile CT services to 27,330 clients in 144 villages.

5. CT services to 3,800 clients at 28 rural health centers with integrated CT.

6. Supervision by PSI and ACONDA, in collaboration with health district and ANADER staff, of all CT

activities.

7. Ensuring CT service quality using dried blood spot techniques.

8. Reinforcing referral systems among CT services, facility-based care and treatment, and community- and

home-based palliative care and OVC services.

ANADER will continue to implement an M&E plan based on national and USG requirements and tools and

will contribute to implementation of an integrated M&E system in collaboration with national and

international stakeholders, including the ministries of AIDS, Health, and Social Affairs.

Activities will strive to strengthen capacity among CBOs and village and district AIDS action committees to

achieve local ownership and sustainability. Training of community counselors (members of village HIV/AIDS

action committees) and rural health center staff are designed to enable communities to carry on CT

activities after PEPFAR funding for the project has ceased.

Funding for Treatment: Adult Treatment (HTXS): $100,000

This activity is part of a broad four-year project launched in FY05 to build a local response to HIV/AIDS in

underserved rural areas, where 60% of Côte d'Ivoire's population lives and most are illiterate. The project is

expanding access to HIV/AIDS prevention, care, and treatment and improving links to health, social, and

education services, accompanying expansion of these services as national programs scale up. The

implementing consortium brings together and applies the expertise of:

• The National Agency for Support to Rural Development (ANADER) for rural community mobilization and

HIV prevention based on participatory risk-mapping and village HIV/AIDS action committees

• The Network of Media Professionals and Artists Fighting Against HIV/AIDS (REPMASCI) for BCC,

including training, local radio, and use of its lexicon to communicate about HIV/AIDS in 16 local languages

• PSI-CI for HIV counselling and testing activities, including training and CT promotion, and procurement for

palliative care

• ACONDA-VS CI for health-provider training in CT, PMTCT, and PLWHA support, as well as palliative-care

provision and referral to ARV treatment

• MSD Interpharma and the HIV/AIDS Alliance are providing technical assistance.

Funds in the ARV Services program area are used to promote treatment literacy, facilitate access to ART,

and provide treatment monitoring and support in rural areas in six departments. This includes development

and promotion of linkages between the comprehensive clinical care for PLWHA delivered at EGPAF- and

ACONDA-supported health facilities at district and village levels and community-based HIV counseling and

testing, palliative care, OVC care, and HIV prevention activities conducted by ANADER in surrounding rural

areas.

Referrals are made to district general hospitals and other public and private health-care centers that are

adequately equipped to provide HIV/AIDS care, including ART. Clients who test HIV-positive at rural health

centers are referred to the nearest accredited care and treatment site. Clients who test HIV-positive through

ANADER's mobile CT units are referred to the nearest rural health center and then to an appropriate care

and treatment site as needed. Nurses at rural health centers that have integrated CT are trained to monitor

the follow-up of ARV treatment at community health centers and to provide psychological support to

PLWHA under the supervision of the district health team. Community counselors are trained to provide

psychological support and to monitor and support patients on ART, as well as to provide home-based

palliative care and OVC care and support. Community counselors and peer-support groups monitor

adherence to treatment, contribute to referral activities, and promote treatment literacy. The project works to

establish linkages between services provided by PEPFAR-funded NGOs and FBOs, the Global Fund,

EGPAF, ACONDA, AIBEF, and other partners.

FY08 funds will be used to continue and strengthen FY07-funded activities, which include:

i) Assessment of stigma and treatment literacy in the initial four departments and prioritization of needs and

available support, with involvement of PLWHA

ii) Training of 196 health workers in rural health centers in ART referral, monitoring, and support

iii) Training of 192 community counselors to provide counseling and education on treatment, positive living,

and prevention for positives using local languages

iv) Promotion of adherence to treatment and secondary prevention with linkages to ART services

v) Referral of 5,574 PLWHA for care and treatment services, including ART if eligible.

FY08 funds will complement and build on other PEPFAR-funded efforts, including Ministry of the Fight

Against AIDS (MLS) and JHU-CCP activities to develop effective BCC materials and approaches and

mobilize faith-based communities and opinion leaders; Alliance Cote d'Ivoire support for CBO/FBOs and

PLWHA; and Ministry of Health (MOH) and EGPAF/ACONDA support for expanded ART, palliative care,

and CT.

Key activities and approaches during FY08 will include:

1. Assessment of stigma and treatment literacy in the two departments added in FY07, with prioritization of

needs and available support. These will be conducted in partnership with the national network of PLWHA

organizations (RIP+), and results will complement other available sources of data, including the 2005 AIDS

Indicator Survey;

2. Training of 116 health workers in the two new departments, including 40 in rural health centers, in ART

referral, monitoring, and support ;

3. Training of 96 community counselors to provide counseling and education on treatment, positive living,

and prevention for positives using local languages, in partnership with REPMASCI;

4. Promotion of awareness and adherence to treatment and secondary prevention with establishment of

linkages between community-based and ART services;

5. Referral of newly identified PLWHA to care and treatment, including ART if eligible.

ANADER will continue to support and strengthen a community-based M&E system to track implementation

of activities using national and USG tools in order to improve the quality of service provision and to provide

data on management of care and treatment for PLWHA at the community level. These data will be collected

by the village action committees using simple tools and will be transmitted to district, regional, and central

units. The reporting will occur monthly at the regional level and quarterly at the central level.

Planned activities will be coordinated through village, district, regional, and national forums and will strive to

build capacity among CBOs and village and district AIDS committees to achieve local ownership and

sustainability.

Subpartners Total: $0
Network of Media Professionals and Artists Against AIDS in Cote d'Ivoire: NA
Population Services International: NA
Cross Cutting Budget Categories and Known Amounts Total: $172,800
Food and Nutrition: Commodities $172,800