This project is linked to activities in Treatment: ARV Services (8459), Strategic Information (8460) and Other Policy and Systems Strengthening (8461).

Under PEPFAR, the USG in full support of the Ugandan National Strategic Framework for HIV/AIDS and in partnership with the Ugandan AIDS Commission, has greatly expanded the availability of HIV/AIDS prevention, care and treatment services in Uganda and the number of active HIV/AIDS partners at national, district and local levels. At the same time, the Global Fund for AIDS, TB and Malaria has also increased the resource envelope for HIV/AIDS services. While this rapid scale up of funding and services is benefiting many of the Ugandans, there are increased needs to be strenghtened, local institutions to meet, challenges, especially in strategic leadership, management, financial and Monitoring and Evaluation systems. In December 2006, the AIDS Capacity Enhancement (ACE) program was launched by Chemonics International Inc. The purpose of this contract is to provide organizational development technical assistance and engage highly specialized local consultants to build the capacity of targeted Ugandan institutions for improved HIV prevention, care and treatment program outcomes. This program also strengthens administrative and managerial systems to fortify in a sustainable manner the targeted institution's ability to respond effectively to emerging opportunities resulting from the vast increases in HIV/AIDS funding.

In FY06, the ACE program has worked with the Inter-Religious Council of Uganda (IRCU), the Joint Clinical Research Center (JCRC), Hospice Uganda and the MOH/Resource Center to conduct participatory organizational diagnostics and develop tailor made work plans to address the specific challenge faced by each of these indigenous institutions. ACE has also worked with UAC and bilateral and multilateral HIV/AIDS donors to develop a highly coordinated plan to build this national coordination body's capacity to fulfill its strategic leadership mandate. Specifically, ACE is strengthening UAC's capacity to lead the evaluation of the previous National Strategic Framework for HIV/AIDS and to facilitate the development of the new Framework, a process involving virtually all HIV/AIDS stakeholders in Uganda. As part of this exercise, ACE will be involved in the development and operationalization of the new National Monitoring and Evaluation Framework which will contribute significantly to the achievement of the "3rd One" or One Monitoring and Evaluation System.

The ACE program has several different components. In FY07, ACE will work closely with IRCU and its network of faith based service providers, JCRC and Hospice to strengthen a myriad of information and program management systems increasing access to high quality palliative care services throughout the country.

Specifically, ACE will to strengthen IRCU's sub-granting mechanism to support the expansion of palliative care services through its network of faith based service delivery sites. ACE will build the capacity of IRCU to develop and/or contract for technical assistance to produce training curricula and job aids to improve the skills and job performance of home based care and treatment outreach teams. These teams will be trained and supported to provide a full spectrum of palliative care services including disease prevention through appropriate use of health products such as LLINs, cotrimoxazole, safe water products and nutritional supplements and symptom and pain management and control of opportunistic infections. They will also be tooled to provide adherence support counseling, and grief and bereavement support. ACE will also build the capacity of IRCU to develop and implement quality assurance systems such as support supervision structures and associated tools for application and dissemination to all existing IRCU network sites. ACE will work with IRCU to strengthen community outreach and referral systems to increase access to holistic and comprehensive care, support and treatment both within its network of faith based service delivery sites and beyond. Finally, ACE will help IRCU to develop and implement a network wide communications system to facilitate the sharing for critical technical and managerial information, share lessons learned and disseminate best practices. ACE will work in close collaboration with USAID's Quality Assurance Program as well as its PHA Networks program in its work with JCRC.

With JCRC, ACE will focus on standardizing data collection systems across JCRC sites in order to improve clinical patient monitoring. ACE will work with JCRC headquarters staff to improve communication systems between its Regional Centers of Excellence and its vast

network of service delivery sites to improve the quality of care provided to PHAs and to enable JCRC HQ and Regional Centers of Excellence to be more supportive of and responsive to the satellite service delivery sites. ACE will also work with JCRC to strengthen its coordination and referral systems linking HIV + patients to comprehensive care and support services. ACE will work in close collaboration with USAID's Quality Assurance Program as well as its PHA Networks program in its work with JCRC.

Hospice specializes in HIV/AIDS symptom control, pain management and culturally appropriate end-of-life care and now trains both public and private service providers and sites to offer these services to HIV + individuals and their immediate families. ACE will work with Hospice Uganda to establish organizational management systems that will enable it to grow as an institution and become an even larger player in the fight against HIV/AIDS in Uganda

With each client organization ACE will ensure that all activities maximize systems strengthening, capacity building and skills transfer so as to ensure the sustained ability of these indigenous institutions to expand access to high quality palliative care services. ACE will also incorporate issues of gender and stigma/discrimination into all its activities to strengthen client organizations' ability to identify opportunities for more appropriate/senstive programming and also to link clients to wrap around services such as food, education, microfinance and micro-credit support programs.

ACE programming in this area will remain relatively flexible in order to be able to respond to the emerging/changing needs of existing client organizations or possibly to new indigenous institutions as determined by USAID.

OGAC Reviews: #8458 (ACE) - why is this agency specific when there are many partners across the program. Why is this not done at a programmatic level rather than an agency specific level? Could this not be combined with #8862 (SCMS) which is also providing technical assistance

ACE is not agency specific. It is a flexible mechanism that provides tailored technical support. The program provides technical support in a number of areas within the Uganda national program, including the Ministry of Health Resource Center, the Uganda AIDS Commission and the Ministry of Finance Planning, Economic Development for Global Fund support. In addition, ACE supports the USG PEPFAR team and PEPFAR Coordinator with planning, decision making and improving ways of working. ACE Key NGO partners at this time include IRCU, JCRC and Hospice and support to these key indigenous partners (all recent awardees of USG funds) includes financial management, organizational development, governance and administration, human resources, monitoring and quality assurance. Other USG supported NGOs could also receive support as needed for similar areas with increased funding.

This cannot be combined with SCMS which focuses on a different mandate of supply chain management.

plus ups: The Uganda Women's Effort to Save Orphans (UWESO) is the only indigenous organization in Uganda with a near national presence. With a new Executive Director at the helm, UWESO has undergone a number of positive transformations and has emerged as a potential leader in the field of orphans and other vulnerable children. The organization currently receives inconsistent funding from a number of donors including the USG/PEPFAR. UWESO has approached PEPFAR to assist with the organizational strengthening in order to facilitate its growth as a leader in the OVC community and to capture diversified funds on a continuous basis. The national Ministry supports this initiative.

This project is linked to activities in Palliative Care: Basic (8458), Strategic Information (8460) and Other Policy and Systems Strengthening (8461).

Under PEPFAR, the USG in full support of the Ugandan National Strategic Framework for HIV/AIDS and in partnership with the Ugandan AIDS Commission, has greatly expanded the availability of HIV/AIDS prevention, care and treatment services in Uganda and the number of active HIV/AIDS partners at national, district and local levels. At the same time, the Global Fund for AIDS, TB and Malaria has also increased the resource envelope for HIV/AIDS services. While this rapid scale up of funding and services is benefiting many of Ugandans, the UAC and its implementing partners are challenged to provide quality services in a coordinated and equitable fashion to an ever increasing number of clients.

In December 2006, the AIDS Capacity Enhancement (ACE) program was initiated by Chemonics International Inc. The purpose of this contract is to provide organizational development technical assistance and engage highly specialized local consultants to build the capacity of targeted Ugandan institutions for improved HIV prevention, care and treatment program outcomes. This program also strengthens administrative and managerial systems to fortify in a sustainable manner the targeted institution's ability to respond effectively to emerging opportunities resulting from the vast increases in HIV/AIDS funding.

In the past 8 months, the ACE program has worked with the Inter-Religious Council of Uganda (IRCU), the Joint Clinical Research Center (JCRC), Hospice Uganda and the MOH/Resource Center to conduct participatory organizational diagnostics and develop tailor made work plans to address the specific challenge faced by each of these indigenous institutions. ACE has also worked with UAC and bilateral and multilateral HIV/AIDS donors to develop a highly coordinated plan to build this national coordination body's capacity to fulfill its strategic leadership mandate. Specifically, ACE is working to strengthen UAC's capacity to lead the evaluation of the previous National Strategic Framework for HIV/AIDS and to facilitate the development of the new Framework, a process involving virtually all HIV/AIDS stakeholders in Uganda. As part of this exercise, ACE will be involved in the development and operationalization of the new National Monitoring and Evaluation Framework which will contribute significantly to the achievement of the "3rd One" or One Monitoring and Evaluation System.

The ACE program has several different components. In FY07, ACE will work closely with IRCU and its network of faith based service providers and JCRC to strengthen a number of information and program management systems increasing access to high quality ART services throughout the country.

Specifically, ACE will work with IRCU to strengthen its sub-granting mechanism to support the expansion of ART service delivery through its network of faith based service delivery sites. ACE will work with IRCU to develop quality assurance tools and standard operating procedures and disseminate these to all existing ART sites as well as to network service providers newly initiating ART services. ACE will then work with IRCU to facilitate staff training for quality ART service delivery in these newly accredited IRCU network centers and refresher trainings for existing network sites as needed. ACE will also work with IRCU Headquarters staff to strengthen support supervision systems to closely monitor the quality of ARV services delivered and to ensure that all services are provided in a manner that is in line with MOH ART protocols and guidelines. In addition, ACE will work with IRCU's network of service providers to establish systems to strengthen community outreach for improved patient follow-up and adherence support. Finally, ACE will help IRCU to develop and implement a network wide communication system to facilitate the sharing for critical managerial and technical information, share lessons learned and disseminate best practices.

With JCRC, ACE will focus on standardizing data collection systems across JCRC sites in order to improve clinical patient monitoring. ACE will also work with JCRC Headquarters staff to improve communication systems between Regional Centers of Excellence and its vast network of ARV service delivery satellite sites. This will enable JCRC HQ and Regional Centers of Excellence to be more supportive of and responsive to lower level service delivery sites resulting in improved service quality.

With both client organizations ACE will ensure that all activities maximize capacity building and skills transfer so as to ensure the sustained ability of these indigenous institutions to expanding access to high quality services. ACE will also build capacity in the areas of gender and stigma/discrimination sensitive service provision and strengthen client organizations ability to identify opportunities and link clients to wraparound services such as food, education, microfinance and micro-credit support programs.

ACE programming in this area will remain relatively flexible in order to be able to respond to the emerging/changing needs of existing client organizations or possibly to new indigenous institutions as determined by USAID. ACE will work in close collaboration with USAID's Quality Assurance Program and PHA Networks program in order to ensure maximum coordination and synergy across these programs.

This project is linked to activities in Palliative Care: Basic, Strategic Information and Other Policy and Systems Strengthening.

Under PEPFAR, the USG in full support of the Ugandan National Strategic Framework for HIV/AIDS and in partnership with the Ugandan AIDS Commission, has greatly expanded the availability of HIV/AIDS prevention, care and treatment services in Uganda and the number of active HIV/AIDS partners at national, district and local levels. At the same time, the Global Fund for AIDS, TB and Malaria has also increased the resource envelope for HIV/AIDS services. While this rapid scale up of funding and services is benefiting many of Ugandans, the UAC and its implementing partners are challenged to provide quality services in a coordinated and equitable fashion to an ever increasing number of clients.

In December 2006, the AIDS Capacity Enhancement (ACE) program was initiated by Chemonics International Inc. The purpose of this contract is to provide organizational development technical assistance and engage highly specialized local consultants to build the capacity of targeted Ugandan institutions for improved HIV prevention, care and treatment program outcomes. This program also strengthens administrative and managerial systems to fortify in a sustainable manner the targeted institution's ability to respond effectively to emerging opportunities resulting from the vast increases in HIV/AIDS funding.

In the past 8 months, the ACE program has worked with the Inter-Religious Council of Uganda (IRCU), the Joint Clinical Research Center (JCRC), Hospice Uganda and the MOH/Resource Center to conduct participatory organizational diagnostics and develop tailor made work plans to address the specific challenge faced by each of these indigenous institutions. ACE has also worked with UAC and bilateral and multilateral HIV/AIDS donors to develop a highly coordinated plan to build this national coordination body's capacity to fulfill its strategic leadership mandate. Specifically, ACE is working to strengthen UAC's capacity to lead the evaluation of the previous National Strategic Framework for HIV/AIDS and to facilitate the development of the new Framework, a process involving virtually all HIV/AIDS stakeholders in Uganda. As part of this exercise, ACE will be involved in the development and operationalization of the new National Monitoring and Evaluation Framework which will contribute significantly to the achievement of the "3rd One" or One Monitoring and Evaluation System.

The ACE program has several different components. ACE will work with all 5 of its primary client organizations in the strategic information program area.

In FY 07, ACE will continue to support UAC in the development and dissemination of the new National Strategic Framework for HIV/ADIS 2006/7 - 2010/11 and will build the capacity of the UAC to translate the NSF into clear operational plans. Particular attention will be paid to the development and dissemination of the associated National Monitoring and Evaluation Framework. In addition, ACE will continue to support the UAC to take the lead in dialogue with other branches of the Ugandan Government such as the MOH/AIDS Control Program and the MOH/Resource Center (in charge of the Ugandan Health Management Information System (HMIS)) as well as major HIV/AIDS stakeholders including bilateral and multilateral donors to develop a road map for operationalizing the new Monitoring and Evaluation Framework and thus institutionalize the "3rd One". ACE will also target specific M&E capacity building activities to build the skills of designated M&E staff and will also support an additional M&E specialist to sit on the UAC monitoring and evaluation team. ACE will also address the training needs of key strategic and technical decision making bodies within the UAC to increase this entities ability to respond rapidly and effectively to the changing epidemic. All activities in this area will be conducted in close collaboration with the USG's Monitoring and Evaluation of Emergency Plan Progress (MEEPP) contractor in order to maximize synergies and ensure that USG PEPFAR M&E activities are in line with and complementary to National M&E initiatives.

With the MOH/Resource Center, ACE will work in close collaboration with the CDC Informatics team to strengthen the center's ability to oversee and manage the HMIS and to enhance existing information technology systems to increase the accessibility of HMIS data for improved strategic planning and decision making within the MOH, the UAC and other branches of the Ugandan Government. Also at the central level, ACE will provide and/or upgrade existing hardware and software to ensure that the HMIS information

technology platforms are capable of effectively and efficiently meeting the increasing demands placed on the system as computerization of the HMIS is scaled up nationally. ACE will also provide the necessary IT and power backup systems to secure HMIS data. At the district level, ACE will again work in close collaboration with the CDC Informatics team to strengthen the computerized HMIS in sites where it is currently operational and to expand the use of alternative IT solutions and power sources where the HMIS is not computerized to improve the efficiency of data transfer from lower level health facilities to district and regional health administration centers and on to the MOH/Resource Center.

In FY07, ACE will work with IRCU to strengthen its current monitoring and evaluation system including its data collection tools and data management systems and will work with IRCU leadership to improve the use of data for more efficient and effective program planning and management. ACE will work closely with the MEEPP program in this process and take full advantage of the Data Quality Assessment and Validation exercises conducted by this USG partner. This will ensure that IRCU's improved data collection systems not only respond more accurately to PEPFAR reporting and planning requirements but also feed relevant HIV/AIDS information into the HMIS and thus support the new National Monitoring and Evaluation Framework. ACE will train IRCU HQ trainers, using a training of trainers' format, to enable these staff to build the capacity of IRCU sub-grantees to gather requisite monitoring and evaluation data through standardized tools and to generate high quality reports on program performance against both PEPFAR and National HIV/AIDS indicators.

ACE will work with JCRC to strengthen its monitoring and information IT infrastructure to enable enhanced data flows between JCRC HQ, JCRC Regional Centers of Excellence and its satellite service delivery sites. ACE will also explore the appropriateness of integrating different research and clinical databases for improved efficiencies in program management. Again, ACE will work closely with the MEEPP program in order to address specific issues raised during the JCRC Data Quality Assessment and Data Validation exercises conducted earlier this year. ACE will also work with Hospice Uganda to analyze the capacity of its current monitoring and evaluation system to respond to the information needs of its rapidly expanding program. Specifically, ACE will work with Hospice to analyze how this rapid growth will affect information needs and design upgrades to the M&E system and data gathering tools to enable more effective and efficient program design, monitoring and reporting. ACE will work with both indigenous institutions to tailor M&E training to their specific needs.

In FY07, ACE will train approximately 195 individuals in strategic information including HMIS and monitoring and evaluation.

This project is linked to activities in ARV Services, Palliative Care: Basic and Strategic Information.

Under PEPFAR, the USG in full support of the Ugandan National Strategic Framework for HIV/AIDS and in partnership with the Ugandan AIDS Commission, has greatly expanded the availability of HIV/AIDS prevention, care and treatment services in Uganda and the number of active HIV/AIDS partners at national, district and local levels. At the same time, the Global Fund for AIDS, TB and Malaria has also increased the resource envelope for HIV/AIDS services. While this rapid scale up of funding and services is benefiting many of Ugandans, the UAC and its implementing partners are challenged to provide quality services in a coordinated and equitable fashion to an ever increasing number of clients.

In December 2006, the AIDS Capacity Enhancement (ACE) program was initiated by Chemonics International Inc. The purpose of this contract is to provide organizational development technical assistance and engage highly specialized local consultants to build the capacity of targeted Ugandan institutions for improved HIV prevention, care and treatment program outcomes. This program also strengthens administrative and managerial systems to fortify in a sustainable manner the targeted institution's ability to respond effectively to emerging opportunities resulting from the vast increases in HIV/AIDS funding.

In the past 8 months, the ACE program has worked with the Inter-Religious Council of Uganda (IRCU), the Joint Clinical Research Center (JCRC), Hospice Uganda and the MOH/Resource Center to conduct participatory organizational diagnostics and develop tailor made work plans to address the specific challenge faced by each of these indigenous institutions. ACE has also worked with UAC and bilateral and multilateral HIV/AIDS donors to develop a highly coordinated plan to build this national coordination body's capacity to fulfill its strategic leadership mandate. Specifically, ACE is working to strengthen UAC's capacity to lead the evaluation of the previous National Strategic Framework for HIV/AIDS and to facilitate the development of the new Framework, a process involving virtually all HIV/AIDS stakeholders in Uganda. As part of this exercise, ACE will be involved in the development and operationalization of the new National Monitoring and Evaluation Framework which will contribute significantly to the achievement of the "3rd One" or One Monitoring and Evaluation System.

The ACE program has several different components. In the area of other policy and systems strengthening, ACE will strengthen the strategic leadership, organizational and financial management and monitoring and evaluation systems of IRCU, JCRC, Hospice and the MOH/Resource Center. ACE will support the Ugandan AIDS Commission to assume its mandate as strategic leader and coordinator of the National HIV/AIDS response. ACE will also work with the USG PEPFAR team to facilitate team building and strategic planning sessions contributing to a more efficient and effective PEPFAR response in Uganda.

ACE will work with IRCU to develop and/or strengthen several organizational management systems in the areas of finance, human resources, quality assurance and grants management. In FY07, ACE will focus on building core competencies within IRCU leadership with particular focus on governance, strategic and business planning and network management. This focus is particularly important in strengthening the capacity of this important indigenous FBO to sustain rapid growth while maintaining a high level of quality service delivery. Other areas of focused attention in FY07 will be the strengthening of IRCU's granting mechanism and the development of more robust sub-grantee monitoring and tracking systems in the areas of finance, program management and quality control.

ACE will work with JCRC to strengthen the organizations strategic planning processes and to develop operational and business plans. ACE will work with JCRC leadership to look critically at its current management and staffing structure and adapt it to better address both short and medium term human resource needs resulting from JCRC's rapid expansion and national scale up of service delivery. ACE will also work with JCRC to build the skills needed to diversify its funding base, identify additional potential sources of funding and implement innovative revenue generation schemes as appropriate. This component will include building JCRC's capacity to write successful funding proposals, strategic and operational plans, and quality program reports that enable top management to better

tailor its planning to meet the needs of clients served.

ACE's support to Hospice will focus primarily on strengthening existing governance and organizational structures as well as operational and management systems. Support will also focus on strengthening Hospice's ability to diversify its funding base and design and implement a sustainability plan. The primary purpose of support to Hospice in FY07 will be to enable rapid scale up of its important work in HIV/AIDS symptom control and pain management and to meeting an ever increasing demand for training by both public and private service delivery sites wishing to incorporate pain management into their care and treatment services.

ACE has worked in close collaboration with the Ugandan AIDS Commission and other HIV/AIDS stakeholders and donors to harmonize its support to UAC's existing capacity building plan. ACE will support components of this plan focusing on strategic leadership, strategic planning and stakeholder partnership building and coordination. In FY07, ACE will continue to support UAC's in its lead role in the evaluation of the old National Strategic Framework for HIV/AIDS and build its capacity to analyze and use data for decision making and stakeholder consensus building in the development of the new National Strategic Framework 2006/7 - 2010/11. Other component of FY07 support to UAC will include building this entity's capacity to lead and coordinate the development of a multisectoral comprehensive HIV/AIDS communications strategy and upgrade its Human Resource management system involving among other things the finalization of UAC's HR manual.

In FY07, ACE will continue to support the USG's Country Operational Plan strategic planning processes which involve the coordination of regular advisory board meetings as well as the facilitation of numerous stakeholder consultations and USG PEPFAR team technical reviews and team building exercises.