The Orphaned and Vulnerable Children (OVC) Under-5 Project through Project Concern International (PCI)

aims to support USG partners in developing stronger and more comprehensive strategies for the under-5

age group. Children too young to attend school (0-5 years) are usually left out of PEPFAR-funded OVC

service delivery plans in Zambia, and a clear strategy to access this age group is lacking. Therefore, PCI

will work closely with USG partners to increase their capacity to incorporate high quality services for

children under-five years of age into their overall OVC programs.

In FY08, PCI conducted a rapid assessment to understand the current state of under-5 OVC services in

Zambia, and provide recommendations on the way forward to develop and/or strengthen these services.

PCI has moved forward on its recommendations, including using health and nutrition services as an initial

entry point to target OVC under-5, improving understanding and implementation of psycho-social services

for this age group, and strengthening strategies for child protection.

PCI will continue to work towards the original objective of increasing the capacity of USG partners to

incorporate high quality services for OVC under-five through strategies applicable from both the Early

Childhood Development (ECD) and Home-Based Care (HBC) platforms.

Developing a Community-Driven Under-5 OVC Strategy

During the continuation of this grant, PCI will adapt the Journey of Life methodology to an OVC under-5

context to help community leaders (from the parent-teacher association, the church, community-based

organizations, local government, traditional leaders, etc.) analyze issues affecting OVC under-5 in a holistic

way. After developing and field testing the materials and methodology, PCI will build the capacity of USG

OVC partners through a Training of trainers.

PCI will pilot this methodology in ten rural and ten peri-urban areas. Each community will develop its plan

and strategies towards care and support of OVC under-5, appropriate for that community's context. PCI will

accompany them through this initial analysis, prioritization and action-planning process, as well as during

their initial steps towards implementing their action plans. Through these twenty pilot communities, PCI will

generate experiences and lessons that will contribute to the learning of USG OVC partners as well as

Zambia's nascent Inter-Ministerial unit focused on early childcare issues, and in this way, will contribute to

the development of a national-level scaling up of a community-based ECD program.

Caregiver Training and Support

To support these community-driven initiatives to improve care and support of OVC under-5, PCI will

design/adapt a caregiver-training program for this age group that is appropriate for Zambia. In addition,

caregivers will also receive messages on engaging OVC under-5 in ECD stimulating play activities in the

home. After field testing this caregiver-training program, PCI will provide a TOT for USG OVC partners in

order to build their capacity to train their local ECD and HBC partners. With this training, local partners will

be able to incorporate the caregiver-training strategies with the caregivers/guardians related to their ECD

centers, as well as provide behavioral modeling and one-on-one mentoring of caregivers/guardians they

visit during their home-based care activities.

Adolescent/Youth Training in Parenting

In AIDS-affected and labor-constrained households, OVC under-5 are often left under the care of their older

siblings, which increases their risk of physical and emotional neglect. For this reason, PCI will simplify and

streamline the above-mentioned holistic caregiver-training program for adolescents and youth and thus

provide older siblings with the basic knowledge and skills to provide improved care for their younger

siblings. After field testing, PCI will again provide a training of trainers for USG partners to build their

capacity to assist their local ECD and HBC partners to work with adolescents and youth that care for young

children, as well as provide behavioral modeling and one-on-one mentoring for adolescents and youth they

find when carrying out their home-based care activities.

Promoting a Collective Learning Process

In order to promote a collective learning process about OVC care and support, two strategies will be used:

1) PCI will create a quarterly newsletter that draws from the experiences of all USG OVC partners and their

local partners, and distribute this to both civil society and government stakeholders in order to exchange

information and share ideas; and 2) PCI will develop a "Community of Practice" with all USG OVC partners.

This will allow professionals working with OVC to come together to share ideas and visit sites identified as

employing promising practices.

Implementation of this activity is through a bi-lateral buy-in to the PCI BELONG Track 1.0 Orphans and

Vulnerable Children (OVC) Project to provide care and support to AIDS-affected OVC within and associated

with the Zambian Defense Force (ZDF) under the technical guidance and management of USAID with

strong DOD collaboration. Due to high HIV prevalence and AIDS-related illness and deaths, the number of

OVC associated with the ZDF is growing. The precarious position of OVC is worsened by widows of

deceased ZDF personnel not receiving their husbands' benefits for long periods of time, sometimes up to

five years. Those living outside the barracks are even more vulnerable, as they must pay house rent and

utilities and also they don't receive support from the military, which can lead to psychosocial trauma,

malnutrition, discontinuation of education, and neglect for the affected OVC.

In FY 2005 and FY 2006, USG worked with CARE International to assist ZDF in identifying priority issues

and providing assistance to OVC in military families and OVC of military personnel who have presumably

died from AIDS. In FY 2007, BELONG adapted the Bwafwano model of OVC care and support following

OGAC guidance to benefit the well-being of AIDS-affected OVC of current and ex-ZDF personnel in the

military barracks and surrounding communities.

In FY 2007 and FY 2008, OVC have been identified through one or more of the following channels: a)

PEPFAR supported home-based care programs managed by the ZDF; b) lists compiled by ZDF personnel

of AIDS widows awaiting their benefits, or other families caring for AIDS-affected OVC; or c) schools

catering to ZDF OVC. There are three kinds of schools attended by OVC: 1) schools on the military base;

Activity Narrative: 2) government schools just outside the military cantonments; and 3) community schools in civilian

communities surrounding the military bases, which are managed by Parent Community School Committees

(PCSC). In FY 2007 and FY 2008, BELONG established ECD centers in and around 10 military sites.

During COP 09, BELONG will establish ECD centers in ten additional military sites. This will include

renovating existing structures into ECD centers, training of 100 pre-school teachers in the latest early

childhood teaching methodologies, provision of teaching and learning materials, and recreation facilities.

The program will also ensure that all centers have clean toilets and hand washing facilities.

Using the community school platform, PCI will sensitize the PCSC and communities with which it

collaborates for school-aged OVC, about the needs of infants and young children. PCI will also support

community schools to include promotion of under-5 healthy habits such as nutrition education, basic

hygiene, immunizations, micro-nutrients supplementation, de-worming medications, insecticide treated nets

(ITNs), identification of childhood illness, HIV/AIDS education, and stigma-reduction activities.

During COP 09, 100 additional HBC volunteers in five ZDF camps will be trained to integrate services for

OVC in their HBC work. The volunteers will be trained to refer to PMTCT programs and other government

health services to ensure follow-up of enrolled mothers, care for mothers and children, health education,

nutrition, breastfeeding, malaria prophylaxis and promotion of ITNs, etc. and build referral linkages,

including dried-blood spot referrals with health centers offering PCR testing so that children monitored in the

PMTCT program can be tested soon after birth.

BELONG will train 100 teachers and caregivers in ten ZDF sites to assess the needs of individual OVC and

provide psychosocial support to OVC and their guardians, using training materials developed in FY 2005

and FY 2006. PCI will also provide training on a set of useful strategies and interventions that parents and

guardians can make use of in their own homes.

Education support, nutritional support; and other types of critical material assistance, depending on the

needs identified for each child, may also be provided. PCSC will be trained in community resource

mobilization and financial management. Community OVC Committees (COVCC) and PCSC will be trained

to identify and implement OVC advocacy activities in their communities.

The program will also provide holistic care and support to 10,000 OVC in COP 09 period by incorporating

psychosocial support and linking AIDS-affected OVC to medical care. Guardians will be encouraged to take

children for HIV testing if they have signs of chronic illness or growth faltering and those who test positive

will be referred to ART centers for further management.

The project will provide basic business skills in the ten sites for widows waiting to get their spouse benefits

to enhance their business skills. In addition, seed and fertilizer will be given to OVC guardians in five of the

ten sites to promote food security and income generation to send their children to school. In the remaining

five sites, BELONG will replicate the "WORTH" model, an innovative, sustainable, low cost program that

increases family income. Increased income for caretakers and local groups enables improved care and

support for OVC in their community.

In order to promote sustainability, PCI will strengthen the capacity of COVCC, including military and ex-

military households, in community and resource mobilization. Discussions will be held with district health

staff and neighborhood committees to conduct school health services for school-age OVC. ZDF, through

the OVC program manager office, will actively be involved in planning, implementation, and monitoring the

OVC program.

The activity is designed to put in place sustainable community level support structures for OVC, including a

focus on capacity building of community level structures such as the COVCC, improving infrastructure i.e.

renovations of existing structures into ECD centers, and promoting involvement and ownership by

communities and the ZDF activities designed to address OVC priorities.

New/Continuing Activity: Continuing Activity

Continuing Activity: 14428

Continued Associated Activity Information

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

System ID System ID

14428 3730.08 U.S. Agency for Project Concern 6832 5073.08 BELONG $300,000

International International bilateral

Development

9720 3730.07 U.S. Agency for Project Concern 5073 5073.07 BELONG for $300,000

International International ZDF

Development

3730 3730.06 Department of Project Concern 3041 3041.06 DoD-PCI $600,000

Defense International

Emphasis Areas

Construction/Renovation

Gender

* Increasing gender equity in HIV/AIDS programs

* Increasing women's access to income and productive resources

Health-related Wraparound Programs

* Child Survival Activities

Military Populations

Human Capacity Development

Estimated amount of funding that is planned for Human Capacity Development $250,000

Public Health Evaluation

Food and Nutrition: Policy, Tools, and Service Delivery

Food and Nutrition: Commodities

Economic Strengthening

Estimated amount of funding that is planned for Economic Strengthening $15,000

Education

Estimated amount of funding that is planned for Education $92,000

Water

Table 3.3.13: