With funds reprogrammed in April 2009, AVSI will support OVC services delivered by subpartners in

additional geographic zones. The funding will permit AVSI to provide care and support for a total of 5,928

OVC by September 2009 and a total of 8,500 OVC by September 2010.

ACTIVITY HAS BEEN MODIFIED IN THE FOLLOWING WAYS

Activities will remain unchanged from FY08 in terms of strategy and services given, as described below.

Additional activities in FY09 will be the following:

- AVSI will expand its activities to two more social centers in Abidjan.

- Particular emphasis will be given to building sustainability of the project through income-generating and

skills-training activities for parents and guardians to increase sustainability at the family level, as well as

indirect assistance to schools for specific needs (creation of libraries, learning materials and training for

teachers) to increase the quality of education given to OVC.

- Altogether, project activities will provide primary direct services for at least 7,500 OVC

COMPLETE COP09 NARRATIVE

This activity will build on and expand OVC care and support activities started with FY08 funding,

contributing to a scale-up of OVC services in Cote d'Ivoire by building the capacity of local organizations

and social centers to identify, assess, and meet the needs of OVC while strengthening systems to

coordinate, manage, and track progress at the local, district, and national levels.

With FY08 funding arriving in October 2008, AVSI - an international NGO conducting USG-funded OVC

program in Uganda, Rwanda, Kenya - is launching OVC activities in Cote d'Ivoire that will provide direct

care for 5,500 OVC by September 2009 as well as sub-grants, capacity building, and mentoring for local

sub-partners and leadership in district-level and regional coordination and quality assurance. AVSI will

contribute cost-share matching funds of more than 10% of the total program budget.

With staff based in three social centers (Yopougon and Abobo in Abidjan, and Bouaké), AVSI will provide

OVC services, both directly and through local partners, by using the following strategic approach:

• Focus on the child as a unique and unrepeatable human being, endowed with dignity and potential, and

by nature, not only by necessity, in relationship with family and community;

• Ensure that every child be cared for by an adult, either in the family or by someone in the community or of

a NGO/CBO;

• Rely on and enhance the operational capacity of local NGOs/CBOs through close and continuous working

relations between AVSI personnel and every partner, as well as among the partners through an operational

and stable network.

Under the coordination of the National OVC Program (PNOEV), AVSI will ensure that each child is followed

by a community worker, hired and trained by AVSI, who will be responsible for making an individual

intervention plan for each child based on the assessment of individual needs and for closely following the

services provided. The assessment and the monitoring of activities will be done through regular visits at

home and at school and through meetings in AVSI or social center offices. This overall strategy is made

possible by a close collaboration between AVSI staff and local partners' staff, in order to establish a

common way of working and to ensure that every child supported is given comprehensive care based on

the needs and resources of the child and his/her family and community.

AVSI will assist the PNOEV to promote the use of the Child Status Index and national tools to implement

regular monitoring and to track the improvement of the well-being of children served and the effectiveness

and quality of services delivered.

A key strategy in Cote d'Ivoire is AVSI's support for building the capacity of PNOEV-led collaborative

"platforms" using social centers as a base for coordinating OVC-related activities in a given geographic

areas. In order to give operational support to the OVC platforms, AVSI will establish a regular physical

presence of one staff member at each of the identified social centers. This staff member will work hand in

hand with the social -center staff to plan, provide, and monitor OVC care activities.

AVSI will serve both as a model provider of direct OVC care, using evidence-based and innovative

approaches reflecting international best practices and lessons, and as financial and technical assistance

provider and mentor to local sub-partners providing direct care. The approaches used, as described above,

include ones tested by AVSI and other PEPFAR partners (holistic package of service, community-based

care, database system for monitoring individual children, support to siblings and parents to strengthen

families) and others developed by PEPFAR (Child Status Index, OVC guidance).

Local Sub-Partners

To help build sustainable systems of care, AVSI will provide financial and technical assistance and training

to strengthen the organizational, management, M&E, and technical capacities of local sub-partners to

identify OVC, assess their needs, and provide referrals and quality care with appropriate monitoring of the

children's status. The partner will create or reinforce links to health care (including HIV testing, PMTCT, and

ART sites), educational, and social services to ensure that children benefit from effective referrals within a

continuum of care. Trainings of partners on financial project management and planning skills, to address

institutional and operational weaknesses and to improve capacity, efficiency and quality, are an essential

component of this process.

AVSI will also provide subgrant funding and technical assistance to local sub-partners, including three

partners formerly supported through Alliance National Contre le SIDA (Club des Amis, Bayewa, and

Amepouh). AVSI intends to identify at least three sub-partners per platform.

Service Delivery: Identification and Assessment of OVC

Identification of OVC will be conducted at service entry points in PMTCT, CT, and health-care settings and

by community committees and local NGO/FBO/CBOs. Initial needs assessment and household follow-up

will be conducted using the Child Status Index and the national OVC forms. AVSI will work in close and

permanent contact with local partners, organization members of platforms, and social workers to jointly

establish and update the selection criteria and the characteristics of intervention within each specific family

and community.

With FY09 funding, AVSI will expand its activities to two more social centers in Abidjan, to be selected in

Activity Narrative: consultation with the PNOEV and the PEPFAR-CI team, based on mapping of OVC needs and resources.

All project activities will be coordinated with the PNOEV and will follow and support the national HIV/AIDS

and OVC strategic plans. AVSI will work with other PEPFAR partners (Care International, ANADER, Hope

Worldwide) and other donors to avoid duplication and to maximize synergies.

Services and Targets

The project will ensure that direct services are provided for at least 5,500 OVC by September 2009 and for

at least 7,500 OVC by September 2010.

Children enrolled for primary direct support will benefit from:

- Health care: Basic health care will be ensured to each child enrolled in the project. AVSI will promote

access to health centers and hospitals through formal agreements and/or health insurance systems, when

possible. Working with the platform networks, AVSI will reinforce links to ensure that children benefit from

effective referrals within a continuum of care.

- Education: Payment of school fees when necessary, provision of necessary school materials (including

uniforms) as needed, and collaboration with school administration.

- Psychosocial support: Counseling sessions and regular visits to home and school by AVSI workers,

recreational and sport activities.

- Nutritional support: According to needs.

- Family support: Since children will be followed at the household level by AVSI community workers, all

siblings will be monitored, and some of them will be provided supplemental support for health care,

education, psychosocial support, and/or economic opportunities.

Other support activities will improve the quality of care and education received by the enrolled OVC and

their siblings and peers. With FY09 funding, particular emphasis will be given to the following:

- Income-generating and skills-training activities for parents and guardians to increase sustainability at the

family level. This will include basic business-skills training, selection of business plans submitted by trained

beneficiaries, distribution of start-up tools or capital and/or micro credit schemes.

- School support to improve quality of teaching and learning may include the creation of libraries, provision

of learning materials for teachers, and delivery of training for teachers, depending on local needs and

resources.

- Training: In consultation with the PNOEV, AVSI will organize a training of trainers for 30 participants

(including teachers, social workers, and platform members) on the AVSI psychosocial manual in use in

other countries where AVSI's OVC program is implemented. These trainers will train 120 more social and

community workers on psychosocial care.

- HIV prevention and sensitization: With FY08 funding, a group of trainers will be trained in collaboration

with the PNOEV on "The Value of Life," a training module on HIV/AIDS prevention, to build skills in training

and sensitization. With FY09 funds, 10 sensitization sessions (two per platform) will be organized to reach

OVC, their families, and community members.

Coordination and Monitoring

All program activities will be coordinated with the PNOEV and will follow the national OVC strategic plans

and documents. Collaboration with the national OVC technical working group (CEROS-EV), the PNOEV,

and the PEPFAR team will help AVSI to continually revise its strategies in order to follow national and

PEPFAR OVC guidelines and to improve results. AVSI's experience and lessons learned will support the

PNOEV in the revision of national documents and guidelines for continuous improvement and strengthening

of OVC policies in Cote d'Ivoire.

AVSI will participate in the national M&E system and send timely, accurate reports (quarterly and annually)

to national authorities and the USG strategic information team. To help build a unified national M&E system,

AVSI will assist social centers to develop a strategy for management of the OVC database at the platform

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

meetings.

New/Continuing Activity: Continuing Activity

Continuing Activity: 17373

Continued Associated Activity Information

Activity Activity ID USG Agency Prime Partner Mechanism Mechanism ID Mechanism Planned Funds

System ID System ID

17373 17373.08 U.S. Agency for Associazione 7737 7737.08 TBD $1,100,000

International Volontari per il

Development Servizio

Internazionale

Emphasis Areas

Gender

* Increasing gender equity in HIV/AIDS programs

* Increasing women's access to income and productive resources

Human Capacity Development

Estimated amount of funding that is planned for Human Capacity Development $60,000

Public Health Evaluation

Food and Nutrition: Policy, Tools, and Service Delivery

Estimated amount of funding that is planned for Food and Nutrition: Policy, Tools $36,000

and Service Delivery

Food and Nutrition: Commodities

Estimated amount of funding that is planned for Food and Nutrition: Commodities $45,000

Economic Strengthening

Estimated amount of funding that is planned for Economic Strengthening $210,000

Education

Estimated amount of funding that is planned for Education $342,000

Water

Table 3.3.13: