PEPFAR's annual planning process is done either at the country (COP) or regional level (ROP).
PEPFAR's programs are implemented through implementing partners who apply for funding based on PEPFAR's published Requests for Applications.
Since 2010, PEPFAR COPs have grouped implementing partners according to an organizational type. We have retroactively applied these classifications to earlier years in the database as well.
Also called "Strategic Areas", these are general areas of HIV programming. Each program area has several corresponding budget codes.
Specific areas of HIV programming. Budget Codes are the lowest level of spending data available.
Expenditure Program Areas track general areas of PEPFAR expenditure.
Expenditure Sub-Program Areas track more specific PEPFAR expenditures.
Object classes provide highly specific ways that implementing partners are spending PEPFAR funds on programming.
Cross-cutting attributions are areas of PEPFAR programming that contribute across several program areas. They contain limited indicative information related to aspects such as human resources, health infrastructure, or key populations programming. However, they represent only a small proportion of the total funds that PEPFAR allocates through the COP process. Additionally, they have changed significantly over the years. As such, analysis and interpretation of these data should be approached carefully. Learn more
Beneficiary Expenditure data identify how PEPFAR programming is targeted at reaching different populations.
Sub-Beneficiary Expenditure data highlight more specific populations targeted for HIV prevention and treatment interventions.
PEPFAR sets targets using the Monitoring, Evaluation, and Reporting (MER) System - documentation for which can be found on PEPFAR's website at https://www.pepfar.gov/reports/guidance/. As with most data on this website, the targets here have been extracted from the COP documents. Targets are for the fiscal year following each COP year, such that selecting 2016 will access targets for FY2017. This feature is currently experimental and should be used for exploratory purposes only at present.
INTEGRATED ACTIVITY FLAG:
Life Choices is mentored by GoLD Peer Education Development Agency (#8239) in order to ensure the quality standards of the Government Peer-Education Program are met. This organization has been contracted by the Western Cape Provincial Government to support organizations that had been funded by Global Fund to run the peer-education program. Life Choices was the first organization integrated in this program that was not funded by Global Fund.
SUMMARY:
The Life Choices Program aims to reach young people with a powerful abstinence and be faithful (AB) message early in their lives, and to change social norms (gender roles, violence, discrimination, etc). The intent of the program is to reach 56,000 young people in a period of four years. Life Choices believes in providing a quality Life Skills Program combined with a structured Peer Education Program to youth that will help them to maintain or change behaviors. In order to create a supportive environment around youth, Life Choices also runs programs with the stakeholders in their lives - teachers and parents. Each year Life Choices chooses different themes in order to ensure that youth delay their sexual debut, practice secondary abstinence and stay faithful to one partner if they are sexually active, know their HIV status and always use condoms. Some of the themes that Life Choices uses are - 'True Love Waits', 'Spread Love not Gossip', 'NO, I value LIFE', 'I am the choices I make,' among others.
BACKGROUND:
The Life Choices Program was launched in 2005 in the Western Cape Province with the support of PEPFAR. Three main communities were selected by the Western Cape Department of Education: Athlone, Delft and Manenberg. The schools within these three communities are the main target for the Life Choices Program and became the base for program activities. Life Choices brought a comprehensive program that aimed to change social norms (with components on HIV and AIDS, self-worth, gender, violence, and substance abuse) to 11 high schools and 10 primary schools. Besides these three communities, Life Choices also reaches youth around Cape Town in different 'Street Youth' Shelters, churches and in one correctional centre.
The Western Cape Departments of Health and Education coordinate the Life Choices school activities. Once a month Life Choices meets with the Government and reports back about the monthly activities and quarterly written reports are also submitted.
ACTIVITIES AND EXPECTED RESULTS:
Activity 1: Training of Trainers - Human Capacity Development In FY 2007 eighteen trainers (9 women and 9 men) will be trained on an ongoing basis in order to increase the quality of their service delivery. Four major trainings will be organized during the year. GoLD (Generation of Leaders Discovered), a peer education development agency, will also continue to train Life Choices staff in order to ensure the standards of implementation of the peer education government program. These activities will build on last year's success in counseling, parental and facilitation trainings skills.
Activity 2: Development of Behavior Change Communication (BCC) Materials BCC materials on AB and gender issues will be finalized and field tested in FY 2007. These materials will include pamphlets and other media, and will comprise of topics related with Life Choices messages (self-worth, reproductive health, relationships, gender, violence, teen-pregnancy, substance abuse, etc). Furthermore, these materials will also need to be approved by the Western Cape Government, and teachers' and parents' associations. Once the approval has been obtained, the BCC materials will be used to reinforce the message around changing of social norms in an interactive way during the delivery of the program. Some of the AB and gender materials will be given to the youth for free and they will be distributed by Life Choices facilitators, Peer Educators, teachers and church leaders.
Activity 3: Delivery of the Program to the Salesian-Based Centers The Life Choices program will continue to implement Life Skills in the 'Girls In Vanguard' (a female empowerment) project, Street Youth Shelters and in the Correctional Center, which target high risk groups for behavior change activities.
The work with Parish Youth Groups will also be maintained as well as the work with out-of-school youth. Unfortunately last year, Life Choices did not achieve its goal of training 30 parish youth leaders. In FY 2007, Life Choices would like to try again to train 30 youth leaders. These youth leaders will work in pairs (one boy and one girl) to reinforce and enhance their status as role models to their peers. They will also receive additional training to ensure that they are well informed to reinforce the AB message through a moral and committed example. Each pair of youth leaders will reach 50 youth in their respective parishes.
Activity 4: School-Based Program Life Choices will continue as agreed with the Western Cape Provincial Government to work in the 11 high schools and will add one new high school. The program will also continue in 10 primary schools. Youth will be trained on an ongoing basis to become role models, to educate their peers in informal and formal ways, to identify and refer peers with problems, and finally to advocate for change. Youth camps will be organized to ensure the value, accuracy and consistency of the message given by the peer educators to their peers. All the target schools will also continue with the Life Skills program that will reach every single learner for a minimum of five hours. The Life Choices program will continue working with school teachers through quarterly workshops. A Parent program will also be started. Both programs will aim to improve teacher/parent-teen communication and to create a safe environment for positive behaviors among youth.
Activity 5: Youth-Friendly VCT The Life Choices Program, in agreement with New Start (a PEPFAR partner), will continue providing youth-friendly VCT at designated schools via mobile centers. The program will continue organizing VCT campaigns in high schools where youth above 14 years of age will be encouraged to test for HIV. These campaigns are used as powerful prevention tools. In a country were very few HIV-infected people know their status, it is essential that on-going VCT campaigns are organized in the communities targeted by the program. New Start and Life Choices will continue establishing referral networking systems for youth who need further support, including those who are HIV-infected, have been abused, or are sexually active.
This Salesian Mission activity will contribute to PEPFAR achieving the overall goal of averting 7 million new HIV infections.
