New Partnership with USAID to support Orphans and Vulnerable Children
Moi University has received a new grant by USAID/Kenya and East Africa. Reaching across five counties in western and Nyanza province in Kenya, USAID 4TheChild program aims to reach over 152,000 orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) in households affected by HIV and AIDS in Bungoma, Busia, Kakamega, Kisumu and Siaya counties. The goal is to improve the well-being of the children, support them to be resilient, and help them thrive within their homes and communities by ensuring they can gain access to quality county-led social services including health, nutrition, education, legal protection and psychosocial support. The award took effect in March 2021 for the next 5 years.
“The program will be implemented in collaboration with the county governments through structured engagements to ensure county-owned and county-led programming towards Journey-to-Self-Reliance,” said Professor Sylvester Kimaiyo, executive director of care programs for the Academic Model Providing Access to Healthcare (AMPATH) partnership and Chief of Party for USAID-funded AMPATHPlus.
The USAID 4TheChild program is implemented by Moi University College of Health Sciences (MUCHS) through AMPATH. The program aims to increase access to quality health and social services for OVC and their families, strengthen private sector involvement in OVC care and support and ensure county-owned and county-led OVC programming within these counties.
MUCHS leads a lean consortium of local organizations with strategic roles in the implementation of the program. These partners include: The Kenya Community Development Foundation (KCDF) will provide technical leadership in household economic strengthening and capacity building and systems strengthening across the five counties; Make Me Smile Kenya (MMS-K), with head offices in Kisumu City, will support the HIV prevention component including the Determined Resilient Empowered AIDS-free Mentored Safe (DREAMS) program focusing on adolescent girls and young women in Kisumu County. .
The program’s name 4TheChild was derived from the four T’s in the Swahili words Tuungane Tulinde Tuwekeze Tuboreshe Afya na Elimu ya Mtoto which means “Coming together to Protect, Invest and Improve the Health and Education of the child.”
Speaking during the Bungoma County Co-creation Workshop held on 29th June 2021, Professor Kuremu Tenge, acting principal College of Health Sciences, assured the county that USAID4TheChild will not work in isolation. MUCHS, as prime recipient, will ensure that stakeholders are involved in program planning and implementation. He urged the audience to focus on the needs of the child and seek to involve children in decision making and resource distribution.
Request for proposals for local implementing partners are due July 2.