The United States (U.S) government, through the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) Small Grants Program, has this year awarded over K2.5 million to 13 community and faith-based non-governmental organizations, representing eight provinces in Zambia.
The organizations were selected from more than 250 applicants after a rigorous and competitive process.
Over the next year, PEPFAR small grant recipients will promote prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV, support the education of orphans and vulnerable children including teenage mothers, and the use of performing arts to educate adolescents about HIV testing and counselling services.
During, a September 12, 2019 awards ceremony at the U.S. Embassy, PEPFAR Country Coordinator, Bethany Baxter and Tina Chisenga, who represented the Ministry of Health, congratulated 26 representatives from the selected organisations.
In a statement released to ZANIS in Lusaka by Public Affairs Unit at the U.S Embassy in Lusaka today, both Ms. Baxter and Dr. Chisenga highlighted the significant role community and faith-based organizations play, in achieving Zambia’s goal of reaching the HIV epidemic control by 2020.
And Ms. Baxter added that her organisation takes pride in the U.S. government’s support to grassroots, community-based organizations adding that the awarded civil society organisations are selected because they recognised the unmet needs and offered creative solutions to bring the necessary services to communities.
In 2010, PEPFAR Zambia Small Grants Program begun funding the work of local partners by providing one-time grants of up to K250, 000 to support community-led, sustainable programs in the field of HIV prevention, to help orphans and vulnerable children and their households, and to promote democracy and governance in the context of Zambia’s national HIV response.
The next open call for applications for the PEPFAR Small Grants program will take place in January 2020.
The first hospitals in Zambia were brought by Missionaries long before there was electricity. Chikankata, Lubwa, Minga, Ibenga to name a few. These establishments were built by Zambian hands and trained many successful prominent people in our society. So now all of a sudden we are debilitated without electricity. Innovate! Stop you stu.pid lazy based complaints.