USAID's Community REACH Project
RAPID AND EFFECTIVE ACTION COMBATING
HIV/AIDS
The devastating impact of HIV/AIDS is
felt most acutely at the community level. With 40 million
people infected and more than 13 million children and young
people orphaned by HIV/AIDS, communities are facing a growing
strain on their economic and social resources as they try
to meet the rapidly expanding need for services.
Community and faith-based organizations
play a vital role in reaching affected communities with
prevention, care, and support services. Recognizing that
these organizations are on the front lines of the war against
HIV/AIDS, the U.S. Agency for International Development
developed the Community REACH project to help them obtain
the resources they need to continue their valuable efforts.
Community REACH facilitates the efficient flow of funding
to international, regional and local non-governmental organizations,
universities, and faith-based organizations. The project
awards grants in amounts starting at $100,000 for up to
three years.
Grants are awarded for innovative activities
that have a demonstrable impact on primary prevention and
education, voluntary counseling and testing, and care and
support for those living with and affected by HIV/AIDS.
Community REACH focuses on USAID's HIV/AIDS priority countries,
which are based on factors such as the severity of the epidemic,
socio-economic impact of the disease, risk of rapid increase
in prevalence, and strength of host country partnerships.
Organizations applying for grants must have either a current
presence in the country for which they are applying or partner
with a local non-governmental organization in the country.
Community REACH manages a fair and competitive
grants process, beginning with the issuance of two or three
requests for applications per year. The Community REACH
team conducts a preliminary review of each application to
determine if the project concept is realistic and responsive.
A panel of globally recognized HIV/AIDS experts will review
proposals making it through the preliminary review. Before
grants are awarded, applying organizations will be assessed
to ensure they have the ability to manage grant funds and
carry out the proposed activities. After grants are awarded,
Community REACH will monitor the recipient organizations
for performance and compliance.
Community REACH awarded its first grants
for care and support activities in USAID's rapid scale-up
and intensive focus countries in July 2002. The second set
of grants was awarded in October 2002 for voluntary counseling
and testing programs for youth. In future years, USAID missions
and regional bureaus may make additional funding available
for REACH grant solicitations in individual countries or
regions.
For
additional information, please see Pact.
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