Deadline: 9-Feb-24
The U.S. Department of State, U.S. Embassy in Kinshasa – Democratic Republic of Congo through the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) Coordination Office (PCO) is pleased to announce an open Notification of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for organizations to submit applications that support Community – led Monitoring (CLM) activities, to be implemented in close collaboration with local Community-based organizations and other civil society groups, networks of key populations (KP), people living with HIV (PLHIV), youth and adolescents including children and other HIV-affected groups.
The CLM program is funded through the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). The goal of PEPFAR in DRC is to support efforts to achieve HIV epidemic control through implementation of evidence-based interventions to drive progress in HIV prevention, care and treatment and ultimately, save lives.
Community-led monitoring or CLM is a routinized process initiated and implemented by local HIV-positive and HIV-affected communities, community-based organizations and other civil society groups that identifies HIV service delivery successes, diagnoses problems, uses quantitative and qualitative data to overcome barriers and ensure that HIV service beneficiaries receive optimal client-centered services.
Goals
- The focus is on getting input from recipients of HIV services including key populations, youth and adolescents, other HIV-affected groups, and underserved groups, in a routine and systematic manner that will translate into action and change.
- Objective 1: To capture patient’s feedback (perception and satisfaction) on services available to them in HIV prevention, care, and treatment at the health facility and in the community.
- Objective 2: To identify strengths, gaps, stigma, and discrimination in service delivery, and provide input to develop indicators to assess services.
- Objective 3: To raise community awareness on their interests and individual responsibilities to have in place sustainable community-led monitoring approach.
- Objective 4: To monitor the quality health system service delivery.
- Objective 5: To advocate for change and action planning.
Funding Information
- Total available funding: $500,000.00 USD
- Award amounts: Awards may range up to US Dollars $100,000.00
- Length of performance period: 6 months to 12 months
- Number of awards anticipated: up to 5
- Anticipated Program start date: March 2024
Expected Results
- Specific results may include the following:
- Increased number of HIV patients speak out and take leadership in identifying strengths, gaps, stigma, and discrimination in service delivery, the uptake of HIV services and retaining HIV patients in treatment.
- Increased number of affected communities gather information on services available to them, health literacy, engagement with health service delivery, demand creation, and accountability from the health system to improve quality of services.
- Increased community awareness and resilience to undertake similar activities on their own in a sustainable manner.
- Improved the quality-of-service delivery within the health facilities.
- Recommendations have been made for service delivery improvement.
Deliverables
- Key deliverables include but are not limited to:
- Implement interventions to capture HIV patient’s satisfaction with HIV-related services and understand enablers and barriers to access and retention in HIV prevention, care and treatment services.
- Implement interventions to identify gaps in HIV-related community health literacy or client awareness of health services to improve knowledge, use, and access.
- Implement interventions to detect issues of stigma, discrimination, and coercion and providing solutions.
- Create a platform for community-led analysis and co-created solutions to improve health responses.
- Make actionable recommendations to all stakeholders to improve client care in their provinces.
Main Activities
- To achieve the goals and expected results, the project should include the following:
- Collect quantitative and qualitative data at the facility and community level on the availability, accessibility, affordability, acceptability and on quality of health and HIV services using standardized indicators developed by PEPFAR.
- Analyze and consolidate patient’s feedback into actionable activities to address deficiencies in quality service delivery.
- Disseminate findings and engage with key decision-makers.
- Manage activities on stigmatization and discrimination to help the affected communities to break out of clandestineness.
- Facilitate group discussions with clients and community members to promote knowledge about available HIV services (health literacy and demand creation).
- Develop and implement client surveys and interviews.
- When and where feasible, investigate select aspects of patient reports on service quality and availability i.e. stockouts, disruption of key services, provider behaviors (stigma and discrimination), delay in viral load results to beneficiaries, etc.
- Facilitate engagement (meetings) between community leadership and service providers to discuss the quality of and access to existing services based on feedback from clients.
Eligibility Criteria
- U.S. Embassy Kinshasa welcomes applications from local Community-based organizations and other civil society groups, networks of key populations (KP), people living with HIV (PLHIV), youth and adolescents including children and other HIV-affected groups.
- The CLM Program is not meant to support applications submitted by for-profit entities. Additionally, the Department of State prohibits profit to for-profit or commercial organizations under its assistance awards. Profit is defined as any amount in excess of allowable direct and indirect costs.
- CLM funds are meant for activities that are community driven and serve the community at large where they are being funded. The following will be considered eligible for CLM grants:
- Independent and local/community-based organizations, traditional community groups and faith-based organizations (FBO) (PEPFAR Implementing partners who currently work on service delivery at the site level are not eligible to apply nor are their sub recipient organizations).
- Not-for-profit organizations, including civil society and non-governmental organizations.
- Only organizations registered with the government of the DRC will be considered eligible organizations.
- Eligible organizations must have all the organization charts and manuals, in compliance with the current DRC law. This is related to the organization’s statute, board of directors, organizational charts and procedures manuals.
- Eligible organizations must have internal control systems in place, this is related to the administrative control systems and accounting systems control.
- Eligible organizations must have all the required accounting documents in place such as, but not limited to: The journal book, the general ledger and the inventory book… But also with a transparent and reliable accounting system.
- Eligible organizations must have legal documents free of conflict of interest.
- Eligible organizations must have experience of successfully implementing programs.
- Eligible organizations must have established offices, at least 12 months prior to application submission.
For more information, visit Grants.gov.