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Lesotho Country Office

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Lesotho suffers from high infant mortality rates and levels of malnutrition, in addition to having a high prevalence of tuberculosis and an HIV/AIDS prevalence of 23.6 percent in 2009 (UNAIDS 2010). Decreased revenues from the Southern Africa Custom’s Union, due to the recent global economic downturn, have resulted in severe budget constraints for the government. One of the U.S. Government’s top priorities in Lesotho is strengthening democratic institutions prior to the next parliamentary elections, which are expected to be held in early 2012.
 
The vast majority of USAID’s work in Lesotho is related to the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) program, which totaled $29.2 million in FY 2011. Lesotho’s PEPFAR program is managed by USAID/SA’s Regional HIV/AIDS Program (RHAP) in Pretoria. Through the U.S.-Lesotho Partnership Framework on HIV and AIDS (2009-2013), the PEPFAR program focuses on the following four areas:
 
1.       Reducing HIV incidence;
2.       Reducing HIV/AIDS-related morbidity and mortality by providing treatment and care to people living with HIV and orphans and vulnerable children;
3.       Improving human resource capacity to deliver HIV services; and
4.       Strengthening health management information systems, labs, organizational capacity, and supply chains. 
 
Other programs managed out of USAID/Southern Africa (USAID/SA) in Pretoria include a democracy and governance activity focusing on judicial independence and human rights, an economic growth activity that reduces obstacles to foreign investment and seeks to expand the textile and garment industry, a climate change initiative, and humanitarian assistance programs.
 
Health/ HIV AIDS Programs
 
Strengthening Clinical Services
Implementer:              Elizabeth Glazer Pediatric AIDS Foundation (EGPAF) Lesotho
Duration:                     02/16/2010 - 02/15/2015
Funding Amount:        $10.2 million
 
The Strengthening Clinical Services (SCS) in Lesotho project is a 5-year project to ensure that 100% of health facilities offer comprehensive prevention of mother-to-child treatment (PMTCT) services by the end of 2011, 100% of health facilities offer care and support (adults and children) and 90% of health facilities offer treatment initiation (adults and children) by end of 2013.
 
Joint Program-UNV Medical Doctors
Implementer:               United Nations Development Program
Duration:                     03/01/2009 - 03/31/2012
Funding Amount:        $1.5 million
 
Lesotho is currently facing a major shortage of medical personnel. This certainly impacts service provision for HIV/AIDS and TB treatment. With support from USAID, this program is deploying qualified medical staff through the United Nations Volunteer (UNV) Program as an effective stop-gap measure in support of capacity development efforts in the Ministry of Health. Placements of qualified medical staff will also go beyond this temporary objective through qualified training and supervision by the UNV Doctors of the medical professionals currently in situ.
 
Community Rapid and Effective Action to Combat HIV/AIDS (REACH)
Implementer:               Pact Inc. (Lesotho)
Duration:                     10/01/2009-09/30/2014
Funding Amount:        $5.7 million
 
The five-year program is designed to facilitate the efficient flow of grant funds and to deliver capacity building services to organizations contributing to the fight against HIV/AIDS in Lesotho. The local organizations being supported by Pact are those implementing key technical focus areas of HIV/AIDS prevention and OVC Care and support. In FY 2011, Pact aimed to reach 30,700 individuals with HIV prevention interventions and provide care and support to 14,000 orphans and vulnerable children.
 
Building Local Capacity
Implementer:              Management Sciences for Health (MSH)
Duration:                     August 2010 – August 2015
Funding Amount:        $1.3 million
 
The BLC project works to build the capacity of local institutions in the delivery of HIV/AIDS services in the region. With BLC support, such institutions will progress to the point where they are able to attract and effectively manage funding received directly from the US government and other donors. In Swaziland BLC supports improved governance and implementation of Global Fund grants by facilitating technical assistance to NERCHA and the CCM. MSH-BLC also serves as a pass through mechanism for mothers2mothers.
 
Democracy and Governance
 
Justice as a Right in Southern Africa: Regional Rule of Law and Human Rights Program
Implementer:               Freedom House
Counterparts:              Regional legal and judicial NGOs
Duration:                     October 2010-September 2015
Funding to Date:         $8 million 
 
Through sub-grants administered by Freedom House (FH), this program seeks to strengthen respect for democratic institutions and ideals and demonstrate that the rule of just law can promote peace, stability, and sustainable development. The program’s approach is routinely adapted in order to take into account particular and emergent conditions in each of the target countries while also maintaining a regional consistency in promoting judicial independence and the rule of just law. In FY 2011, ten sub-grants are being administered by FH to local and regional organizations. Four large sub-grants were made to regional legal and judicial organizations namely: the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ), the Southern Africa Litigation Centre (SALC), the Southern African Legal Information Institute (SAFLII), and the Legal Resources Centre (LRC). These organizations work on judicial independence issues and train lawyers on HR litigation to improve the rule of law. Six small sub-awards support civil society organizations for small human rights and strategic litigation on human rights issues in Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, Swaziland, and Zambia. Five of these projects are Fixed Obligation Grants (FOG). Since women’s rights are a crucial part of any human rights program, special consideration is taken to prioritize issues of women’s rights in the sub-granting procedures under this activity. Through these sub-grants, FH seeks to build the capacity of civil society organizations to respond to human rights and rule of law challenges in their countries.
 
Economic Growth Programs
 
Southern Africa Trade Hub (SATH) 
Implementer:               AECOM
Duration:                     September 2010-September 2014
Project Ceiling:            $82.6 million
 
USAID’s Southern Africa Trade Hub (SATH) seeks to increase international competitiveness, intra-regional trade, and food security in the SADC region. SATH also supports energy planners to harmonize regional infrastructure planning and adoption of clean energy regulations through support to SADC Infrastructure and Services Directorate and the Regional Electricity Regulators Association (RERA). SATH promotes regional food security by addressing transportation and trade barriers along key regional trade corridors and by strengthening trade of key food security commodities, including maize, soybean, and groundnut. SATH is also partnering with South Africa’s Agriculture Business Chamber (ABC) to leverage South African private sector investments in the region to develop regional agribusinesses as part of the Mission’s overall Feed-the-Future (FTF) Strategic Partnership with South Africa. 
 
Africa Infrastructure Program (AIP)  
Implementer:              NEXANT
Duration:                     September 2010 – March 2014
Funding to date:          $3,000,000
 
The Southern Africa region suffers from low access to electricity of around 30 percent of the SADC population, compared to the world average of 75 percent. Often, energy and power projects in Sub-Saharan Africa encounter barriers that prevent them from achieving financial closure. USAID's Africa Infrastructure Program (AIP) project supports capacity building, energy sector structural and regulatory reform, and transaction advisory service to foster deployment of clean energy technologies and projects. Through support, structural reforms result in the introduction of private sector independent power producers (IPPs), thereby diversifying the generation and transmission resource mix, particularly adding clean/renewable energy projects and technologies. USAID advisory support helped to establish South Africa’s Independent System and Market Operator (ISMO) legislation and roll-out of the South Africa’s Renewable Energy-Independent Power Producer (RE-IPP) activity; as well as capacity building to host-governments and regulatory bodies to incorporate renewable energy into the regulatory frameworks in Mozambique, Namibia, and Lesotho. AIP program assistance is supporting these countries to establish their first private investments in 25-50 MW wind farm energy production. New activities will be developed in Angola, Swaziland, and Zambia to enhance investment in clean energy projects.
 
US-South Africa Feed the Future (FTF) Strategic Partnership – Africa LEAD
Implementer:             Development Alternatives Inc. (DAI)/ University of Pretoria
Duration:                    2010 - 2012
Funding to Date:        $1.2 million
 
South Africa is a US-Strategic Partner to advance food security in the Southern Africa region. Through the U.S. Government’s Feed the Future (FTF) initiative, USAID is leveraging South Africa’s technical and training capacity to improve agriculture leadership in the region to advance the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Program (CAADP) agenda. USAID partnered with the University of Pretoria to train 126 representatives from Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia, and Zimbabwe government, private sector, research institutions, and civil society to help them to develop national strategies and plans, and strategically allocate resources for the agriculture sector. Key local partners include University of Pretoria Food Security Unit (served as the training institute) and NEPAD’s Planning and Coordination Agency (NPCA). 
 
Environment Programs
 
Climate Change Adaptation in the Lesotho Highlands
Implementer:               Institute of Natural Resources, Serumula Development Agency & GROW Lesotho
Duration:                     October 2010-September 2014
Total Funding:             $1.1 million
 
The Lesotho Highlands capture and store water to support local people who rely on range and crop lands to support themselves. At the same time, significant water resources are transferred to South Africa to support industry and urban centers, with royalty payments helping to drive Lesotho’s national economy. Climate changes will influence this crucial water cycle, with far reaching impacts for the people of Lesotho and South Africa. USAID works with Lesotho’s government, civil society and local communities to strengthen their abilities to respond to potential impacts of climate change through better policies and practices. Maintaining a healthy, intact ecosystem, while adapting management of range and water resources, will promote a more sustainable future. To date, more than 650 people, more than one-third of whom are women, have new capacities to adapt to the impacts of climate variability in Lesotho.  
 
Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA) Programs
 
Lesotho Irrigation Project (LIP)
Implementer:               CRS, CARE and World Vision                      
Funding Amount:        $1,228,000
 
The USAID/OFDA-funded $1,228,000 Lesotho Irrigation Project (LIP) is jointly implemented by CRS, CARE and World Vision.  This is the third phase of the LIP project, which focuses on gravity-fed irrigation of field crops and homestead gardens for 5,850 individuals.  The project is establishing new irrigation schemes to complement other ongoing agriculture and food security projects while improving community access to water for irrigation.    
 
Home Grown Learning Initiative
Implementer:              CRS               
Funding Amount:        $520,000
 
CRS is implementing the $520,000 Home Grown Learning Initiative, in order to disseminate household Keyhole Gardening techniques for disaster risk reduction throughout the global humanitarian community.  Keyhole gardens help build the resilience of vulnerable households and smallholder farmers worldwide to drought and other external shocks, and the technique of construction and utilization of these gardens in DRR has been pioneered in Lesotho by CRS and other grantees, using USAID funding.  CRS is bringing participants from around the world to Lesotho to participate in trainings on how to construct and maintain the keyhole gardens.