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USAID Announces First Round of Grants for President Bush's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief


WASHINGTON, DC 20523
PRESS OFFICE
http://www.usaid.gov/
Press: (202) 712-4320
Public Information: (202) 712-4810

2004-024

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 13, 2004

Contact: USAID Press Office

WASHINGTON, DC - The U.S. Agency for International Development announced today the recipients of the first round of grants from USAID under the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief. These grants make up a portion of the $350 million dollars in Emergency Plan funding that was announced by U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator Ambassador Randall L. Tobias on February 23, 2004.

USAID is proud to be a partner in the $15 billion President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, announced by President Bush in 2003. The initiative is focused on achieving the goals of treating at least two million HIV-infected persons with anti-retroviral therapy, preventing seven million new infections and caring for 10 million persons infected with or affected by HIV, including orphans and vulnerable children in 14 countries in Africa and the Caribbean. These countries, which are home to nearly 50 percent of HIV infections worldwide, are: Botswana, Cote d'Ivoire, Ethiopia, Guyana, Haiti, Kenya, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia.

The grants are being given to five organizations for their work in 14 Emergency Plan focus countries to support children affected by AIDS and for abstinence and behavior change prevention programs targeted at youth. In announcing the grants, USAID Administrator Andrew Natsios said, "We will advance the objectives of President Bush and make this whole effort move more rapidly." The recipients are the following:

The American Red Cross will receive $7 million to collaborate with Red Cross societies in Guyana, Haiti and Tanzania to reach more than 760,000 in-and-out-of-school youth between the ages of 10 and 24 with messages about HIV prevention through abstinence and other healthy behaviors. This five-year program will build the capacity of local Red Cross branches and their extensive volunteer networks to train peer educators in the proven interactive "Together We Can" curriculum; and mobilize communities to adopt healthy norms and behaviors through educational activities including theater, sports and music festivals.

World Relief will receive $9.7 million to scale up its HIV prevention strategies for youth in Haiti, Kenya, Mozambique and Rwanda over a five-year period. They will challenge and equip more than 1.8 million youth to choose abstinence as the best means of HIV prevention. In addition, the program will reach about 200,000 influential adults, including parents, guardians, pastors and teachers, and establish 1,750 youth clubs to support youth to remain abstinent. They will work with 8,000 churches, 4,800 schools, and other local community and faith-based partners.

Catholic Relief Services will receive $7 million to improve the quality of life of more than 56,000 orphans and vulnerable children and help them prepare for productive lives within their communities. The five-year project will focus on Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Zambia and Haiti.

Catholic Relief Services will increase the capacity of more than 10,000 families and orphans and assist faith- and community-based organizations to deliver sustainable, high-quality interventions. These interventions will include improved education and health care, psychosocial support, nutritional and agricultural activities and housing. The program will mobilize and strengthen 760 community-based and faith-based partners, and train 7,800 caregivers and volunteers.

Habitat for Humanity and Opportunity International have formed a unique partnership to address the needs of orphans and vulnerable children in Zambia, Uganda and Mozambique. With a USAID grant of $5.1 million, this five-year program will address the basic income and shelter needs of orphans and vulnerable children and the communities that care for them. They will use a community-based approach to assist orphans and vulnerable children through microfinance and housing initiatives. The two faith-based organizations bring a strong commitment to leveraging activities through public-private alliances and a significant matching of funds. The program is expected to reach more than 52,000 orphans and vulnerable children, will cover 20,000 vulnerable families with death benefits insurance and will provide HIV/AIDS education to 60,000 vulnerable families.

Save the Children will receive $5.9 million to scale-up its care and support interventions in Ethiopia and Mozambique over a five-year period. The SCALE-UP Hope Program will provide care, support and protection for children made vulnerable by HIV/AIDS as well as for their families and communities by strengthening community-based organizations and programs. Save the Children will increase the capacity of communities and local structures to mitigate the impact of HIV/AIDS, increase access to essential services, and foster an environment that supports the care and protection needs of children and families affected by HIV/AIDS. The SCALE-UP Hope Program will benefit more than 100,000 children affected by HIV/AIDS in five regions of Ethiopia and more than 85,000 children in four provinces of Mozambique.

Another round of awards for programs to support orphans and vulnerable children and abstinence and behavior change programs is scheduled to be released in early summer.


The U.S. Agency for International Development has provided economic and humanitarian assistance worldwide for more than 40 years.

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