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Swaziland Country Office
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emailThe majority of USAID’s work in Swaziland is related to the President’s Emergency Plan for HIV/AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) program, which totals $30.7 million in FY 2011. PEPFAR Swaziland signed a Partnership Framework with the Government of the Kingdom of Swaziland in June 2009 which outlines five key areas of support: 1) sexual prevention of infection; 2) male circumcision; 3) human and institutional capacity development; 4) impact mitigation; and 5) decentralized care and treatment. The first four of these areas are overseen and managed by USAID staff and partners.
Other Swaziland programs managed out of USAID/Southern Africa (USAID/SA) in Pretoria include a democracy and governance activity focusing on judicial independence and human rights, and an economic growth activity that reduces obstacles to foreign investment to expand the textile and garment industry.
Health/ HIV AIDS
Community Rapid & Effective Action to Combat HIV/AIDS (REACH)
Implementer: Pact Inc Swaziland
Duration: 03/26/2010-03/25/2015
Funding Amount: $3.4 million (FY 2011)
PACT is an umbrella grant mechanism (UGM) that provides grant management and institutional strengthening services to indigenous NGOs, CBOs and FBOs. PACT currently supports 15 organizations that provide HIV/AIDS services across a broad range of program areas. Pact provides sub-partners with capacity building in governance, administration, financial management, monitoring and evaluation, resource mobilization and program implementation. Pact aims to increase sub-partners’ effectiveness in delivering expanded, high quality services while strengthening their management of financial and human resources.
Accelerated Saturation Initiative (ASI)
Implementer: Futures Group
Duration: Dec 1, 2010- March 30, 2012
Funding Amount: $15.5 million
The Accelerated Saturation Initiative (ASI) program is Swaziland’s national male circumcision initiative led by the Ministry of Health and implemented by Futures Group and its sub-partners, JHPIEGO, Family Life Association of Swaziland (FLAS), PSI, SCMS and Matchboxology. While the overall aim of ASI is to circumcise 80% of 15-49 year old males in 1 year, ASI will also provide support to create an enabling environment for the scale up of well-coordinated safe male circumcision services; increase the number of health facilities providing safe male circumcision services in both the urban and rural parts of Swaziland; and increase the number of men accessing safe MC services. ASI also supports the implementation of a combination prevention package, including but not limited to, the distribution of condoms, provision of HIV Counseling and Testing (HTC), screening for TB and referring HIV positive individuals to care.
Combination Prevention Program (CPP)
Implementer: Population Services International (PSI)
Duration: Nov 15, 2010 – Nov 14, 2014
Funding Amount: $8.4 million
The goal of the Combination Prevention Program (CPP) is to implement effective and tested approaches to support a national, coordinated approach to combination prevention programs through three pillars of interventions: 1) Structural Pillar: Create an enabling policy and political environment in which leadership for HIV prevention efforts will ensure activities are successful; 2) Behavioral Pillar: Support the expansion and coordination of evidence-based interventions which reduce the risk of HIV infection and enhance protective behaviors in the general population; and 3)Biomedical Pillar: Support the establishment of medical male circumcision (MC) provision throughout the GKOS health system, including both public health facilities and facilities operated by an existing Swazi NGO, so that MC is brought back as a routine national health seeking behavior. PSI partners with JHPEIGO, EGPAF, TLC, LUSWETI, and FLAS to implement complementary prevention activities.
Eliminating Pediatric Aids in Swaziland
Implementer: Elizabeth Glazer Pediatric AIDS Foundation (EGPAF)
Duration: 10/01/2010 - 09/30/2015
Funding Amount: $5.7 million (FY 2011)
EGPAF has been supporting PMTCT efforts in Swaziland since 2004, primarily through the global Call to Action (CTA) project, which ended in September 2010. In October 2010 EGPAF was awarded a new 5-year USAID bilateral agreement, ‘Eliminating Pediatric AIDS in Swaziland’ (EPAS). The broad objectives of EPAS are to ensure universal access to PMTCT including expanded delivery of services to achieve elimination of mother to child transmission of HIV; sustained quality, comprehensive, integrated PMTCT services at GKOS health facilities. EGPAF’s program is closely linked to the following key interventions identified in the PF: decentralized and improved quality of care and treatment services including HTC and TB/HIV; sexual prevention; impact mitigation with a focus on children; and human and institutional capacity development. EPAS works in all the 4 regions serving primarily HIV pregnant women, their spouses, children and other family members. EGPAF will receive supplemental one-time funding to implement a PMTCT acceleration plan in FY 2012.
National Strategic Plan for Strengthening Neighborhood Care Points
Implementer: UNICEF
Duration: October 1, 2009-September 30, 2012
Funding Amount: $900,000
As part of PEPFAR's Impact Mitigation portfolio under the Partnership Framework on HIV and AIDS 2009-2013, this activity represents USG's contribution to 1) the National Strategic Plan for strengthening Neighborhood Care Points (NCPs), 2) the roll out of Free Primary Education, and 3) enhancement of a social protection system. In particular, PEPFAR will support scaled up basic health, education and psychosocial support services; capacity building for monitoring children and the services provided to them; and the mapping, assessment and planning for a strengthened child protection system.
The original UNICEF grant was for one year, however PEPFAR continued funding UNICEF for an additional year to allow for other donors and Government to take on more responsibility for the initiative and to support UNICEF’s expansion of second-year program activities that will fill gaps in the national NCP initiative and improve implementation of the NPA for Children.
Human Resources for Health and Health Systems Strengthening (HRAA)
Implementer: East, Central and Southern Africa Health Community (ECSA)
Duration: April 20, 2011-April 29, 2016
Funding Amount: $2.2 million
The HRAA is a five-year human capacity development program that seeks to strengthen human resources for health (HRH) and social welfare and enable improved access to quality HIV/AIDS services. The goal of the HRAA is to improve Health workforce policies, planning, development, and support systems for retention and productivity to increase access and quality services in support of Swaziland’s Health Strategies as outlined in the National Development Strategy: Vision 2022 and the New Partnership Framework on HIV and AIDS’ five-year goal for human and institutional capacity development. The Alliance is led by the East, Central and Southern African Health Community (ECSA-HC) and brings together international, regional and national institutions. The HRAA partners will work with both the public and private health sector to strengthen the capacity of policy makers and planners, program managers, educational institutions and faculty members, regulatory and professional bodies as well as health workers, and communities that deliver HIV/AIDS services.
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.
Strengthening Pharmaceutical Services (SPS)
Implementer: Management Sciences for Health (MSH)
Duration: 2005 - 2012
Funding Amount: $5.5 million
MSH activities in Swaziland began in 2005 through the Rational Pharmaceutical Management Plus project (RPM Plus) and continues under the SPS project, that was awarded in July 2007. MSH provides technical assistance to Ministry of Health Pharmaceutical Services to strengthen the delivery of pharmaceutical services at all levels (Manzini warehouse and health facilities). This includes building the capacity of health facilities to deliver quality responsive pharmaceutical services, improving the availability and the appropriate use of ARVs and HIV and AIDS - related commodities at service delivery points, providing training at national and facility level on drug supply management, and development and implementation of a patient and drug tracking systems.
Health Care Improvement Project (HCI)
Implementer: University Research Corporation (URC)
Duration: 2005—2012
Funding Amount: $5.3 million
The URC USAID Health Care Improvement project (HCI) seeks to expand coverage of TB, TB/HIV and MDR-TB services; help services better meet the needs of underserved populations, especially women and most at risk populations; improve efficiency and reduce the costs of poor quality; and improve health worker capacity, motivation, and retention. HCI is working with the National TB Control Program (NTCP) and the Swaziland National AIDS Programme (SNAP) to apply lessons from HIV/AIDS and TB quality improvement activities to develop integrated service delivery models and algorithms for health facilities and providers in Swaziland.
Knowledge Management and Information Center Capacity Building
Implementer: Knowledge for Health/Johns Hopkins
Duration: 2011 - present
Funding Amount: $150,000
K4Health works in Swaziland to strengthen information management, knowledge sharing and coordination around HIV prevention and related health topics. K4Health’s work focuses on three key areas: people, processes, and technology. People cover both beneficiaries of improved information flows (e.g. program managers, health service providers) and access points as well as those providing the information services; processes focus on health professional networks and relationships that affect management and sharing of information resources; and technology focuses on the systems (on- and off-line) to deliver information. The aim of these activities is to equip health professionals working in HIV prevention with the information they need to improve service quality and to inform decision-making.
Supply Chain Management of Medical Supplies
Implementer: Supply Chain Management System (SCMS)
Duration: 2010 - September 2012
Funding Amount: $ 250,000
SCMS is a key partner in the Accelerated Saturation Initiative (ASI) male circumcision program. SCMS delivers procurement, warehousing, distribution and waste management services for the program.
Takalani Sesame
Implementer: Sesame Workshop
Duration: 2011 - present
Funding Amount: $100,000
In September 2009, USAID/Africa Education Initiative (AEI) and PEPFAR approved an award of $4.2 million to support a multi-year initiative to build on the success of Takalani Sesame in South Africa by extending its reach and impact to six countries in Southern Africa: Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Namibia, Swaziland and Zambia. Through this multi-platform expansion project, Sesame Workshop expects to reach an estimated 2.2 million young children across the six countries over four years, providing much-needed access to high-quality educational experiences and focusing particularly on orphans and vulnerable children (OVC).
Key components of the expansion project include re-versioning and repurposing existing Takalani Sesame materials in a language of each country’s choice for broadcast and distribution, distribution of a total of 190,000 educational outreach kits containing learning materials for children and 3,350 training manuals for caregivers, and training activities.
Community-Based Livelihood Development for Women and Children in Swaziland (C-BLD)
Implementer: Family Health International 360
Duration: December 2011 - November 30, 2016
Funding Amount: $1,820,000
AOTR: Natalie Kruse-Levy
C-BLD aims to enhance the livelihood capabilities of vulnerable women, orphans, and children, as well as the Swazi institutions that serve them. FHI 360 will partner with TechnoServe and other organizations to enable 10,000 women, caregivers, orphans and vulnerable children to attain sustainable livelihoods that are linked with vibrant commercial value chains. The project aims to empower 15,000 women and young people through microentrepreneurship and business development training, and improved access to appropriate vocational and technical skills for 300 OVCs. Supporting these new livelihood opportunities will be a solid economic foundation within households, strengthened by improved access to savings opportunities and greater asset protection for women. 4,500 family members will have developed essential skills to turn their homestead plots into sustainable permaculture gardens, reducing vulnerability to food insecurity and under-nutrition, and making them more resilient to a rapidly changing climate. Effective referral systems that link nutrition and health services with economic strengthening, legal protection, and other support services will be launched in six communities. PEPFAR’s implementing partners in Swaziland will be better equipped to work together to strengthen the enabling environment for women by changing social behavior norms and promoting gender equality, thereby increasing women’s confidence and financial independence and ultimately reducing their vulnerability to HIV. Driving these accomplishments will be a corps of 50 Swazi institutions applying their increased capacity to strengthen the livelihoods and rights of women and children in Swaziland.
Enhancing Strategic Information (ESI)
Implementer: IHM
Funding Amount: $ 500,000 (FY 2011)
The Enhancing Strategic Information (ESI) project managed by IHM will provide a broad program of technical assistance and other targeted project support to improve the quality, availability and use of Strategic Information (SI) in Swaziland under the MoH’s Strategic Information Department (SID). The SI activity will contribute to strengthening programs, improving accountability and reporting, and information sharing within PEPFAR partners. The project also intends to conduct a series of capacity building activities to strengthen M&E and program management at the headquarters level of the SID. Program activities are both continuing and focused on providing SI technical support to the Strategic Information Department (SID) and PEPFAR IPs in the areas of data management, data quality, data usage, and basic evaluation techniques. IHM is a newly formed organization that grew out of the JSI-ESI program. IHM currently receives some capacity building support from MSH-BLC to assist with the transition and to set up organizational processes, procedures and systems.
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
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.
Swaziland Enterprise and Entrepreneurship Program (SWEEP)
Implementer: Technoserve
Duration: December 2005 – December 2012
Project Ceiling: $8.9 million
Through the SWEEP program, USAID is promoting the economic welfare and relieving poverty through support to establish and expand small or medium sized enterprises (SMEs) that are at least 51% owned by Swazi citizens. The program increases and facilitates access to credit facilities, provides or facilitates technical assistance and training to SMEs, develops and rationalizes SME links with large businesses, strengthens Swazi business associations and organizations, and engages in dialogue and consultation with the Government of Swaziland to enlist its assistance to further these objectives.
Support for Regional Agriculture Policy Analysis
Implementer: FANRPAN/South Africa
Duration: September 2004-September 2012
Funding to Date: $3.85 million
Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources Policy Analysis Network (FANRPAN) is a multi-stakeholder, multi-national policy network that supports the development and implementation of better food, agriculture and national resources (FANR) policies in Southern Africa. FANRPAN supports USAID/Southern Africa’s Feed the Future (FTF) initiative to advance agricultural policy reform advocacy work, as well as with its development of strategies for identifying vulnerable groups and improving the targeting these groups.
Support for Regional Agriculture Data and Knowledge Sharing
Implementer: RESAAKS/South Africa
Duration: September 2004-September 2012
Funding to Date: $3.85 million
In addition to providing technical support to the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) to develop the Regional Agricultural Policy, ReSAAKS /South Africa conducts ongoing food policy trends analysis as well as special reports on relevant topics. ReSAAKS recently launched a trends analysis study to monitor the Comprehensive Africa Agricultural Development Programme (CAADP) and SADC Regional Indicative Strategic Development Plan (RISDP) targets as well as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in the region, with an emphasis this year on Agriculture Productivity. Re-SAKSS also helps put in place a monitoring and evaluation (M&E) system to measure progress, or lack thereof, in achieving CAADP objectives in the region as well as progress in achieving MDG goal 1 (eradicate extreme hunger and poverty). ReSAKSS was also instrumental in working with SADC Ministers to launch of a Sub-Regional Research Organization (SRO), known as the Centre for Coordination of Agricultural Research and Development for Southern Africa (CCARDESA).
Environment
Enhanced Water Supply and Sanitation in Swaziland
Implementer: Palms for Life Fund
Duration: October 2010-September 2014
Total Estimated Funding: $2 million
The rural poor in Swaziland are particularly vulnerable to climate change. Food and livelihood security depend on access to clean and reliable water, with a lack of a consistent supply of water and poor sanitation hindering the development of a healthy, successful and productive population. USAID works with the Ministry of Education, NGOs, schools and communities to implement a comprehensive water program focused on improved water harvesting, storage, and sanitation in schools. Water is also used to rehabilitate or establish new school gardens to enhance food security and improve the quality of life in the participating communities. To date, nearly 9000 youth have been given access to improved, clean drinking water. More than 11,000 people have benefitted from training in water sanitation and hygiene.