SOUTHERN AFRICA: Five NGOs to receive USAID grants for HIV/AIDS programmes
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© IRIN
A HIV/AIDS awareness hoarding: Over a five-year period PEPFAR hopes to prevent seven million new infections in Africa and the Caribbean
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JOHANNESBURG, 14 April (PLUSNEWS) - Five NGOs running HIV/AIDS-related programmes in Southern Africa are to receive a portion of US $350 million grant from the United States Agency for the International Development (USAID) under the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR).
The recipients, World Relief, Catholic Relief Services, Habitat for Humanity, Opportunity International and Save the Children, were named on Tuesday in the first round of grants to be announced under the presidential initiative.
The $15 billion initiative was launched by President George Bush in 2003, of which $350 million has been allocated to HIV/AIDS-related programmes in 14 countries in Africa and the Caribbean this year. Over a five-year period, PEPFAR hopes to treat at least two million HIV-infected persons with antiretroviral therapy, prevent seven million new infections and provide care for 10 million infected or affected persons, including orphans and vulnerable children (OVC).
Save the Children is to receive $5.9 million to scale up its care and support interventions in Ethiopia and Mozambique. Michel Rooijackers of Save the Children in Mozambique told IRIN that the grant application had been made by a multi-agency consortium, including the British, US and Norwegian offices of Save the Children, and another consortium of seven NGOs called the Hope for Africa Children Initiative.
The five-year programme by Save the Children aims to boost support and protection for more than 85,000 children made vulnerable by HIV/AIDS in four provinces of Mozambique, and will also try to strengthen communities and local structures to mitigate the impact of the disease by increasing access to essential services and fostering a supportive environment for affected families.
World Relief is to receive $9.7 million to expand its HIV prevention strategies for youth in Mozambique and other African countries through clubs, churches and schools.
Catholic Relief Services hopes to utilise its $7 million grant to improve the quality of life of more than 56,000 OVC in Zambia, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda and Haiti by providing improved education and health care, psychosocial support, nutritional and agricultural activities and housing. The five-year programme will also mobilise and strengthen community- and faith-based partners, and train caregivers and volunteers.
With a grant of $5.1 million, Habitat for Humanity and Opportunity International plan to address the needs of OVC in Zambia, Uganda and Mozambique. The two faith-based organisations intend using a community-based approach to assist OVC through microfinance and housing initiatives. They also hope to provide vulnerable families with death benefits and HIV/AIDS education by forging public-private alliances.
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