TITLE: Jali Watoto Initiative and Anti-stigma Campaign

NEED and COMPARATIVE ADVANTAGE: Approximately 2.5 million children in Tanzania are classified as

orphans and vulnerable children (OVC). The Department t of Social Welfare (DSW), under the Ministry of

Health and Social Welfare (MOHSW), is responsible for providing care and protection for Most Vulnerable

Children (MVC). Pact supports the rollout of the Tanzanian National Plan of Action (NPA) for MVC in 20

districts in Tanzania. The Pact program, known as Jali Watoto, integrates an anti-stigma component into its

program through targeted information, education, communication (IEC)/behavior change communication

(BCC) activities and community outreach. Pact strengthens the capacity of the DSW at the national level

through acquiring staff, supports the identification of children and the establishment of MVC committees in

the districts, and provides national coordination as Secretariat to the Implementing Partners Group (IPG).

Pact not only implements USG-funded OVC programs, but also uses a similar methodology for serving the

needs of OVC under Global Fund Round 4.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS: In three phases, Jali Watoto has scaled up to work in 20 districts and five regions

in the last 15 months. Over $1.8 million has been obligated to 16 new partners in the past year, and the

program is now collaborating with 24 partners. The program is on track to reach over 30,000 children with

one to three services. Pact has strengthened national level coordination, and identified children in the

whole district where those districts have less than 20 wards and in at least 20 wards of all other districts.

Jali Watoto has trained almost 3,000 people in approaches to stigma, in addition to writing and producing

two new chapters of the ‘Challenging and Addressing Stigma Toolkit.' Pact supports coordination of the

national IPG, which has over 100 members and represents over 53 organizations.

ACTIVITIES: Pact will provide sub-grant support to 20 districts to establish coordinating structures to

mobilize and manage resources and to identify OVC. The OVC identification process will extend to cover

all wards in each of the districts to achieve 100% coverage. Pact will continue to closely monitor sub-

grantee performance and increase levels of verification of services and reporting. Pact will provide early

training and capacity building through a specific program aimed at strengthening the organizational capacity

to provide appropriate, quality, and sensitive services to OVC underpinned by good financial, governance,

and management processes. Pact will establish a small field office in the Lake Zone to manage increased

capacity building and M&E. Through Jali Watoto, Pact will scale up OVC activity in line with the NPA,

applying the national identification process for OVC and national Data Management System (DMS). Jali

Watoto will collaborate with Most Vulnerable Children's Committees (MVCCs) to coordinate and manage

Jali Watoto partners. Jali Watoto will also provide statutory services to OVC who have been identified but

not served by their grantees.

Jali Watoto will provide a comprehensive package of three or more basic services to OVC through a

transparent rapid grants program to between two and three non-governmental organizations/faith-based

organizations (NGOs/FBOs) in each district (increasing in FY 2008 from 24 to around 40). All OVC under

both primary and secondary support will be provided with psychosocial services through activities such as

peer group counseling. Depending on results of the identification process, which includes an OVC needs

assessment prioritizing interventions, issues regarding support for education, nutrition, basic health

management, access/referral to health services, shelter, and economic strengthening will be addressed.

This sub-granting mechanism will provide sub-grants to implement the NPA for service delivery to identified

children. Technical advice and support will be available during the intensive initial training. Capacity-

building techniques will be made available on an ongoing basis to enable NGOs/FBOs to reach the required

national standards of service delivery.

Through partnerships with elderly support organizations such as HelpAge and other organizations that work

with the elderly, Pact will work with elderly caregivers through training and piloting programs that offer

support to households that provide care to OVC. In addition, sub-grantees will provide training to primary

caregivers to build skills to care for sick OVC, including identification of HIV related illnesses for testing, and

referral for care and treatment. Nutritional support will be provided as per USG guidelines, following an

upcoming assessment of the most appropriate intervention and method.

Economic strengthening is a key to sustainability. Pact will implement a women's empowerment program

called WORTH, built around literacy, savings-led micro-finance, and micro-enterprise development.

Women enrolled in WORTH groups save their money on a weekly basis and learn how to read and write.

Loans are provided to start small businesses. These activities allow women from the group to generate

income from their group lending with interest on loans remaining in the group. Pact is successfully

implementing a WORTH pilot program under a subcontract to Salvation Army in Northern Tanzania. This

new activity would be implemented in districts that coincide with those in which Jali Watoto is currently

working.

Pact will continue to be Secretariat to the IPG, chaired by the DSW and consisting of over 53 organizations

and 100 members through managing the e-list and preparing a newsletter and all meeting arrangements

and corresponding documents. The IPG aims to increase linkages and wraparound programs among OVC

implementing partners, to facilitate the sharing of best practices, and share experiences in the

implementation of national standards. The national level IPG meetings will be replicated at regional and

district levels in at least two of the five Jali Watoto regions. In collaboration with Family Health International

(FHI), Pact will also support the rollout of the DMS and will provide national capacity building as a

necessary step to ensure the application of the system and the ability for all IPG partners to utilize data

effectively.

LINKAGES: This activity will link with USG-funded OVC programs. Basic mapping will be conducted in the

program regions to identify other programs for wraparound possibilities. Replication of the national OVC

IPG activities at district and regional levels will be done to enhance linkages, reduce duplication, and

support the district's social welfare capacity to coordinate OVC activities. Pact will also link with the

appropriate USG palliative care and/or treatment partners in the region to provide support for HIV-positive

children. Pact works closely with UNICEF, the DSW, FHI, and MOHSW regional and district offices in

Mara, Mbeya, Kagera, Mtwara, and Tabora. The program collaborates with the 20 district councils, council

multi-sectoral AIDS committees and MVCCs. Pact will also link with Peace Corps to support the nutritional

and economic needs of OVC households.

Activity Narrative: CHECK BOXES: Jali Watoto focuses on providing essential services such as psychosocial support,

education, and health care to the OVC in the 20 districts in which Pact is operational. This is implemented

by strengthening local NGOs with funding and capacity in order to provide quality services to a significant

number of OVC. Children served are those formally identified through the national identification process for

which the district authorities are funded and supported. The program also works to support the national

level capacity, and to strengthen the coordination and collaboration between government and civil society

partners in addition to managing the IPG. Emphasis is placed on addressing stigma as an integral part of

service provision.

M&E: Pact will support the DMS, and will use the national system for M&E. They will ensure sub-grantees

disclose information about OVC identified at the local levels. In addition to feeding into the national system,

Pact will ensure that data is also available to MVCCs at the local level for planning, decision making, and

monitoring. Pact will also strengthen the district social welfare and M&E officers and purchase 22

computers in the districts to ensure data quality, systems strengthening, and data access for OVC related

initiatives.

M&E Officers will be placed strategically into districts in which Jali Watoto already has a presence in order

to conduct regular monitoring visits and provide onsite refresher training. These officers will also work with

regional authorities in the five regions to establish M&E officer roles for the program in each region. M&E

training will assist sub-grantees to monitor progress against PEPFAR indicators and to report on services

delivered. Pact will build on its M&E framework performance-monitoring plan.

SUSTAINAIBLITY: A selection criterion for NGOs/FBOs for funding is the extent and feasibility of their long-

term sustainability plans. Jali Watoto aims to build the capacity of different levels of authority and all local

partner organizations involved in the OVC program. Pact will catalyze sustainability by strengthening

MVCCs and local NGOs/FBOs. Jali Watoto will utilize work plans, budgets, and reports in order to integrate

OVC data into the local government database. The program will focus on training in income generation and

entrepreneurial skills to assist households to become stronger, self-sustaining units.