OpportunityTitle: Zimbabwe HIV Care and Treatment (HCT) Mechanism
AdditionalInformationOnEligibility: In accordance with the Federal Grants and Cooperative Agreement Act, USAID encourages competition in the award of Grants and Cooperative Agreements in order to identify and fund the best possible applications to achieve program objectives. This is full and open competition, under which any type of organization is eligible to apply (to include U.S. non-federal (non-profit) entities, U.S. commercial (for profit) firms foregoing profit, faith-based organizations, foreign organizations and foreign public entities).   Pursuant to 2 CFR 200 and 2 CFR 700, profit, which is any amount in excess of allowable direct and indirect costs, is not allowed for recipients of USAID assistance awards. However, all reasonable, allocable, and allowable expenses, both direct and indirect, which are related to the grant program and are in accordance with applicable cost standards (2 CFR 200 Subpart E for non-profit organizations and universities, and the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 31 for-profit organizations), may be paid under the grant.  USAD encourages applications from potential new partners.
Description: The United States Agency for International Development in Zimbabwe (USAID/Zimbabwe) is seeking applications for the Zimbabwe HIV Care and Treatment (HCT) Mechanism. The over-arching strategic objective of the new HIV Care and Treatment Mechanism will be to increase the availability, and to improve the quality, of care and support services for persons living with HIV and AIDS (PLWHA), primarily through non-government organization (NGO) channels. For this new activity, the NGO community is defined as any non-governmental or non-parastatal organization, either non-profit or for-profit and may include faith-based or commercial entities. Although working primarily through (but not limited to) non-governmental organizations, the HCT Mechanism is expected to contribute to Zimbabwe&#8217;s national objectives in the health and education sectors while complementing public sector efforts to improve and expand the availability of critical services oriented to the mitigation of HIV and AIDS in the country. The main goals of the HCT mechanism are (1) to increase the availability of high quality comprehensive care and treatment services for HIV-positives at community level and (2) to strengthen community-level health systems to monitor, track and maintain persons living with HIV and AIDS (PLWHA) in care. In working toward these goals, the HCT mechanism also is expected to have two key objectives: 1) expand the availability of HIV care and treatment services; and, 2) improve the quality and range of HIV care and treatment services that are offered through NGO-operated facilities, outreach services to and at the community level. The main activities envisioned include: expanding care and treatment services for HIV-positive individuals; psychosocial support services; nutrition counseling; antiretroviral therapy (ART) adherence counseling; family planning counseling and service delivery; tuberculosis (TB) symptom screening; training and technical support for PLWHA support groups and their members; and referrals to other clinical services (such as TB diagnosis and treatment, treatment of opportunistic infections and ART in public sector hospitals, etc.). Depending on the availability of funds, USAID/Zimbabwe expects the mechanism to have a total, life-of-mechanism funding level of up to $35 million and an implementation life of 5 years. The majority of the anticipated funding is expected from the annual PEPFAR Country Operational Plan (COP). In the first year of the award, funding may be made available in two phases, with $1.54 million anticipated in the first phase and up to $3 million in the second phase. In 2014, PEPFAR announced it would be prioritizing resources worldwide on HIV care and treatment in order to achieve more rapid progress on controlling the epidemic in affected countries. Implementation activities through the HCT mechanism will be one of the means through which USAID will support future progress in HIV care and treatment in Zimbabwe.
GrantorContactEmailDescription: Acquisition and Assistance Assistant
GrantorContactText: Theresa Peta &lt;br/&gt;Acquisition and Assistance Assistant &lt;br/&gt;tpeta@usaid.gov
CloseDateExplanation: The closing date and time for this opportunity is June 19, 2015 at 4:00 p.m. Zimbabwe time.  Please note questions are due May 27, 2015 at 4:00 p.m. Zimbabwe time.