In COP 2010 the World Learning/USAID School-Community partnerships for HIV/AIDS affected and Infected Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVC) will focus on strengthening the communities' abilities to participate in the design and management of OVC support programs using schools as a conduit to empower and organize community members. The project's strategic objective is to build the capacity of 400 schools to serve as focal points for OVC care and support. The project will provide quality, comprehensive services to at least 40,000 HIV affected or infected OVC with a focus on increased enrollment, retention and academic performance and strengthen school community partnership in 400 primary schools to enhance their capacity to plan and manage OVC support programs. The project will serve 40,000 OVC at 400 Primary schools in Afar, Amhara, Benishangul Gumuz, Gambella, Harari, Oromia, SNNPR, Somali and Tigray Regional States and Dire Dawa and Addis Ababa City Administrations.

World Learning (WL) subcontracts Tigray Development Association (TDA) in Tigray. WL will work primarily at the school and community level, involving stakeholders such as members of Parent Teacher Associations (PTA), Kebele Education and Training Board (KETB) members, students, Girls Education Advisory Committees (GEAC), teachers and school directors. While various government agencies will be involved the lead agency will be the Regional State Education Bureaus.

The project directly addresses the strategy and vision of a "wraparound" priority activity under the Emergency plan, "basic education is one of the most effective means of HIV prevention." Active engagement of community members and teachers will facilitate monitoring of child and family health and will increase networking with other services. Gender issues will be addressed through increasing girls' access to services and teacher training on gender norms. The project personnel will provide capacity building training and technical assistance for members of PTAs, GEACs, teachers, and staff of regional, zonal, and woreda level Education Offices; and other appropriate community members. OVC will obtain school supplies, benefit from tutorial sessions and receive age appropriate life-skills education. Through counseling and guidance with emphasis on HIV/AIDS-affected children, GEAC will assist and advocate within the school and broader community on the value of education for girls and in improvement in the condition of girls, orphaned or vulnerable due to HIV/AIDS. They will also assist HIV/AIDS-affected and orphaned girls to attend school regularly, and receive sufficient study and tutorial time after class resulting from gender specific labor at home. Hygiene supplies will be provided to adolescent girl OVC.

Gender issues including male norms, gender equity, women's access to income, and increasing women's legal rights will be directly addressed through training of local HAPCO, BOLSA, Woman's Affairs, Regional and District Health Bureaus and Offices, Police and Judiciary officials and the establishment of a Health Referral System linking each school with nearby health facilities. School-based service mapping will be part of the linkage system. Linkages with other sectors will occur through training, capacity building and information sharing. Local organization capacity development and sensitization will occur through direct training and support of Parent Teacher Associations and Girls Advisory Committees, and outreach to CBO including local faith-based associations, religious leaders and other community groups. Reduction of violence and coercion will occur through a coalescence of the training and outreach activities.

This activity will link to the school support component of the PEPFAR PC3 project, for which World Learning is a sub-recipient. Similarly, this on-going activity is closely linked to the USAID-funded Basic Education Program; Community-School Partnership Program Initiative designed to link health and education activities at the community level. The project will work collaboratively with PC3 and JHU/HCP to share experience and lessons learned, as well as use of materials developed for quality OVC services. Participating schools will receive schools incentive awards to motivate and capacitate school communities to initiate low cost approaches to income generation schemes to contribute to continuity of services after the project ends. Local resources will be mobilized to complement the school incentive awards.

WL will coordinate the activities of other collaborating partners and agencies involved in program implementation, monitor and evaluate programmatic implementation, financial administration of grants to schools, and to gather and use appropriate data to measure beneficiary satisfaction using Child Status Index and other appropriate tools.

World Learning (WL) will provide comprehensive care and support services to 40,000 HIV/AIDS affected or infected OVC at 400 primary schools in Ethiopia with a focus on increased enrollment, retention and academic performance. School-community partnerships will be strengthened to enhance school and community capacity to plan and manage OVC support programs.

Using incentive awards, PTAs will be motivated to actively plan, manage and monitor OVC services and run income generation activities. OVC obtain school material support to enroll stay in school and learn better. Program interventions will address the needs of vulnerable children including psychosocial counseling, provision of tutorial remedial classes, life skills, food and nutrition, referral to health services, provision of school uniforms or uniform waiver, school supplies, and waiver of school fees as provided by PTA to create a supportive learning environment. Girls will be given special consideration and their specific personal and academic problems will be followed through greater involvement of Girls Education Advisory Committees, female teachers and well known women from the community. At least 50% of the beneficiaries will be girls. Legal protection will be provided for OVC in partnership with local government, CBOs and communities.

Care providers (female and male teachers) from each participating school and household level care providers will receive training on how to assess OVC needs, plan for coordinated care, and monitor OVC service satisfaction based on individual care plans. School-Communities will be mobilized through awareness raising activities. The capacity of care givers, both at school and in family units, and the education system will be strengthened to provide improved OVC care and support services in school settings. Strong ties with the community via PTAs enable monitoring OVC receiving core services such as shelter, health care, protection, food from within the community or their households. PTA income generation activities and school gardening have proven sustainable.

This intervention targets at least 100,000 (cumulative) construction workers and surrounding community members in the 25 impact sites across Amhara, Oromiya, Tigray, Afar, SNNP Regional States and Diredawa City Administration. Of these, 12,000 will be construction workers, mostly young adult men; and 88,000 high-risk community members of both sexes. Overall, about 53,700 people in the 18-30 age group will be targeted. Young girls and women in the hosting community are usually involved in transactional sexual acts with the construction workers. Unsafe sexual interactions between the workers and the hosting community, lack of knowledge, supplies and skill in prevention HIV transmission are a potential driving factor for new infections in both communities.

Interpersonal communication is a key strategy for moving people through the stages of behavior change and is, therefore, an important strategy of this project. A total of 122 peer educators will facilitate weekly peer discussion sessions (16 sessions per group) among the construction workers using a standard 'abstinence and be faithful' peer education curriculum as well as discussion guides that accompany audio/video/print materials prepared by ASTAR. 144 community conversation sessions will be conducted per month among the communities living around the construction sites for a total of 10-12 months.

In addition, the key messaging on abstinence/be faithful will be supported through various tailored IEC materials distributed to all sites. Over 220 leaders from FBOs and local administration, and 50 leaders from partner organizations will be trained to promote abstinence and be faithful programs within their communities and beyond.

The project monitoring and evaluation plan includes collection of performance data on a monthly basis, monthly review meetings at the site level, regular supervision to assure quality and provide backstopping support at the field level, quarterly high-level meetings at country level and operational research to review overall progress and feasibility of the interventions as well as provide overall guidance.

From this project, 236,000 (cumulative) construction workers, CSWs and surrounding community members in the 25 impact sites across Amhara, Oromiya, Tigray, Afar, SNNP Regional States and Dire Dawa City Administration will benefit from 'other sexual prevention' interventions. Of these, 33,000 will be construction workers; 3,000 will be female sex workers; and 200,000 community members of both sexes at high-risk. About 125,000 will be in the 18-30 age groups.

Project strategies include 122 peer educators to facilitate weekly discussion sessions (16 per group) with construction workers using a standard HIV/AIDS/STI peer education curriculum and discussion guides that accompany IEC materials prepared by ASTAR, and 144 CCFs to conduct twice monthly community conversation sessions in communities around the construction sites. Weekly peer education sessions (16-20 per group) will be held with CSWs living near the construction sites utilizing the Health Communication Partnership model.

Drop-in centers will be established in selected urban sites to facilitate access to information and services for CSWs. In addition, 70 PLWHAA will be trained to support IEC/BCC initiatives.

Target-specific IEC materials and media campaigns on risk reduction will be developed. At least 220 leaders from FBOs and local administration will be trained to promote risk reduction programming within and outside their communities.

At least 2.5 million male condoms will be delivered to the 25 project sites and distributed through most suitable local outlets. Referral linkages will be established with health facilities to provide access to HCT, STI counseling and management other related services. Fifty leaders and officials of key partner organizations will be trained to facilitate institutionalizing and managing HIV prevention and care in the workplace.

CSWs and PLWHAPLWHAA will be offered vocational skills training to improve their access to income generation and alternative livelihoods.

The project M&E plan includes monthly performance data collection and review meetings, regular supervision to assure quality and backstop at field level; quarterly meetings in Addis and operational research to review overall progress and feasibility of the interventions.