In Zambia, it is estimated that 1.3 million orphans and vulnerable children and adolescents (VCA) are infected with, or affected by, HIV. The USAID Empowered Children and Adolescents Project provides holistic, needs-based services to vulnerable children, adolescents, and their caregivers. 

Targeting communities hardest hit by HIV/AIDS, the USAID Empowered Children and Adolescents project mitigates health, psychosocial, education and economic impacts of the epidemic on VCA and their families by reducing  vulnerability and increasing resilience.

 

  • Life of Project: September 2020 - September 2025
  • Geographic Focus: Central, Copperbelt, Eastern, Lusaka, North-Western, and Southern provinces
  • Partners: Catholic Medical Mission Board Zambia, Project Concern Zambia, Centres for Infectious Disease Research Zambia
  • Chiefs of Party: ECAP I: Annie Banda; ECAP II: Yvonne Mulenga; ECAP III: Chalachew Alemu Tiruneh
  • Total USAID and PEPFAR Funding: $60.5 million
  • USAID Contact: Erin Berghammer - eberghammer@usaid.gov; Sitwala Mungunda - smungunda@usaid.gov; Lekani Banda - lebanda@usaid.gov
 

This project is a five-year follow-on activity to the USAID Zambia Family activity which ended in November 2020. The Empowered Children and Adolescents Program, managed by three local Zambian non-governmental organizations, will provide essential services to VCAs. The project offers family centered HIV mitigation and prevention services, education support, household economic strengthening services, and child protection and psychosocial support, in Central, Copperbelt, Eastern, Lusaka, North-Western, and Southern Provinces.  

Over the course of the five-year project, USAID Empowered Children and Adolescents will work closely with the Ministry of Community Development and Social Services to deliver high quality services and lay the groundwork for transitioning these services to Zambian government management and/or supervision.

Expected Results

The USAID Empowered Children and Adolescents Program aims to mitigate the impact of HIV and improve the health and well-being of vulnerable children and adolescents, especially those living with or at high risk of HIV. The program will meet this goal through the delivery of high-impact, evidence-informed, and age-appropriate interventions, using a family-centered approach. The three implementing partners have a combined target of providing services to 255,860 vulnerable children each year, of whom 43,695 are living with HIV.