PEPFAR Announces New OVC Programming Guidance

Jennifer Lentfer's picture
Submitted by Jennifer Lentfer on Thu, 07/26/2012 - 11:26am

Washington, D.C., July 26 — Yesterday PEPFAR announced its new Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVC) Programming Guidance at the XIX International AIDS Conference. The new guidance is focused on building country-level operational plans, placing OVC care within the continuum of care of the entire HIV response.

Dr. Nicole Behnam of the Office of the U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator outlined the new changes in the PEPFAR OVC guidance, which include:

  • A movement away from a “minimum package” of OVC care, which she remarked had become “just a series of checkboxes”;

  • Strengthening parents and caregivers as the primary strategy for obtaining outcomes for children;

  • Promotion of country ownership of OVC programs;

  • Young people who turn 18 while part of a program are not automatically terminated from receiving services after their birthday;

  • Renewed focus on evidence-based, cost-effective programming – the guidance includes a stipulation that 10 percent of program budgets must be devoted to M&E; and

  • Programming for children should be differentiated by “ages and stages” of childhood, with a specific focused on early childhood and adolescence.

Gretchen Bachman of USAID welcomed the audience and opening remarks were offered by Dr. Neil Boothby, Senior Coordinator for the USAID Administrator on Children in Adversity. A panel presentation moderated by Dr. Beverly Nyberg of the Peace Corps included REPSSI’s Board Director, Dr. Lorraine Sherr; Herbert Mugumya of Africare, a partner that works with REPSSI through an MoU in Tanzania; and Zeni Thumbadoo of the South African National Association of Child Care Workers.

The session ended with a Q&A following a speech by Ambassador Eric Goosby, M.D., the U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator of the U.S. Department of State.

“The best thing we can do for children is to keep their parents alive,” he stated. He reiterated his support for community-based programs that “reach people where they live.”

Dr. Goosby acknowledged that the complexity of the OVC response has held a steep learning curve for those that approach HIV from a medical perspective, and that coordination is now “what worries me.”

REPSSI (The Regional Psychosocial Initiative) is an organization that works directly with governments and NGOs in southern and eastern Africa on children's social and emotional well-being. REPSSI's Executive Director, Noreen Huni, was in attendance at the session. She welcomed the changes included in the new guidance from PEPFAR.

“We were very pleased to see an emphasis on social workforce professionalization,” she said, “as well as psychosocial issues woven throughout the guidance.”

“Going forward, we’ll be working to link this guidance from PEPFAR to the regional child well-being support frameworks that we have helped develop with SADC and UNICEF,” said Dr. Tapfuma Murove, Head of Advocacy and Communications at REPSSI.

“Working together, we can improve the quality of vital services for children and families across southern and eastern Africa.”

You can read REPSSI’s livetweets of the event on Storify. REPSSI staff are carrying hard copies of the new OVC Programming Guidance back to the 13 African countries where they work at the end of the week. A summary of the guidance can be found here and hopefully the publication will soon be available on the PEPFAR website.

This post originally appeared on REPSSI's blog. For further reading, visit www.repssi.org.