Detailed Mechanism Funding and Narrative

Years of mechanism: 2008 2009

Details for Mechanism ID: 5674
Country/Region: Malawi
Year: 2008
Main Partner: U.S. Agency for International Development
Main Partner Program: NA
Organizational Type: Own Agency
Funding Agency: USAID
Total Funding: $2,195,773

Funding for Sexual Prevention: Abstinence/Be Faithful (HVAB): $35,018

Summary

Through EP funding, the USG will continue to support an HIV/AIDS Specialist to provide technical

leadership and program support for the HIV/AIDS prevention program in Malawi. This activity is linked to

Condoms and Other Prevention (ID#18271).

Background

With one of the highest adult HIV prevalence rates in the world (14.2% in 2003), the HIV/AIDS pandemic

has taken the lives of nearly one million Malawians and exacerbated societal problems as diverse as food

security, human resource capacity, and national defense. The USG through the Emergency Plan (EP)

remains committed to expanding its program of HIV/AIDS prevention in Malawi. Currently the USG is one

of only two donors directly funding programs to prevent sexual transmission of HIV in Malawi, and the only

one with significant resources programmed in Prevention. USG has supported Behavior Change

Communication (BCC), Community Outreach, and social marketing of condoms to high risk populations

since 2002.

Recently, the USG began supporting AB activities of local NGOs and FBOs through an umbrella grants

management program. In addition, the USG continues to support Malawi's National HIV/AIDS Action

Framework (NAF) by working with the National AIDS Commission (NAC) and the Ministry of Health (MoH)

to promote AB prevention initiatives.

The overall USG prevention portfolio has many strengths such as a balanced approach to addressing key

audiences, (including adults, youth and high-risk populations); an appropriate balance and strong links

between mass media and interpersonal communications; and a comprehensive abstain, be faithful,

condoms (ABC) approach. The comprehensive approach includes attention to partner reduction and a focus

on gender issues, especially male norms and traditional cultural practices. There is still considerable need

to deepen prevention efforts through more nuanced segmentation of adult, youth, and high-risk populations.

More formative work is needed to develop and target more focused messages to specific sub-populations.

To address these gaps, the USG/Malawi team provides technical guidance to the existing AB prevention

partners and sub-partners. In addition, the USG team will compete and award two new competitive

agreements with FY 2008 funding. One RFA procurement will be a program addressing HIV prevention in

the general population. The TBD procurement will challenge social and gender norms and promote safer

sexual behaviors to both youth and adults. The second TBD program will focus on prevention for high risk

groups. This program will have an emphasis on partner reduction and consistent and correct condom use.

Activity 1: Technical Leadership

The HIV/AIDS Prevention Specialist will provide technical leadership and support to the Government of

Malawi (GoM), USG partners, USG Agencies engaged in EP to develop, adapt, and integrate an

appropriate minimum package of effective HIV/AIDS prevention services and support consistent with the

GoM's National Plan of Action and EP guidance. The HIV/AIDS prevention specialist will serve as the chair

of the inter-agency technical working group on prevention to provide overall technical guidance and

coordination for the implementation of the HIV prevention activities. The Specialist will work with all

stakeholders to provide guidance and advocacy for the provision and scale-up of HIV/AIDS Prevention

services. In addition, he or she will work with other USAID Strategic Objective teams to identify

opportunities for wrap-around programs (e.g., education) that will benefit HIV/AIDS prevention.

Activity 2: Donor Coordination

It is expected that the HIV/AIDS Prevention Specialist will work closely with other members of the USG EP

team, the GoM, other bilateral and multilateral donors and organizations (e.g., NAC, UN Agencies) to

harmonize technical approaches and maximize geographic coverage for HIV prevention programs that are

consistent with sound HIV prevention practices and host government strategic plans. In addition, the

individual will serve as a technical member of HIV/AIDS related technical advisory committees, established

by key stakeholders such as NAC, MoH and Development Partners.

Activity 3: Program Management

The HIV/AIDS Prevention Specialist will provide technical guidance and management for selected AB

prevention partners, including tracking activity progress, analyzing progress and barriers to achievement,

making recommendations to address implementation problems, and documenting results. The Specialist

will conduct regular site visits to partners and sub-partners to assure data quality.

Funding for Sexual Prevention: Other Sexual Prevention (HVOP): $35,017

Summary

With one of the highest adult HIV prevalence rates in the world (14.2% in 2003), the HIV/AIDS pandemic

has taken the lives of nearly one million Malawians and exacerbated societal problems as diverse as food

security, human resource capacity, and national defense. The USG through the Emergency Plan (EP)

remains committed to expanding its program of HIV/AIDS prevention in Malawi. Currently the USG is one

of only two donors directly funding programs to prevent sexual transmission of HIV in Malawi, and the only

one with significant resources programmed in Prevention. USG has supported Behavior Change

Communication (BCC) for HIV/AIDS Prevention, Community Outreach HIV/AIDS activities, and the social

marketing of condoms to high risk populations since 2002.

Background

Recently, the USG began supporting AB activities of local NGOs and FBOs through an umbrella grants

management program. In addition, the USG continues to support Malawi's National HIV/AIDS Action

Framework (NAF) by working with the National AIDS Commission (NAC) and the Ministry of Health (MoH)

to promote AB prevention initiatives.

The overall USG prevention portfolio has many strengths such as a balanced approach to addressing key

audiences, (including adults, youth and high-risk populations); an appropriate balance and strong links

between mass media and interpersonal communications; and a comprehensive abstain, be faithful,

condoms (ABC) approach. The comprehensive approach includes attention to partner reduction and a focus

on gender issues, especially male norms and traditional cultural practices. There is still considerable need

to deepen prevention efforts through more nuanced segmentation of adult, youth, and high-risk populations.

More formative work is needed to develop and target more focused messages to specific sub-populations.

To address these gaps, the USG/Malawi team will compete and award two new competitive agreements

with FY 2008 funding; one TBD procurement will address HIV prevention in the general population (social

and gender norms, safer sexual behaviors) and the second TBD will focus on prevention for high risk

groups (partner reduction and consistent and correct condom use). This activity describes the role of a

HIV/AIDS Prevention Specialist who will provide technical guidance to existing and new AB prevention

partners and sub-partners.

Activity 1: Technical Leadership

The HIV/AIDS Prevention Specialist will provide technical leadership and support to the Government of

Malawi (GoM), USG partners, USG Agencies engaged in EP to develop, adapt and integrate an appropriate

minimum package of effective HIV/AIDS prevention services and support consistent with the GoM's

National Plan of Action and EP guidance. The HIV/AIDS prevention specialist will serve as the chair of the

inter-agency technical working group on prevention to provide overall technical guidance and coordination

for the implementation of the HIV prevention activities. The Specialist will work with all stakeholders to

provide guidance and advocacy for the provision and scale-up of HIV/AIDS Prevention services. In

addition, he or she will work with other USAID Strategic Objective teams to identify opportunities for wrap-

around programs (e.g.; education) that will benefit HIV/AIDS prevention.

Activity 2: Donor Coordination

It is expected that the HIV/AIDS Prevention Specialist will work closely with other members of the USG EP

team, the GoM, and other bilateral and multilateral donors and organizations (e.g., NAC, UN Agencies) to

harmonize technical approaches and maximize geographic coverage for HIV prevention programs that are

consistent with sound HIV prevention practices and host government strategic plans. In addition, the

individual will serve as a technical member of HIV/AIDS related technical advisory committees, established

by key stakeholders such as NAC, MoH and Development Partners.

Activity 3: Program Management

The HIV/AIDS Prevention Specialist will provide technical guidance and management for selected AB

prevention partners, including tracking activity progress, analyzing progress and barriers to achievement,

making recommendations to address implementation problems, and documenting results. The Specialist

will conduct regular site visits to partners and sub-partners to assure data quality.

Funding for Care: Adult Care and Support (HBHC): $145,638

Summary

Through Emergency Plan (EP) funding, USG Malawi will recruit and hire a Senior Technical Advisor to

provide leadership and support for OVC and community care programming in Malawi. This is the same

activity as HKID activity ID#17781 which describes the activities of the OVC Advisor who will also provide

USG technical leadership in basic care.

Background

With nearly 1 million Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVC) in Malawi, there is an urgent need to

strengthen the capacity of the GoM and civil society to provide comprehensive care and support services.

In 2004 USG Malawi and other donor partners provided support to the Ministry of Women and Child

Development (MOWCD) to develop a National Plan of Action. Malawi was awarded a Global Fund Round 5

grant for OVC for $20 million to the National Aids Commission with MOWCD as the implementing agency.

As of September 2007, only $1.98 million had been disbursed. Since FY 2002, USG Malawi has been

supporting community and home-based care activities of NGOs, CBOs, and FBOs. The National Plan of

Action for OVC was finalized in 2005 and districts are planning their own action plans in FY 2007 with

UNICEF support. Essential OVC services have not been established nationally and there are large gaps in

service delivery at the community level. Given the importance of OVC and the number of EP partners

providing care services, the USG PEPFAR team has agreed on the need for a Senior Technical Advisor in

Community Care and OVC to provide overall guidance on and advocacy for OVC and other priority HIV

community care interventions, including palliative care.

The Advisor will provide technical leadership to the entire USG Emergency Plan (EP) team in developing,

adapting, and integrating quality OVC standard and guidelines for service delivery to relevant populations

and partners within USG supported programs. S/he will ensure OVC programming is integrated with food,

prevention, pediatric treatment, and the vulnerable girls program under USG comprehensive funding for

Malawi. The Advisor will provide national leadership and advocacy for OVC and Palliative Care priority

interventions strengthening and scale up. Also, the Advisor will ensure that USG-supported OVC programs

in Malawi provide a package of OVC care and support including education, care and shelter, health,

psychosocial and child development, protection and rights, nutrition, and economic strengthening. The

Advisor will work collaboratively with the EP interagency team, the Government of Malawi (GoM), other

bilateral and multilateral donors and institutions, EP implementing partners, civil society, and other relevant

stakeholders.

Activity 1: Technical Leadership

The Advisor will provide technical leadership and support to GoM, USG partners, USG Agencies engaged

in EP to develop, adapt, and integrate appropriate standards and guidelines for effective delivery of quality

OVC services and support consistent with the GoM's National Plan of Action and EP guidance. The

Advisor will work with all relevant stakeholders including the GoM, UNICEF and civil society organizations to

provide national leadership and advocacy for OVC the provision and scale-up of services. In addition, the

Advisor will work with other USAID Strategic Objective teams to identify opportunities for wrap-around

programs (e.g. food security and nutrition, education, and economic growth) that will benefit OVC. The

Advisor will be the activity manager and lead Advisor to NGOs, CBOs and FBOS under USG support in

OVC and Basic Care, especially Pact (see Activity #10359). In FY 2008, the Advisor will work with the

above group to help develop a national M&E for OVC in form of database with TA on data management and

data quality.

Activity 2:Donor Coordination

It is expected that the Community Care and OVC Advisor will work closely with other members of the USG

EP team, UNICEF, the Ministry of Health, MOWCD, other bilateral and multilateral donors and

organizations to harmonize technical approaches and maximize geographic coverage for OVC programs

that are consistent with the National Plan of Action for OVC, district-level action plans, and sound OVC

practices and host government strategic plans. As appropriate, the Advisor will provide technical support to

the Global Fund Secretariat, the National AIDS Council, Ministry of Education, and the MOWCD to facilitate

the implementation of the Global Fund Grant for OVC.

Funding for Care: Orphans and Vulnerable Children (HKID): $185,500

Summary

Through Emergency Plan (EP) funding, USG Malawi will recruit and hire a Senior Technical Advisor to

provide leadership and support for OVC and community care programming in Malawi. This is the same

activity as HKID activity ID#17781 which describes the activities of the OVC Advisor who will also provide

USG technical leadership in basic care.

Background

With nearly 1 million Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVC) in Malawi, there is an urgent need to

strengthen the capacity of the GoM and civil society to provide comprehensive care and support services.

In 2004 USG Malawi and other donor partners provided support to the Ministry of Women and Child

Development (MOWCD) to develop a National Plan of Action. Malawi was awarded a Global Fund Round 5

grant for OVC for $20 million to the National Aids Commission with MOWCD as the implementing agency.

As of September 2007, only $1.98 million had been disbursed. Since FY 2002, USG Malawi has been

supporting community and home-based care activities of NGOs, CBOs, and FBOs. The National Plan of

Action for OVC was finalized in 2005 and districts are planning their own action plans in FY 2007 with

UNICEF support. Essential OVC services have not been established nationally and there are large gaps in

service delivery at the community level. Given the importance of OVC and the number of EP partners

providing care services, the USG PEPFAR team has agreed on the need for a Senior Technical Advisor in

Community Care and OVC to provide overall guidance on and advocacy for OVC and other priority HIV

community care interventions, including palliative care.

The Advisor will provide technical leadership to the entire USG Emergency Plan (EP) team in developing,

adapting, and integrating quality OVC standard and guidelines for service delivery to relevant populations

and partners within USG supported programs. S/he will ensure OVC programming is integrated with food,

prevention, pediatric treatment, and the vulnerable girls program under USG comprehensive funding for

Malawi. The Advisor will provide national leadership and advocacy for OVC and Palliative Care priority

interventions strengthening and scale up. Also, the Advisor will ensure that USG-supported OVC programs

in Malawi provide a package of OVC care and support including education, care and shelter, health,

psychosocial and child development, protection and rights, nutrition, and economic strengthening. The

Advisor will work collaboratively with the EP interagency team, the Government of Malawi (GoM), other

bilateral and multilateral donors and institutions, EP implementing partners, civil society, and other relevant

stakeholders.

Activity 1: Technical Leadership

The Advisor will provide technical leadership and support to GoM, USG partners, USG Agencies engaged

in EP to develop, adapt, and integrate appropriate standards and guidelines for effective delivery of quality

OVC services and support consistent with the GoM's National Plan of Action and EP guidance. The

Advisor will work with all relevant stakeholders including the GoM, UNICEF and civil society organizations to

provide national leadership and advocacy for OVC the provision and scale-up of services. In addition, the

Advisor will work with other USAID Strategic Objective teams to identify opportunities for wrap-around

programs (e.g. food security and nutrition, education, and economic growth) that will benefit OVC. The

Advisor will be the activity manager and lead Advisor to NGOs, CBOs and FBOS under USG support in

OVC and Basic Care, especially Pact (see Activity #10359). In FY 2008, the Advisor will work with the

above group to help develop a national M&E for OVC in form of database with TA on data management and

data quality.

Activity 2:Donor Coordination

It is expected that the Community Care and OVC Advisor will work closely with other members of the USG

EP team, UNICEF, the Ministry of Health, MOWCD, other bilateral and multilateral donors and

organizations to harmonize technical approaches and maximize geographic coverage for OVC programs

that are consistent with the National Plan of Action for OVC, district-level action plans, and sound OVC

practices and host government strategic plans. As appropriate, the Advisor will provide technical support to

the Global Fund Secretariat, the National AIDS Council, Ministry of Education, and the MOWCD to facilitate

the implementation of the Global Fund Grant for OVC.

Funding for Strategic Information (HVSI): $260,138

Summary

USG Malawi provides technical assistance to partners in order to assist Malawi in meeting its SI goals of

generating empirical information about HIV and AIDS that informs policy, practice and interventions,

building capacity at national, district and community levels, and pursuing one of the ‘three ones', one

harmonized and functional Monitoring and Evaluation (M and E) system for the national response to HIV

and AIDS. USG Malawi has hired a Strategic Information (SI) Advisor to serve as USG's primary Technical

Advisor in monitoring and evaluation for country operations planning and reporting. The SI Advisor is the co

-lead for the SI Technical Working Group in Malawi which holds regular Interagency meetings to review the

SI portfolio. They will also serve as primary Technical Advisor in SI to other USAID health implementing

partners.

Activity 1: Country Operational Plan

The SI Advisor will manage and coordinate SI-related processes required for the development of the annual

COP; oversee the fiscal year and planning year target setting exercises. The SI Advisor is responsible for

producing summary targets for the program areas in the COP. The SI Advisor will track the progress of

results achieved by implementing partners against their targets and track overall progress in achieving EP

goals.

Activity 2: Communication and Coordination

The SI Advisor serves as the primary conduit for communication on SI issues, challenges and policy

questions. The SI Advisor will communicate directly with the SI TWG and coordinate the SI exchange with

the in-country team.

Activity 3: Program Monitoring and Reporting

The SI Advisor is responsible for timely and quality collection and reporting of the EP program, monitoring,

outcome and impact indictors of the EP's Program, Monitoring, Outcome and Impact Indicators. Country SI

guidelines, standards, and manuals will be updated to ensure consistency with latest EP guidelines. The SI

Advisor will produce summary targets and track the progress of results achieved by implementing partners.

Activity 4: Coordination of Monitoring and Evaluation

The SI Advisor will work with other USG and international organizations to harmonize EP's reporting

requirements. The SI Advisor will work closely with Government of Malawi (GoM) officials responsible for

monitoring and evaluation of the HIV/AIDS programs. The SI Advisor will establish and maintain close

relationships with all international development partners representatives to ensure consistency and

harmony of results reporting and to develop shared languages around issues of attribution. The SI Advisor

will also work with USAID's M and E Advisor to ensure coordination and collaboration on broader health

issues, especially at the intersection of HIV/AIDS and complementary programs.

Activity 5: Capacity Building

USG Malawi with other USG Agencies will build the capacity of implementing partners to achieve SI

requirements. A workshop on data quality assessments will be held for all partners. The workshop will

provide an opportunity to share experiences in improving data quality and introduce and apply data quality

tools, techniques and methodologies for M and E activities. As an outcome of the workshop, partners will

develop a data quality plan. The SI Advisor will conduct data verification site visits to ensure data is

collected in an agreed upon manner. In addition, one-on-one site visits will be conducted to show partners

how to use M&E to improve programs rather than just reporting requirements. The SI advisor will develop

formal procedures for feedback to partners, conducting site visits for data quality assessments, and

following up with partners to ensure that corrective actions are taken.

Funding for Management and Operations (HVMS): $1,493,057

This narrative describes USAID's M and S request for FY 2008. The USAID Malawi M and S budget has

been vetted through the interagency decision making process and agreed to as presented in the COP08

submission.

The USAID HIV/AIDS team brings broad skills in HIV/AIDS programming to the USG Malawi program. The

USAID team has expertise over broad technical areas for prevention, care and treatment with sub

specialties in prevention, PMTCT, pediatric AIDS, nutrition, community mobilization and community care,

capacity development, policy and donor relations, public private partnership and gender. The USAID team

also draws on support from the broader USAID Health Team. The issue of understaffing has been constant

fixture for the Team and has negatively impacted implementation. The Team has begun to staff up and by

FY 08, is expected to be on firmer ground. The staffing pattern is still very tight and USAID is considering

two new proposed staff in FY 09, an acquisition specialist and a program and technical support new entry

professional (NEP).

The HIV/AIDS Team within the USAID/Malawi Health Office will have eight members plus the Team Leader

positions in FY 2008. In addition, PEPFAR will cover one financial management position plus shares of

program-funded support staff from Program Support, Financial Management and Executive Offices along

with their associated administrative costs. USAID will still rely on regional assistance for expert TA for

prevention and care (USAID's Regional HIV/AIDS Program (RHAP)); assistance in contracting, logistics and

management support will continue to be provided from USAID Pretoria and Washington. These costs do not

capture OE-funded staff that supports PEPFAR such as the Health Team Leader, Mission Controller,

Executive Officer, Contracting Officer and Mission Director.

USAID's HIV Team currently consists of a USDH Health Team Leader, a USPSC Strategic Information

Advisor, two FSN HIV/AIDS Specialists, and two support staff. Under recruitment are a Senior HIV Advisor

and Program Manager (Global Health Fellows) and a Community Care Advisor (USPSC). The Team is also

supporting a nutritionist seconded from a partner organization to the Mission (co funded with development

authority and non HIV CSH funds). The Team Leader is providing full time support to PEPFAR, as well as

oversight of all other Health programs plus donor relations such as The Global Fund, Millennium

Development, and chairing the Donor Coordination Group. All members work under the guidance of the

USAID Mission Director.

Funding levels have almost doubled for USAID over the last few years and the recent move to increase staff

reflects this. O/GAC also highlighted this need in the last years' COP reviews. In response, USAID will

shortly increase its technical capacity in community programming for HBC and OVC, holistic PMTCT and

pediatric programming and management. The cost of all technical positions will be captured within the

specific program areas under which they fall, and not within M&S. The costs reflected here include those

associated with operating the HIV/AIDS-related portion of the portfolio; again, the exception is OE costs.

Costs captured here are salary and benefits for FSN staff, local costs (housing, residence utilities,

maintenance and guard services, education allowances and travel and entitlement transportation) for the

USDH and Fellows, office supplies, rent and utilities, warehouse rent and utilities, travel and training.

USAID/Washington Information Resources Management tax and International Cooperative Administrative

Support Services (ICASS) costs are captured separately with the prime partner listed as State as required

by COP08 guidance. Capital Security Cost Sharing expenses are subtracted from USAID/Malawi program

budget levels prior to their allowance to the field. This cost is subtracted centrally from the overall USAID

budget.

Funding for Management and Operations (HVMS): $41,405

IRM tax for USAID is calculated at $41,405 USD for the HIV/AIDS Team in FY 2008.

Cross Cutting Budget Categories and Known Amounts Total: $0
Food and Nutrition: Commodities $0