HOPE 2020
Project Proposal on   HIV/AIDS Prevention & Orphans Care and Support
August   2007
Addis Ababa

Project Summary
Project Title: Scaling Up HIV/AIDS Prevention & Orphans Care and Support
Project Location: Oromia Regional State Burayu Town Administration including its rural Kebeles & Jeldu Woreda in South West Shoa Zone                             Project Total Cost: Birr 520,000
Implementing Agency: HOPE 2020
P.O.BOX.: 24198/1000
Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Contact person
Gudeta Gelalcha
Tel.:  +(251)-(012)-707533
Cellphone:  +(251)-(911)-175360
Fax:  +(251)-(012)-707534
Project Duration:  One Year
Direct Beneficiaries:  2,580 Orphans and Vulnerable Children & 240 PLWHA and bedridden patients
Indirect beneficiaries: 50,000 inhabitants of the project areas

 

Background 

HOPE 2020 is a non-governmental, non-political, non-religious local NGO established in 2004 with the general objectives of improving the life of the rural communities through providing potable water, hygiene and sanitation services; introducing modern irrigation systems; increasing the rural community’s awareness on HIV/AIDS prevention; providing the necessary care and support for orphans and vulnerable children; reducing gender inequality through women empowerments and contributing its part to environmental protection.

It is a legally registered association by the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia Ministry Of Justice with registration certificate number 1865 and is licensed to operate as an NGO in its particular areas of interest and intervention meeting all the legal requirements. It has also an operational agreement with Federal and Oromia Food Security Disaster Prevention and Preparedness Commission.

In line with its memorandum of association and relevant laws of the country, the association has a Board of Directors, a governing body that provides leadership and direction on strategic issues   such as strategic and annual plans, annual budget, salary schemes, and exercise control to ensure that the association is operating within and inline with the laws of the country and its own constitution. It has a General Manager responsible for giving over all directions for the day-to-day operations of the association inline with the directions and decisions of the Board of Directors.

Currently HOPE 2020 implementing water supply, sanitation and hygiene promotion and other projects in Saden Soddo, Woliso and Tole weredas of South West Shoa zone of Oromia National Regional State.

Though the association is few years old its integrated rural development programs to solve the various socio-economic problems of the rural community attracted international NGOs like Water Aid-Ethiopia, Comitato Internazionale per lo sviluppo dei popoli (CISP-Italian based international NGO) and Water Millennium Alliance (USAID) which are currently working as a partner with the association.

 

Global View of HIV/AIDS

HIV and AIDS, since its emergence in 1981, has become one of the most devastating epidemics in human history and more than 20 million people have lost their lives as a result of the virus in the world and even projected to kill 80 million by 2010. Currently about 40 million people live with the virus worldwide. HIV and AIDS have become a serious threat with far reaching consequences to individuals, families, communities, and all sectors of economic development.

More than 90% of HIV and AIDS infected individuals live in the developing world and countries in economic transition. Of the 40 million people living with virus worldwide, Africa hosts about 25 million and Sub-Saharan Africa, with over 10 % of the world‘s population, is a home to two - thirds of all people living with HIV and AIDS. Women are being infected at an earlier age than men, and the gap in HIV prevalence between men and women continues to grow. Wide spread poverty, gender inequality, social and political inertia have contributed much to the high prevalence rate of the disease gender wise in developing countries.

 

HIV/AIDS in Ethiopia

Ethiopia is located in the eastern part of Africa neighboring the Sudan, Eritrea, Djibouti, Somalia and Kenya. It is the third largest country in Sub-Saharan Africa with a total area of 1.13 million sq km. and estimated population of 80 million.

It is one of the Sub-Saharan African countries that is hardest hit by HIV and AIDS pandemic, which indiscriminately affects all groups of the community, especially the active labor force, children, and women. The first evidence of HIV/AIDS infection was found in 1984 and   the first two HIV and AIDS cases were reported in 1986 from Addis Ababa hospitals to the Ministry Of Health /MOH/. Since then for more than two decades the epidemic has continued to spread at a rapid pace both in urban and rural areas.

Globally, Ethiopia has the 16th highest HIV and AIDS prevalence and the third largest numbers of people living with HIV and AIDS in Africa. HIV and AIDS pandemic have hit the country with catastrophic results. The average adult national prevalence rate is estimated at 3.51 % (10.5 % urban and 1.94 % rural) the epidemic is steadily on the rise in the rural areas. Nationally, the estimated prevalence among males was 3.8 %. The number of people living with HIV and AIDS in 2006 is estimated at 1.3 million, of which 96,000 are children. Some 207,270 new People Living With HIV and AIDS are in need for antiretroviral (ART) in 2006 throughout the country - UN AIDS Report-2006.

 

Problem Statement 

Oromia Regional State is located in the center of Ethiopia and is the most populous regional state with 32.3 % of the country’s population. It occupies one third of the nation area about 363,081 square kilometers. Based on the 1994 population and housing census, the projected population of the region was estimated at 23,704,000 with 2.9 % annual growth rate. Among the population, 45% are below 15 years old and economically active age group is about 50%. Out of the population 88% live in rural area and 12 % in urban areas.

The prevalence of HIV/AIDS in the regional Sate among the age groups of 15-49 yrs is 2.44% in 2005. Among the urban population the prevalence is 8.4% and 1.42% in rural areas in the same year. A total of 318,382 persons are living with HIV/AIDS in the regional state among which 33,213 are children below the age of 14 yrs. (AIDS in Ethiopia 6th Report)

The increasing number of Orphaned and Vulnerable Children (OVC) is one of the most serious socio-economic and developmental challenges affecting developing countries worldwide, including the regional state. This problem is primarily caused by the HIV/AIDS pandemic, poverty, conflict and longstanding poor governance. These factors contribute to the high mortality rate of parents and erode their capacity to provide support for their children.

Orphans and other vulnerable children are representative of a much larger health and development crisis endangered by HIV/AIDS and other socio-economic, cultural and political factors in the regional state. Thus, where large proportions of children are orphaned by HIV/AIDS, the odds are high that the epidemic has had a damaging impact on a far larger number of children who are not orphans, by eroding their well being and the opportunities available for fulfilling their rights.

The prevalence of OVC in the regional state has now reached an alarming stage. According to the MOH June 2006 report, there were 1,661,831 orphans in the regional state of which 1,429,976 are in rural areas and 231,855 are in urban areas.

The challenges and needs faced by orphans and other children made vulnerable by HIV/AIDS are diverse. The major ones include; lack of resource for education (books, uniforms and other supplies), psychosocial distress (mainly associated with anxiety, loss of parental love and nurture, burden of caring for the sick, impact of family dissolution, depression, stigma, discrimination, grief and frustration), physical and sexual abuse and inadequate access to basic needs. Many OVC, especially girls, are forced to drop out of school to care for sick parents /relatives, engage in child labor or become street children as a survival mechanism. This further exposes the OVC to more risks such as STIs, HIV infection, child prostitution and early marriages. Today there are at least as many non-orphaned children made vulnerable by HIV/AIDS as orphans. These include children living with chronically ill parents   and children living in households that have absorbed orphans. No human society has ever faced an OVC crisis of this magnitude.

The traditional ways of caring for orphans and vulnerable children, such as extended family system, are being severely strained by the multiple, mutually exacerbating impacts of HIV/AIDS. There is an urgent need for action to strengthen family and community care for OVC.

In Oromia, especially in rural areas, families and communities are often the first line of response in case of death of parents. OVC continue to be cared for by relatives and neighbors, however, the capacity of the socio-cultural system to look for OVC have been overstretched because of the increasingly high dependency ratio and loss of so many prime income earners of households. In many cases, existing family and community structures and systems also lack appropriate information for effective OVC support and care. Apart from extended families and communities, local faith based organizations and community service organizations (FBOs/CSOs) are trying to respond to the plight of OVC. However, these interventions are still limited in coverage, scope, quality, comprehensiveness and coordination.

It is understandable that treating HIV/AIDS apart from development activities can no more bring nationally envisaged result in a sustainable manner. Accordingly, each of the sector ministries, NGOs, associations, cooperatives, grassroots organizations, the private sectors should also have to incorporate HIV/AIDS policy and program in their short term and long term activities. This step can certainly bring multi – sectoral fight against HIV/AIDS and poverty. Thus government organizations, nongovernmental organizations and other bodies are carrying out different projects.

In order to respond to these unprecedented crises, HOPE 2020 has made OVC care and support program an integral part of its strategic objectives. Expanding care and support for orphan and vulnerable children in severely HIV/AIDS affected areas is a top priority for HOPE 2020 because:

• OVC are among those most severely affected by HIV/AIDS and most neglected in the global AIDS response to date
• Investing in OVC is a critical investment in the future strength and security of their communities and country
• Care for OVC is a powerful entry point and common ground for initiating broader HIV/AIDS response within communities

As a response to the increasing burden of OVC in the regional state, HOPE 2020 has prepared this comprehensive project proposal called Scaling Up HIV/AIDS Prevention & Orphans Care and Support to be implemented in Burayu Town Administration and Jeldu Wereda in West Shoa Zone to fight the spread of HIV/AIDS pandemic and address the multiple needs of OVC in partnership with the communities in the area.

 

Project Target and Location

Hope 2020 proposes to implement this project that directly targets about 2,580 orphans and vulnerable children and 240 People Living With HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) at Burayu town administration and Jeldu Woreda in South West Shoa Zone. Indirect beneficiaries of the project comprise other OVC household members and communities and community based organizations. The two districts are selected based on the association’s intensive discussions with the two areas HIV/AIDS desks and local community structures like idirs and faith based organizations. The proposed project will target different categories of OVC including orphans (due to all case), children whose parents are chronically ill, children living in households that have taken in orphans, and other children the community identifies as most vulnerable using a criteria jointly developed with the community.   

Burayu Town Administration is located 18 km from the center of the capital city in the western direction adjacent to the capital Addis Ababa. It has three especial urban kebeles and four rural kebeles with an estimated population of 100,000.Due to its proximity to the capital and relatively cheap house rental fee as well as intensive construction activities; it has attracted large number of daily laborers and the economically disadvantaged section of the community including many HIV infected individuals and affected families both from Addis Ababa and districts in West Shoa Zone and this made HIV and OVC crisis the worst in the town.

According to the information obtained from Burayu HIV/AIDS Desk, the number of orphans and vulnerable children, people living with the virus and AIDS patients in need of care and support is increasing from time to time which needs timely intervention.

Jeldu Woreda is located 70 km from Addis Ababa on the main road to Ambo and 37 km from the main road on the way to Gidabarat in West Shoa Zone of Oromia Regional State. It has 4 urban Kebles and 38 rural Kebles with a total population of about 200,000. There is one health center and 6 health posts in the Woreda. Poverty, that forced many households to depend on making local drinks and the increasing number of commercial sex workers and unemployed out of school youth are some of the factors that contributed to the increase in the spread of HIV infection in the area and leaving many children exposed to various challenges.

Though both of them are not active, two local NGOs are operational in Burayu area and they haven’t properly integrated and dealt with HIV/AIDS and OVC crisis in their programs. There is no NGO operating in Jeldu wereda so far due to its remoteness and difficulty in accessibility.

 

General and Specific Objectives of the Project 

General Objective

The general objective of the project is to contribute to the overall national HIV and AIDS prevention and control program of the country by increasing the capacity of the community and local structures to fight the spread of HIV and AIDS pandemic and improving the quality of life of people living with HIV/AIDS and AIDS orphans by providing basic care and support services during the project period in Jeldu Woreda and Burayu Town Administration.

Specific objectives

The specific objectives of the project are:

• Increase the capacity of local community structures like idirs and AACs to fight the spread of HIV/AIDS pandemic and mitigate the impact of the pandemic on OVC and affected families
• Improve the quality of life of HIV infected individuals and AIDS patients through basic care and support programs
• Increase access to essential services like health, nutrition, education, clothing, psychosocial and other basic needs for OVC

Proposed Implementation Strategy and Partnerships 

The proposed project will align with the national HIV/AIDS Policy and Strategic Program Framework of OHAPCO and HOPE 2020 strategic objectives. The overall strategy will be a community led response to the pandemic with the involvement of local community structures including Faith Based Organizations, Idirs, Anti Aids Clubs, PLWHA Associations, Youth and Child Clubs and others.

Recognizing that no single organization can respond at scale that matches the enormity of the impacts of HIV/AIDS crisis, HOPE 2020 will work with local partners including government agencies and civil society organizations. After the official approval of the project by Oromia HAPCO, HOPE 2020 will work on the detailed implementation plan including timeframe, physical and financial plan and cash flow.

 

Activities of the Project

• Recruit one HIV/AIDS project coordinator and two project officers
• Select project beneficiaries using preset selection criteria with stakeholders
• Establish and strengthen 4 Anti Aids Clubs in the two project areas
• Provide Nutritional support for 80 OVC who have no families or relatives and suffering from malnutrition in the project areas
• Establish idir union at Woreda level to coordinate the scattered nature of community responses to HIV/AIDS and OVC crisis in the project areas
• Provide martial supports to 4 AACs and 2 idir unions
• To increase their capacity to mobilize the community
• Provide educational materials, regular clothing, school uniforms, medical and hygienic support for 700 OVC in the two project areas during the project period
• Provide psychosocial support for 1,600 OVC and care givers in the two project areas during the project period
• Provide life skill training for 100 grown up OVC in the two project areas during the project period
• Provide training on living positively with the virus and on nutrition for 200 PLWHA in the two project areas
• Provide nutritional/hygienic support for 40 bedridden patients with no support at all in the project areas
• Select and train 20 Home Based Care Provider volunteers who provide care for OVC and bedridden patients in the project areas
• Supply safety kits and refresher trainings for 20 HBCPV
• Train 100 idir and FBO leaders on community mobilization strategies
• Conduct a one day discussion on the role of traditional institutions like idirs, senbeta, mahiber etc in the fight against HIV/AIDS pandemic

Inputs of the Project 

The inputs required for the implementation of the project are:

• Man power –employed, invited and volunteers
• Materials –training materials 
• Fund for project implementation
• Place –office and hall room
• Time spent by the community on work shops
• Health institutions

Anticipated Outcomes of the Project 

The expected outcomes of the project are the following:

• Increased capacity of local community structures in the project area to fight the spread of HIV/AIDS
• Basic physical and economic needs of OVC are met i.e. OVC are attending age appropriate levels of schools, they have support for their medical needs
• Strengthened community capacities to care for the physical and social needs of OVC
• Significant reduction of distress, resentment, and depression in adult OVC who receive psychosocial support
• Improved living standard of PLWHA and AIDS patients
• Increased and improved coordination of local community structures to mobilize resources for OVC
• School dropout, Stigma and discrimination decreased in the project area.

Sustainability of the Project 

As mentioned above HOPE 2020 is going to partner with local stakeholders to implement the project. Since the smooth phase out of the project is going to depend on the capacity building of local civil society organizations like idirs, they would be considered as main partners throughout the project implementation period. The project officer will work strongly with idirs to increase their capacity in community mobilization and resource mobilization. This would be done through various trainings and supports provided during the project implementation period. Idirs would be encouraged to form IDIR Unions and make bylaws in which OVC care and support become the focus of the law. Each IDIR member would be encouraged to add some money, the amount will be decided in their bylaw, in their monthly member contribution and at the end of the project the community will take over the care and support for OVC.

 

Project Management 

There shall be an HIV/AIDS project coordinator at head office who is responsible to support and follow project implementation at the two project sites. The two project officers who are to be situated at project sites will implement the project in close collaboration with local partners. Project officers will be reporting to HOPE 2020 head office where centrally compiled report would be sent to the donor and stakeholders by the project coordinator at head office. 

 

Project Monitoring and Evaluation 

Periodic monitoring focuses on the day-to-day activities of the project. It uses clearly stated activity indicators in the plan for monthly, quarterly and annual targets to be accomplished. Monitoring activity includes measuring the physical performances, budgetary utilization, quality and quantity of work done, correlation of the work done with the set objectives and the set plans and timetables. A midterm evaluation will be jointly held with all stakeholders including beneficiaries, donors, community, and relevant government counterparts with the active participation of project beneficiaries.

During the evaluation process the following indicators will be considered:

• Number OVC and PLWHA supported by the project and the progress they have shown
• Financial system, cost effectiveness and budget utilization
• Participation of stake holders in the implementation of the project
• Amount of resources mobilized by the community to support OVC
• Number of community members mobilized by AACs

 

Budget Summary 

 

 

 

Budget Narrative

The overall resources request for this one-year Scaling Up HIV/AIDS Prevention & Orphans Care and Support project from Oromia HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control Office /OHAPCO/ is Birr 500,000 for the two project sites. 

About Birr 200,000 (40%) of the project fund buy donor shall be used to provide different services for OVC in the project areas. Birr 104,800 (22%) of the project fund shall be used for providing different trainings and basic needs supports for PLWHA and bedridden patients respectively. Birr 45,000 (9%) of the project fund is to be used for increasing the capacity of local community structures to fight the HIV/AIDS pandemic.

Birr 91,200 (18%) of the project fund will be used to hire qualified and experienced one project coordinator at head office and two project officers for project sites. Birr 16,000 (3%) of the project fund by donor will be used for to purchase one computer to build the institutional capacity of the association. Birr 7,000 (1%) of the project fund will be used for monitoring and evaluating of the project. Birr 36,000 (7%) of the project fund will be used for administrative purposes both at head office level and at the two project sites.

The local community will contribute Birr 20,000 through covering hall rent costs and providing voluntary care and support services for OVC and bedridden patients.