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Recognizing the impact HIV/AIDS pandemic is having throughout sub-Saharan Africa, CHF International/Kenya is now working through a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) to implement the Local Prevention and Treatment of HIV/AIDS-Grants Management (LPATH-GM) program. The LPATH-GM program will work to reduce the impact of HIV/AIDS in Kenya by strengthening the capacity of local nongovernmental organization (NGO) partners. Moreover, LPATH-GM applies a customized blend of intensive participatory learning, on-site assistance, and practical application and monitoring that ensures NGOs are using the new skills in they way programs are implemented, on a daily basis.

The goal of LPATH-GM is to reduce the impact of HIV/AIDS in Kenya by strengthening the capacity of local, community and faith-based organizations (NGO partners) to provide and sustain high quality, expanded HIV/AIDS services. We will achieve this goal by:

• Improving the technical capacity of NGO partners in providing prevention, care and treatment activities to those infected and affected by HIV/AIDS.
• Improving the organizational capacity of NGO partners - that is, their capacity in managing grants and resources, financial management, strategic planning and sustainability.
• Ensuring HIV/AIDS interventions are having an optimal impact, by improving program capacity mechanisms for reaching targets and increasing collaboration among NGO partners.

Among its key program features, LPATH-GM provides a comprehensive assessment of NGO partners that will help them to develop strategic plans for improved and sustained HIV/AIDS services. CHF International will then provide a customized training and technical assistance package that meets NGOs’ specific technical, organizational and program management needs. A tailored sub-grant awards process will help NGOs build an incentive mechanism for improving their performance, by providing carefully defined indicators, and allowing them to put into practice their newly gained skills and resources. The LPATH-GM capacity-building component will apply a customized blend of intensive participatory learning, on-site assistance, and practical application and monitoring that ensures NGOs are using these new skills in their efforts to combat HIV/AIDS.

The initial core training topics will help ensure that all NGO partners are operating from a relatively equal knowledge base. In addition, HIV/AIDS-specific intervention training will address technical weaknesses identified through the organizational assessment, and monitored regularly.Other important features of the LPATH-GM program are CHF’s commitment to developing information sharing and referral systems among our NGO partners, as well as promoting sustainability. Sustainability is manifest in an organization’s long-term ability to operate quality services, maintain accountability to stakeholders, and access various sources of revenue that increase its financial independence.

The LPATH-GM training package will enable Kenyan organizations to access a variety of revenue sources that support their activities. LPATH-GM will provide the training and on-site assistance to initiate these options, so that each NGO can – over three years – aspire to sustain its HIV/AIDS services, and continue to provide expanded HIV services independently.