Deadline: 5 December 2019

This announcement is a call for expressions of interest (EOIs) from South African civil society organizations (CSOs) to be considered as sub-partners, on an appropriate contracting mechanism to be decided as the sole discretion of Wits RHI.

The goal of USAID/South Africa’s Advancing the South African HIV Response for Key Populations (KP) Activity is to reduce HIV incidence and mitigate the impact of HIV in South Africa through the advancement of HIV prevention, care, and treatment services and interventions for KP.

Goal and Objectives

The goal of Wits RHI is to support the achievement and maintenance of epidemic control through improved accessibility, acceptability, coverage, and quality of HIV services for key populations in South Africa. In doing so, it seeks to strengthen sustainable community ownership through capacity strengthening of local KP-led, competent and trusted organizations. The activities will engage KP-led organizations and communities in the achievement of results under the Advancing the South African HIV Response for Key Populations (KP) Activity, namely:

• Increased demand for and availability and access to comprehensive prevention, care and treatment services and interventions for KP members
• Increased capacity of KPs to advocate for and implement HIV activities
• Strengthened systems for planning, monitoring, and quality assurance of sex worker programs

The goal of the Key Populations Investment Fund (KPIF) is to achieve accelerated HIV epidemic control amongst key populations. Over the two-year period of performance, the program will achieve the following six objectives:

• Objective 1: Intensify community mobilization and demand creation through cadres of peer educators, navigators’, and health care workers serving KP individuals.
• Objective 2: Increase HIV testing and case finding amongst FSW and TGW through risk network referral, index testing and social network testing strategies.
• Objective 3: Increase antiretroviral therapy (ART) initiation amongst FSW and TGW.
• Objective 4: Improve ART retention/ adherence and achieve viral load (VL) suppression amongst FSW and TGW.
• Objective 5: Scale up pre-and post-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP and PEP) and support consistent and accurate use amongst FSW and TGW.
• Objective 6: Address the social and structural drivers of HIV transmission (stigma, discrimination, criminalization and violence) amongst FSW and TGW

Activities focus on the implementation of a comprehensive package of services and interventions to FSW and TGW. The Recipient(s) need not address all the objectives. Successful implementation will utilize innovative approaches to address gaps in programming that impede achievement of PEPFAR and USAID/ Southern Africa’s aim for epidemic control and achievement of annual targets in South Africa.

Funding Information

• Subject to funding availability, Wits RHI will distribute up to $3 over a two-year period. Wits RHI anticipates awarding multiple grants as a result of this Call for EOI, ranging from approximately $100,000 to $300, 000 for each grant for the duration of the project.
• It is anticipated that award(s) will be made in January 2020, with results reporting expected to begin as of January 1, 2020. The estimated period of each award made as a result of this funding opportunity is twenty-one months.

Eligibility Criteria

Qualified Applicants should meet all the following minimum eligibility criteria:

• Must be locally registered as a CSO in South Africa, and may be faith-based, community-based, or a national CSO.
• Must be KP-led or trusted organizations
• Must have demonstrated experience in implementing services (biomedical, behavioral, and/or structural advocacy interventions related to HIV) among FSWs and/or TGW populations.
• Must have current presence/activities in the targeted geographic regions.
• Must disclose any conflict of interest. The Applicant’s relationships, associations, activities, and interests should not create a conflict of interest that could prevent full impartiality in implementation of the grant activities.
• Must have established financial management, monitoring and evaluation processes, internal control systems, and policies and procedures that comply with established U.S. Government standards, laws, and regulations. The successful Applicant(s) will be subject to a pre-award capacity assessment by Wits RHI.
• Must have or be in the processing of obtaining a DUNS number

For more information, visit http://www.wrhi.ac.za/expertise/detail/kpif-call-for-proposals