NOFO: Strengthening Local Capacity to Deliver HIV/AIDS Prevention, Care and Treatment Activities for Key Populations (Côte d’Ivoire)

Deadline: 27-Mar-23

The Centers for Disease Control (CGH) is seeking applications for the Strengthening Local Capacity to Deliver HIV/AIDS Prevention, Care and Treatment Activities for Key Populations in the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire under the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR).

This NOFO aims to establish self-sustainable comprehensive clinical and community programs for HIV/AIDS testing, care, treatment, and prevention for key populations (KP) in Côte d’Ivoire (CI) which is expected to ultimately increase the adoption of high impact HIV services and protective behaviors among at-risk populations in targeted locations. The NOFO aims to accelerate the ability of local partner government and KP civil society organizations (CSOs) to plan, deliver, and optimize comprehensive HIV/AIDS prevention, care and treatment services at scale that reduce HIV transmission among KP and their sexual partners and extend life for those who are HIV-positive more effectively. The recipients are expected to also conduct size estimation to provide information on hotspots and better targeting of their programs.

Purpose

The purpose of this NOFO is to:

Accelerate the ability of government partners, KP and CSOs to more effectively plan, deliver, and optimize comprehensive clinical and community HIV/AIDS prevention, testing and treatment services that reduce HIV transmission among KP, their sexual partners and children, and extend life for those who are HIV-positive;
Reduce stigma and discrimination towards KP;
Map and conduct size estimations to provide information on hotspots; and
Increase the number of KP who have been identified, tested, linked to treatment, and achieve viral suppression.

Priorities and Strategies

Goals and priorities include the following:
- Reducing the prevention and treatment gaps for adolescent girls and young women (AGYW), children, and key populations (KP);
- Strengthening national and local programmatic, financial, and community leadership;
- Designing new partnerships with key private, public, and multi sector entities that can complement existing programs and expand reach;
- Utilizing the PEPFAR platform for broader disease surveillance and public health programming, consistent with the PEPFAR legislative and funding authority;
- Investing in the scale-up of cutting edge behavioral, and implementation science to bend the curve on new infections;
- Improving the care and treatment of HIV/AIDS, sexually transmitted infections (STIs), and related opportunistic infections by improving STI management; enhancing laboratory diagnostic capacity and the care and treatment of opportunistic infections; interventions for intercurrent diseases impacting HIV infected patients including tuberculosis (TB); and initiating programs to provide anti-retroviral therapy (ART);
- Strengthening the capacity of countries to collect, use, and share surveillance data and manage national HIV/AIDS programs by expanding HIV/STI/TB surveillance programs and strengthening laboratory support for surveillance, diagnosis, treatment, disease monitoring, and HIV screening for blood safety; and
- Developing, validating, and/or evaluating public health programs to inform, improve, and target appropriate interventions, as related to the prevention, care and treatment of HIV/AIDS, TB, and opportunistic infections.
Strategies
- Strategy 1: Strengthen surveillance and informatics systems to ensure access to confidential, quality data for efficient KP program management and resource allocation
- Strategy 2: Scale up differentiated, client-centered, comprehensive community and clinical HIV case finding, prevention, diagnosis and treatment and care services for KP
- Strategy 3: Build capacity of KP CSOs for KP program management to improve the quality of KP programs and service delivery organizations
- Strategy 4: Strengthen activities to reduce stigma and discrimination
- Strategy 5: Foster enabling environments to prevent violence and various forms of abuse against KP and provide care and support services for victims

Funding Information

Approximate Number of Awards 4
Average One Year Award Amount: $3,000,000
Total Period of Performance Length: 5 year(s)
Estimated Award Date: September 30, 2023

Outcomes

Short Term Outcomes
- Increased access to reliable data on KP size estimates and hotspots in priority districts
- Improved targeting of KP for case finding
- Increased uptake of HIV and STI prevention and management services, including biomedical and behavioral interventions
- Increased HIV+ KP who know their status, receive, and adhere to treatment, and have documented viral suppression
- Improved systems and tools to track uptake, delivery and outcomes, of services to KPs.
- Increased HCWs KP competency and KP-led service delivery
- Increased engagement and partnerships among relevant KP CSOs
- Increased competency of MSHP staff and service providers on KP policy requirements
- Increased awareness of U=U concepts and status neutral approach
- Improved availability and quality of post-violence care and HIV services for KP
- Increased identification of GBV cases and linkage to post-violence care
Intermediate Outcomes
- Increased community and clinical service coverage (and linkages) for KP in hotspots/priority districts
- Increased HIV testing coverage for KP and their stable partners and children
- Increased number of HIV+ KP on ART, retained in care who achieve VLS
- Reduced stigma, discrimination, and violence towards KP nationally and locally
- Increased uptake of post-violence care services among KP
Long Term Outcomes
- Increased accountability and transparency of civil society and government’s national commitments to HIV program development and implementation for programs serving KP
- Reduced structural legal and policy barriers to a quality HIV response
- Increased capacity of local KP CSOs to successfully secure and manage diversified funding

Target Populations

The target populations for this NOFO include KP (i.e., FSWs, MSM, and TG) and priority populations (i.e., children and regular partners and/or sexual partners of KP in urban areas, along truck routes, and in rural areas in priority districts of CI).

Eligibility Criteria

Eligible Applicants
- Unrestricted
- Additional Eligibility Category:
  - Government Organizations:
    - State governments or their bona fide agents (includes the District of Columbia)
    - Local governments or their bona fide agents
    - Territorial governments or their bona fide agents in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianna Islands, American Samoa, Guam, the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, and the Republic of Palau
    - State controlled institutions of higher education
    - American Indian or Alaska Native tribal governments
- Non-government Organizations
- American Indian or Alaska native tribally designated organizations
- Other
- Ministries of Health
Additional Information on Eligibility
- This is a fully competitive NOFO and eligibility is unrestricted, meaning any and all types of organizations and entities are eligible to apply.
- In addition, as may be required by host country laws, applicant is expected to comply with and document that it has satisfied all regulatory requirements of their governing entities that could otherwise compromise the integrity and resources provided by this program or make the conduct of expected activities under this award unable to be performed. Applicants must also meet the criteria established in CDC’s pre-award risk assessment to be eligible to receive funds under this NOFO.