OARS funding International

The purpose of this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) is to strengthen the capacity of the Government of Haiti (GOH) to effectively prevent HIV infections; improve care and treatment of HIV/AIDS and co-infections with emphasis on tuberculosis; build the capacity for the local and regional collection of strategic information and its use for program management and development; and increase the Government of Haiti's capacity to lead and manage a sustainable response to the HIV epidemic. The awardee will work directly with the GOH (and their local implementing partners) to identify the country's needs and priorities in managing a sustainable country-led response to the HIV epidemic. By the end of five years, the awardee will have provided sufficient technical assistance and capacity building in the identified priority areas to achieve an increased ability for the partner country to sustainably lead the activity. The recipient (grantee) of these funds is responsible for activities in multiple program areas designed to target underserved populations in Republic of Haiti. The grantee must show a measurable progressive reinforcement of the capacity of indigenous organizations and local communities to respond to the national HIV epidemic, as well as progress towards the sustainability of activities.

India is home to the third largest number of people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWH) in the world. There are an estimated 2.09 million people living with HIV. The Government of India (GoI) has undertaken a robust scale up of its antiretroviral treatment (ART) program, starting from eight ART centers in 2004 to over 420 centers now in 2014. Currently, over 750,000 PLWH are on ART out of 1.1 million eligible for treatment. Despite scale up success, several challenges remain for the ART program to achieve the expansion it envisages over the next five years. These include human capacity issues, loss of patients from detection to enrollment in HIV care, and late HIV detection and retention. At every stage, over 200,000 patients are lost from testing to enrollment in care, to retention in care and then to treatment. Although progress has been made in the implementation of the HIV-TB program, there are several gaps that need to be addressed. The linkages between HIV/AIDS and the Revised National Tuberculosis Control Program (RNTCP) are suboptimal, particularly in northern states due to limited capacity and infrastructure. Only 61% (2014) of TB patients were screened for HIV and knew their HIV status in the last one year. Of those identified as HIV positive, 85% were linked to ART. However, the concern is that the referral from HIV testing and care facilities to RNTCP is quite low.

This funding opportunity announcement (FOA) is the mechanism through which the CDC-Rwanda program, under the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), will support implementation of evidence-based HIV prevention interventions in key populations. Dynamics and drivers exist among key populations (KPs) in Rwanda, increasing their risk of HIV infection and its transmission to the general population. This component will implement evidence-based HIV prevention interventions in KPs, comprised mainly of female sex workers (FSWs) and men who have sex with men (MSMs). Some of the interventions will target sexual partners of these populations as well. The focus will be on the identification of KPs, provision of a comprehensive package of prevention services, implementation of a Test and Link to Care (TLC) model, initiation of treatment as prevention based upon national guidelines for HIV-positive KPs, adherence counseling, and follow-up of HIV-uninfected KPs.

This mechanism will provide high quality technical assistance to strengthen individual and institutional capacity within key units of the health system in Namibia for the development and execution of high-impact, evidenced-based public health interventions in line with national plans, policies, and priorities. The ultimate goal of this enhanced capacity is an increased ability of national public health institutions to provide high quality and accessible health services in the country.

To that end, the foundation is inviting applications from mainland China for its Fellowship Award in Translational Research. The aim of the program is to build enduring partnership between the U.S. and Asia through the training of future Chinese academics and to encourage long-term collaborations between the two regions. The annual award provides  a one-year fellowship to a qualified candidate to conduct  research  in the area of translational medicine. The program will provide support in the amount of $60,000 for the project to be conducted at the applicant's home institution in China, as well as support for the U.S. partner institution in the amount of $25,000.

The Terra Foundation for American Art International Essay Prize recognizes excellent scholarship by a non-U.S. scholar in the field of historical American art. Manuscripts should advance the understanding of American art, demonstrating new findings and original perspectives. The prize winner will be given the opportunity to work toward publication in American Art, the Smithsonian American Art Museum's scholarly journal. He or she will also receive a $1,000 cash award and a travel stipend of up to $3,000 to give a presentation in Washington, D.C., and meet with museum staff and fellows. This annual prize is supported by funding from the Terra Foundation for American Art.

The Center for Cultural Diplomacy Studies (of the Academy for Cultural Diplomacy) offers educational and professional development opportunities for individuals interested in pursuing further education and careers in academia, diplomacy, government, and/or the private sector. The CCDS focuses in particular on exploring the  balance between hard and soft power, the process of globalization in an interdependent world, international economics & business multiculturalism, intercultural dialogue & exchange, human rights, religion, and the ability for culturally based initiatives to further mutual understanding and in turn to foster global peace and stability.

The main goal of this program is to strengthen the capacity of indigenous organizations to develop and deliver science-based HIV and STI risk reduction interventions for mobile (mostly Haitian) populations, improve linkages to HIV/STI/TB treatment and care, and increase their understanding about the benefits of early treatment. Key objectives are to increase the opportunity, capacity and motivation of mobile populations to adopt healthier sexual behaviors, increase the capacity of indigenous organizations to offer HIV prevention services to mobile populations, improve the availability and accessibility of high quality condoms, and increase access to friendly clinical and care services for HIV/STI/TB. This program will provide prevention services in 10 provinces and will target construction workers, market vendors, and agricultural workers. The implementation will be through indigenous organizations. The use of clinical mobile units will be needed to test individuals at their work site, over extended hours and multiple locations. Close coordination and collaboration with Ministry of Health (MOH) facilitates will be required.

Partnerships for International Research and Education (PIRE) is an NSF-wide program that supports international activities across all NSF supported disciplines. The primary goal of PIRE is to support high quality projects in which advances in research and education could not occur without international collaboration. PIRE seeks to catalyze a higher level of international engagement in the U.S. science and engineering community. International partnerships are essential to addressing critical science and engineering problems. In the global context, U.S. researchers and educators must be able to operate effectively in teams with partners from different national environments and cultural backgrounds. PIRE promotes excellence in science and engineering through international collaboration and facilitates development of a diverse, globally-engaged, U.S. science and engineering workforce.

The American College Health Foundation, through the Murray DeArmond Student Activity Fund, will offer funding to partially offset hotel and travel expenses for one or more students to attend the 2015 ACHA Annual Meeting. Award decisions will be made by the ACHF Board of Directors in conjunction with the ACHA Student/Consumers Section.

The Directorate for Geosciences (GEO) of the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) of the Research Councils UK (RCUK) are pleased to announce an NSF/GEO-NERC lead agency opportunity. The goal of this opportunity is to reduce some of the current barriers to working internationally. Through a lead agency model, GEO and NERC will address these issues by allowing US and UK researchers to submit a single collaborative proposal that will undergo a single review process.

The Directorate for Geosciences (GEO) of the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) of the Research Councils UK (RCUK) are pleased to announce an NSF/GEO-NERC lead agency opportunity. The goal of this opportunity is to reduce some of the current barriers to working internationally. Through a lead agency model, GEO and NERC will address these issues by allowing US and UK researchers to submit a single collaborative proposal that will undergo a single review process

USAID would like to partner with the private sector, education and research institutions (and organizations working with them) towards improving food security in Ethiopia. This initiative will be used to identify and test innovations that produce cost effective and scalable solutions to addressing the problems Ethiopian households face with regards to food insecurity. The overall objective of this effort is to find ways to accelerate and reduce food insecurity and malnutrition across Ethiopia

CDC Tanzania is seeking to enter into a cooperative agreement to provide software development and other health information systems (HIS) related support services to United Republic of Tanzania government ministries, agencies or departments. The partner(s) will help increase the use of electronic systems to improve delivery of services, increase the number of interoperable systems exchanging and sharing data to support evidence-based decision making, and improve the alignment between health information systems and health sector service delivery and management requirements.

PEPFAR South Sudan works in collaboration with the Government of South Sudan (GOSS) Ministry of Health (MOH) in implementing the HIV/AIDS National Strategic Plan (NSP) based on a priority action approach and strong collaboration and coordination among different stakeholders. PEPFAR South Sudan has prioritized supporting the MOH in strengthening their national laboratory system with the primary objective of supporting the diagnosis, treatment, prevention and surveillance of HIV through high-quality laboratory services. This funding opportunity announcement (FOA) solicits technical assistance (TA) to strengthen the GOSS MOH laboratory and blood transfusion services systems. Outcomes will include the overall strengthening of the National Reference Lab, implementing and achieving accreditation for quality assurance systems; strengthening service delivery through increased technical assistance to lab testing programs, and training and accreditation for the national blood safety programs. The ultimate outcome is a national integrated quality-assured network of tiered laboratories providing quality clinical laboratory services with the capacity to support the diagnosis, treatment, prevention and surveillance of HIV and other diseases and support the establishment of the National Public Health Laboratory (NPHL) and the National Blood Transfusion Services (NBTS).

PEPFAR South Sudan collaborates closely with the Republic of South Sudan (RSS) Ministry of Health (MOH) and other key partners to implement the HIV/AIDS National Strategic Plan (NSP) and has developed a five year PEPFAR strategy for the RSS. By targeting geographic areas with high HIV prevalence, PEPFAR will assist the RSS to reach the HIV programmatic goal/tipping point of 16,000 net new HIV patients on treatment and an annual reduction of new HIV infections to below 13,000 by 2017. A primary objective to reach this goal requires improved availability and quality of HIV services for families and other high-impact populations using a public health approach. Under this funding opportunity announcement (FOA), PEPFAR South Sudan prioritizes working in collaboration with the MOH to implement the following approaches: 1) expand HIV testing and counseling (HTC) through high-yield testing approaches, 2) improve access to ART services for pregnant and breastfeeding mothers, their partners, and children, 3) strengthen pediatric HIV testing, care and treatment within a family centered approach, and 4) advance the development of a sustainable infrastructure for South Sudan's workforce. This FOA solicits a combination of capacity building and mentorship for the RSS MOH at the national, state and local levels as well as through direct service delivery to complement the MOH, Global Fund and other partner efforts to scale-up HIV prevention, care and treatment programs in South Sudan.

The purpose of this funding opportunity announcement (FOA) is to strengthen capabilities of the Ministry of Health (MOH) and District Health Teams (DHTs) to conduct the following activities: (1) monitoring and evaluation (M&E) of HIV program including service quality assessment, (2) district led HIV programming (DLP); (3) conducting population case-based surveillance, and lastly (4) strengthening the Ministry of Health (MOH)-owned national Health Management Information System (HMIS), to generate timely, valid, consistent and complete data. This FOA is part of the PEPFAR overall sustainability plan and transition of HIV/AIDS monitoring and evaluation into the primary national health care system towards alignment to the national HIV/AIDS M&E framework and achievement of one national M&E system. The FOA also supports the PEPFAR implementation of a sustainability plan and investments in public health systems, quality improvement, and public health workforce development. At the end of the project, the main expected outcomes include increased use of information for evidence-based decision making, effective health programming at the district levels, and a well-functioning Health Management Information System. All the data collection and reporting activities will emphasize maintaining patients' and participants' confidentiality by treating information that they disclose in a relationship of trust. All of the information provided by patients/participants will be kept confidential and secure in locked rooms/drawers with limited access. Any data analyses will be conducted after all personal identifying information have been removed from electronic datasets.

This funding opportunity announcement (FOA) addresses the strong need for an electronic repository system in Rwanda. The system will be a web-based monitoring and reporting system to be used by all USG PEPFAR-funded agencies and implementing partners operating in the country, including the Rwandan Ministry of Health, the Rwanda Biomedical Center, and other PEPFAR implementing partners. An initial assessment of the existing electronic system will provide insights on whether or not maintenance, upgrade, or the development of a new platform will address the needs of PEPFAR Rwanda. A flexible and stable platform is needed and will serve as the unique repository of PEPFAR Rwanda program data at the country level. It will be used to generate PEPFAR periodic reports, including the semi-annual and annual progress reports and additional ad hoc requests. The purpose of this FOA is to develop a new system or upgrade and maintain the existing web-based reporting system that has been in place since 2008 and build local capacity within the USG team to manage and maintain the system. The system should include automated checks for data quality. In doing so, the system will add new functionality (e.g., dashboard to easily view achievement of indicators, etc.) as well as add additional data variables to be used for HIV program planning and implementation. The Division of HIV/AIDS at the Rwanda Biomedical Center (RBC) will be one of the major users of the data stored and managed on the system, and the successful applicant will be expected to work closely with this division to refine some of the data elements collected to ensure harmonization with the national system.

Human resources (HR) are an essential component of Zimbabwe's health system, and are therefore critical for an effective response to the HIV epidemic. Still recovering from the effects of the political crisis in the first decade of the 21st century, the country's health institutions are understaffed and the workforce overburdened. Efficient information systems can provide knowledge to equitably distribute scarce human resources. This includes both applications to manage information about the health sector workforce and means to electronically share information across systems. This funding opportunity announcement (FOA) will build on past and current CDC-supported activities at the Ministry of Health and Child Care (MOHCC) and the Health Professional Regulatory Bodies.

The purpose of this FOA is to provide technical assistance (TA) to the Government of Kenya (GOK) and implementing partners in strengthening their capacity to design and implement systems to collect, analyze, interpret and disseminate high quality HIV data. To achieve this, the awardee(s) will complete activities under the following program areas: Program Area A - Surveillance and Epidemiology: Support the GOK and its partners in strengthening their capacity to design, implement, analyze, disseminate, and use data from epidemiologic studies to adequately and accurately measure outcomes and impact, while informing decision making and policy in the national and sub-national HIV response. Epidemiologic studies will include surveillance, surveys, operations research/implementation science and public health impact evaluations. Program Area B - Monitoring and Evaluation: Strengthen the Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) capacity of health workers in program data collection, analysis and reporting as well as cohort analysis and program evaluation. The support will also include review, revision and roll out of M&E framework, tools, policies and standard operating procedures (SOPs), M&E coordination and collaboration at national and sub-national levels and support strengthening quality of HIV data through training and mentorship. Program Area C - mHealth: The third component will entail supporting the GOK units such as the National AIDS and STI Control Program (NASCOP), National Public Health Laboratory Services (NPHLS) and Kenya Medical Supplies Agency (KEMSA) in mobile technology innovations (mHealth) projects that leverage mobile technologies to enhance efficiencies in the delivery of prevention, care and treatment of HIV.