Maurice Solomon, Parmesar and Company was contracted to disburse and monitor small grants to a network of local organizations, while strengthening their financial and administrative management capacities. This Firm has developed a manual on Financial, Administrative and Accounting Guidelines and conducted training on its use, introduced an accounting data base and established a system for financial reporting while conducting monthly visits and on-site training with partner organizations. Training sessions/visits are geared to respond to the particular needs of each organization and the designated accounting staff.

The Accounting Firm will continue to sub-contract to eight NGOs and four FBOs to deliver A and B messages to youth and adults. The NGOs/FBOs currently work with in and out of school youth, youth groups in churches, as well as communities, focusing on awareness, knowledge and applied prevention activities. These activities include sensitization sessions with youth, adults and religious leaders; a peer education program using local materials and manuals; edutainment through the performing arts; IEC radio and television programs; and, the distribution of IEC materials. Messages are age- appropriate and are geared to encourage primary and secondary abstinence, the development of skills for practicing abstinence, ‘be faithful' in sexually active adults, adolescents and older youth, and, the reduction of stigma and discrimination. The target audience is also informed about the risk associated with cross generational sex, thus encouraging behavior that will reduce the risk of infection. In FY 05, one hundred and fifty five thousand four hundred and seventy one persons were reached with A and B messages.

Support will also be provided to the Ministry of Health's Adolescent Health and Wellness Unit to strengthen the program's regional and national approach to creating school health clubs and youth friendly health services that address the physical, psychosocial and behavioral needs of youth, while encouraging positive behaviors. To date 78 health clubs and 10 youth friendly health services have been established. Grants will also be available to private-public partnerships for the promotion of "AB" prevention activities.

GHARP as the technical assistance, oversight and monitoring arm, provides assistance in programmatic and technical aspects of the project to NGOs within the USAID HIV/AIDS strategy and serves as a key agent in building sustainable program management and technical capacity of the NGOs. Hence, the targets for all the organizations involved in A and B activities would be included under GHARP and in FY 07 will be tracked by the GHARP monitoring system and compiled in one database. In keeping with OGAC's guidance, standardized data collection forms for each program area were developed by GHARP, to ensure the quality of data collected. The maintenance of data quality will be ensured through the training and retraining of NGO staff with M&E responsibility. Apart from the monthly review of data collected, GHARP conducts quarterly data quality assurance reviews to each NGO to monitor the utilization of the monitoring system and the accuracy of the data collected. Hence GHARP monitors progress against the total program area targets and those individually set by the NGOs, in their annual Monitoring and Evaluation plan.

The Accounting Firm will be responsible for the continued capacity and system strengthening of the identified NGO/FBO partners in the key areas of financial management, through on-site technical assistance and training.

The Accounting Firm will disburse funds, manage and strengthen the financial systems of 5 NGOs working with MARP in Guyana's highest HIV/AIDS affected regions. The NGOs are currently working with street-based and brothel based commercial sex workers in two of Guyana's Regions. Interventions include HIV/STI prevention education including information on assessing, reducing and eliminating one's risk of infection through behavior change. These are conducted through one-on-one interaction by outreach workers and peer education training. Outreach workers and peer educators (FCSW) also facilitate access to screening and treatment for HIV and other STI, assistance for care and treatment referrals, as well as access to affordable condoms. Through the intervention of Swing Star/FACT, a USAID-supported NGO, one of the peer educators (FCSW), has since quit the CSW profession and now assists the NGO with their outreach activities on a full-time basis.

In FY 07, the program will be expanded to other regions with a focus on the mining and cross border communities, mobile populations and MSM. CSWs will also be trained to target their clients.

The prevention targets for these NGOs will be included under GHARP and in FY 07 will be tracked by the GHARP monitoring framework and compiled in their database.

GHARP as the technical assistance, oversight and monitoring arm, provides assistance in programmatic and technical aspects of the project to NGOs within the USAID HIV/AIDS strategy and serves as a key agent in building sustainable program management and technical capacity of the NGOs. Hence, the targets for all the organizations involved in Other Prevention activities would be included under GHARP and in FY 07 will be tracked by the GHARP monitoring system and compiled in one database.

In keeping with OGAC's guidance, standardized data collection forms for each program area were developed by GHARP, to ensure the quality of data collected. The maintenance of data quality will be ensured through the training and retraining of NGO staff with M&E responsibility. Apart from the monthly review of data collected, GHARP conducts quarterly data quality assurance reviews to each NGO to monitor the utilization of the monitoring system and the accuracy of the data collected. Hence GHARP monitors progress against the total program area targets and those individually set by the NGOs, in their annual Monitoring and Evaluation plan.

The Accounting Firm will be responsible for the continued capacity and system strengthening of the identified NGO/FBO partners in the key areas of financial management, through on-site technical assistance and training.

Maurice Solomon, Parmesar and Company is an indigenous financial institution, which was contracted to disburse and monitor small grants to a network of local organizations, while strengthening their financial and administrative management capacities. This Firm has developed a manual on Financial, Administrative and Accounting Guidelines and conducted training on its use, introduced an accounting data base and established a system for financial reporting while conducting monthly visits and on-site training with partner organizations. Training sessions/visits are geared to respond to the particular needs of each organization and the designated accounting staff.

In FY 07, thirteen (13) key NGO/FBO partners will receive financial support from Maurice Solomon, Parmesar & Co. to continue to reach PLWHA and their families in their communities. To date, palliative care services have been provided to 500 PLWHA and their families in seven regions, with over 60 community health care providers/volunteers and nurse supervisors trained in community home-based care (HBC). Under this program, one of our USAID-supported NGOs, Hope for All in Region 2, was given an office within the public hospital where a volunteer is on call to receive referrals of PLWHA from the doctors. This method, of an NGO working on site along side the formal health care team has strengthened the referral system and has greatly reduced the delay in a client's access to Home Based Care Services and support. Once a referral is received the client is registered into the program and arrangements are made to do home visits, or, if the client is sick to do home care. In the home, an assessment of the needs of both the client and family is conducted by the nurse supervisor attached to Hope for All. Based on that assessment, a plan of care is drafted by the nurse supervisor, and is communicated to the volunteer(s) assigned to the case.

It is envisaged that the HBC program will expand to the remaining three (3) regions of Guyana in FY 07. The package of care provided includes: 1.) Clinical care accompaniment, adherence support, hospital visits to coordinate discharge planning, provision of care packages, and basic nursing care in the home; 2.) Prevention education for family members and encouraging family members to be a source of support and nutritional assessment and education on food preparation for the individual and the family; 3.) Psychosocial support (Clients are invited to eventually join the NGO support groups once they have adjusted and accepted their diagnosis as well); 4.) Referral to a religious organization that is sensitive to HIV/AIDS issues; 5.) Linkages to social servicies such as welfare and legal services; and facilitating access to micro-enterprise initiatives and vocational skills training.

GHARP, as the technical assistance, oversight and monitoring arm, provides assistance in programmatic and technical aspects of the project to NGOs within the USAID HIV/AIDS strategy and serves as a key agent in building sustainable program management and technical capacity of the NGOs. Hence the targets of the NGOs providing Home Based Care Services would be included in those under GHARP in FY 07, and will be tracked by GHARP monitoring framework and compiled in their database. In keeping with OGAC's guidance, standardized data collection forms for each program area were developed by GHARP, to ensure the quality of data collected. Quality assurance of the NGO-based monitoring and evaluation systems will be ensured through continued training and mentoring of M&E personnel. Apart from monthly reporting and data reviews, GHARP conducts quarterly data quality assurance reviews on-site, with each NGO in order to monitor the utilization of the monitoring system and the accuracy of the data collected. Hence GHARP monitors progress against the total program area targets and those individually set by the NGOs, in their annual Monitoring and Evaluation plan.

The Accounting Firm will be responsible for the continued capacity and system strengthening of the identified NGO/FBO partners in the key areas of financial management, through in-site technical assistance and training.

Maurice Solomon, Parmesar and Company (A private-sector, indigenous accounting instituation) was contracted to disburse and monitor small grants to a network of local organizations, while strengthening their financial and administrative management capacities. This Firm has developed a manual on Financial, Administrative and Accounting Guidelines and conducted training on its use, introduced an accounting database and established a system for financial reporting while conducting monthly visits and on-site training with partner organizations. Training sessions/visits are geared to respond to the particular needs of each organization and the designated accounting staff.

The Firm will continue to provide financial assistance to twelve (12) NGO/FBO partners to implement comprehensive OVC programs. One of the key NGO partners, Linden Care Foundation (LCF), is currently providing care and support services to over two hundred (200) children who are reached through referrals from schools and members of the community, the HBC and VCT programs. Services offered to OVC include psychosocial counseling( individual counseling with OVC as well as parent/guardian counseling), homework supervision, medical referrals, nutritional assessment and counseling, adherence support, referring caregivers to social and legal services, access to micro-enterprise initiatives and vocational skills training for older youth, age appropriate prevention education and encouraging testing for family members. Community facilitators from LCF, trained through GHARP, conduct visits to homes and schools to follow-up on the progress of the child. TLCF has also been able to leverage resources from international and local agencies to construct a ‘drop in' centre for OVC, obtain raw materials for food and the acquisition of multi-vitamins, and, other medications for pain management and the treatment of opportunistic infections. With support from UNICEF and ‘Every Child Guyana' LCF also manages a mini-pharmacy. Support from the World Bank has enabled the organization to provide nutritious meals for one hundred OVC four days weekly. A nutritionist who is a member of LCF assists with the preparation of the meals. The Chairperson of LCF is a qualified nurse practitioner/midwife. She attended the PEPFAR OVC conference in Namibia in March, '06 and gave a presentation on OVC in Guyana and the Caribbean.

GHARP, as the technical assistance, oversight and monitoring arm, provides assistance in programmatic and technical aspects of the project to NGOs within the USAID HIV/AIDS strategy and serves as a key agent in building sustainable program management and technical capacity of the NGOs. Hence, the targets of these twelve (12) NGOs/FBOs would be included under GHARP in FY 07, and will be tracked by GHARP monitoring framework and compiled in their database. In keeping with OGAC's guidance, standardized data collection forms for each program area were developed by GHARP, to ensure the quality of data collected. The maintenance of data quality will be ensured through the training and retraining of NGO staff with M&E responsibility. Apart from the monthly review of data collected, GHARP conducts quarterly data quality assurance reviews to each NGO to monitor the utilization of the monitoring system and the accuracy of the data collected. Thus, GHARP monitors progress against the total program area targets and those individually set by the NGOs, in their annual Monitoring and Evaluation plan.

The Accounting Firm will be responsible for the continued capacity and system strengthening of the identified NGO/FBO partners in the key areas of financial management, through on-site technical assistance and training.

Maurice Solomon, Parmesar and Company, an indigenous financial institution, was contracted to disburse and monitor small grants to a network of local organizations, while strengthening their financial and administrative management capacities. This Firm has developed a manual on Financial, Administrative and Accounting Guidelines and conducted training on its use, introduced an accounting data base and established a system for financial reporting while conducting monthly visits and on-site training with partner organizations. Training sessions/visits are geared to respond to the particular needs of each organization and the designated accounting staff.

The Accounting Firm will continue to provide financial assistance to a regional distribution of twenty (20) NGOs/FBOs to initiate interpersonal and community dialogue, provide information, and mobilize communities to access Counselling and Testing Services, including counseling and testing through PMTCT ANC clinics.

Currently, the following eight (8) NGO/FBO partners are supported to deliver counseling and testing: Comforting Hearts, the Guyana Responsible Parenthood Association, Hope for All, Hope Foundation, Lifeline Counselling Services, Linden Care Foundation, St. Francis Community Developers, Youth Challenge Guyana. Of those eight, there are seven fixed sites and one mobile unit located at the Guyana Responsible Parenthood Association. The NGOs/FBOs have been reaching high risk populations with C&T services through their community outreach activities and walk-in service. Appropriate AB education has been integrated into their risk reduction counselling, and, prevention programs for high risk populations follow the ABC guidance. Persons who are tested positive through counselling and testing are referred to treatment services, home and community based programs.

In FY07, two additional NGOs/FBOs will be supported to expand Counselling and Testing Services in key communities, particularly targeting the rural and hinterland communities. Emphasis will be placed on male access and MARP.

GHARP, as the technical assistance, oversight and monitoring arm, provides assistance in programmatic and technical aspects of the project to NGOs within the USAID HIV/AIDS strategy and serves as a key agent in building sustainable program management and technical capacity of the NGOs. Hence the targets of the NGOs providing Counselling and Testing Services would be included in those under GHARP in FY 07, and will be tracked by GHARP monitoring framework and compiled in their database. In keeping with OGAC's guidance, standardized data collection forms for each program area were developed by GHARP, to ensure the quality of data collected. The maintenance of data quality will be ensured through the training and retraining of NGO staff with M&E responsibility. Apart from the monthly review of data collected, GHARP conducts quarterly data quality assurance reviews to each NGO to monitor the utilization of the monitoring system and the accuracy of the data collected. Hence GHARP monitors progress against the total program area targets and those individually set by the NGOs, in their annual Monitoring and Evaluation plan. The Accounting Firm will be responsible for the continued capacity and system strengthening of the identified NGO/FBO partners in the key areas of financial management, through in-site technical assistance and training.

Of note, is that in FY 07, there will be an increased focus in transferring the service delivery aspect of VCT from GHARP to the NGO/FBO community. GHARP will continue to offer the training, QA, and technical assistance and oversight to ensure targets are met and that appropriate communities are targeted.

Maurice Solomon, Parmesar and Company is an indigenous Accounting Firm contracted to disburse and monitor small grants to a network of local organizations, while strengthening their financial management capacities. Under the Other/Policy Analysis and System Strengthening program area, the Accounting Firm will act as grants manager to a local agency or individual consultants (to be determined) whose responsibility will be to build the capacity of the eighteen (18) USAID-supported NGOs by fulfilling critical governance and administrative tasks:

• Update NGO Coordinating Committee Constitution; o Train board on final constitution o Participate in coordinating committees to oversee process • Develop customized constitutions and guidelines for NGO boards; o Train NGOs and their boards on final constitution • Develop customized staffing and volunteer policies for NGOs; o Develop management plans o Develop scopes of work for each position • Develop conflict of interest policies; • Develop NGO guidelines for sub-contracting; and • Respond to NGO requests for on-site support.

Unfortunately, after issuing of the Request for Proposals (RFP) in June 2006, identifying the strongest candidate, and confirming it was registered in Guyana as an NGO, the contract was not awarded. This was due to the fact that the RFP specifically required that the recipient be locally governed and this NGO had a disproportionate number of its directors being resident in Canada. Despite the contract not being awarded, the other members of the organization foresee a policy shift from within the organization whereby directorship will transition fully to local management. In the interim, Maurice Solomon & Co. will be issuing a request for application from individual consultants who will be able to address the current needs.

A major component of the strategic approach in the battle against HIV/AIDS is to increase funding to civil society organizations. All of the major donors advocate this approach and it is widely used throughout the world. However, there are several obstacles that are consistently encountered as the strategy rolls out. The first obstacle is that there is simply an insufficient number of NGOs with experience in implementing HIV/AIDS programs. This creates a vacuum that is filled either by the formation of new NGOs or shifting mandates of established NGOs that had not previously worked in this technical area. In either case there is a deficiency in expertise, frequent problems of authenticity, commitment and motivation as many NGOs attempt to access funding. The second major issue is the limited capacity of established NGOs to effectively utilize the increased funding. The primary challenges here relate to the limited technical capacity, managerial skills, and human resource recruitment, retention and management. The technical weaknesses are being addressed by the strong international implementing partners present in Guyana, and the new consultancies and/or NGO support under this system strengthening activity will serve to address the management and staffing issues.

Experience in Guyana has shown that meaningful progress in the development of NGO capacity is a labor intensive endeavor. Less mature NGOs require intensive support. In many areas training is indispensable, but must be complemented with field visits to reinforce the concepts imparted and help with identification and resolution of problems on the ground as they arise. The advantages of doing this include: individualized response catering directly to the specific needs of each NGO, mutual respect developed as real problems are faced head on. Both, the technical assistance to NGOs, and now the governance/administrative support, will continue to utilize this approach.

Deliverables/Additional Targets: •Consultants contracted to provide following deliverables: •Revised constitution for NGO Coordinating Committee completed •Standardized guidelines for NGO boards developed and being implemented •Number of NGOs with management plans - 18 •Number of NGOs with defined SOWs for all staff - 18 •Conflict of interest policy developed and being implemented •NGO guidelines for sub-contracting developed