72067418CA00030

Project Goal and Objectives

This activity will continue and expand the May¿Khethle project to improve the health and well-being of 723,421 OVCA&Y who are living with, affected by, and vulnerable to HIV. This is approximately 80% of the youth population in the target 3 areas as per the RFA.

Out of this target, 122,804 will be from uMgungundlovu (Msunduzi and Richmond sub-districts) and 600,617 from eThekwini (North, West, and South) districts of KZN province. The project will ensure that 60% of beneficiaries are AGYW. It will address the needs of OVCA&Y and their primary caregivers by achieving the following objectives:

Objective 1 (Healthy): The first objective is to improve OVCA&Y access to sexual reproductive health and HIV care and preventive services through related small group evidence-based interventions, facilitating access to HTS (offered directly at home and through partner facilities) and successful linkages to anti-retroviral therapy, contraceptives, and other health services. It will also provide psychosocial and psychological support to infected, bereaved OVCA&Y or victims of abuse.

Objective 2 (Safe): The second objective is to improve child protection and prevention of gender-based violence (GBV) through direct support to OVCA&Y, their primary caregivers, and the community. CINDI will provide child protection education and parenting skills training for caregivers, and trained project personnel will be able to detect and initiate removal of children from abusive environments.

Objective 3 (Stable): The third objective is to improve household economic security and linkage to social protection through provision of training and support to both OVCA&Y and their primary caregivers. CINDI will prepare adolescents and youth for self-employment or the job market through financial capability, entrepreneurship, and employability training (ASPIRES). Caregivers will receive support to access social grants and be enrolled in savings groups to increase family income.

Objective 4 (Schooled): The fourth objective is to improve school retention and progression and early childhood development. CINDI will do this through the provision of homework support and tuition clubs to identified learners, provision of school uniforms, stationery, and distribution of sanitary pads to minimize absenteeism. Through home visits, out-of-school youths will be linked to tertiary education. Caregivers will be provided with household stimulating ECD programs and will also be provided with material support such as clothes, toys, and stationery to enhance ECD.

1.3 Theory of Change

The project aims to improve the well-being of OVCA&Y through evidence-based HIV prevention and SRH education, HIV testing services, child protection, clinical nutritional support, general healthcare referral, healthcare support for access to anti-retroviral treatment, educational support, psychological care, and household economic strengthening. CINDI has been implementing an OVCA&Y project since October 2007. The project has used the lessons learnt and applies best practices to improve OVCA&Y project implementation in subsequent years. For example, increased access through home-based testing; providing consistent structured evidence-based interventions across partners to enhance quality service delivery; focus on building the capacity of parents with not just economic support but education and engaging them in the HIV prevention interventions; strong cultural taboos for parent-child sexual health communication can be overcome with trained facilitators and evidence-informed and culturally sensitive curriculums.

The Theory of Change (Annex A Figure 1) sets out the logic model (Annex C), which illustrates the hypothesized relationships between proposed activities and desired project results at every level, including outputs, outcomes, and impact. CINDI will implement service packages with a differentiated intervention mix, dosage, and delivery mechanism according to.

Children In Distress Network

NOT APPLICABLE

98.001 - USAID Foreign Assistance for Programs Overseas

U.S. Mission to South Africa [USAID - OM]

South Africa

Foreign

Preventing HIV/AIDS in Vulnerable Populations in South Africa (72067418RFA00002)

Termination This cooperative agreement was reported on the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) partial or complete termation list as of its last report October 2025. See All
Amendment Since initial award the End Date has been extended from 09/27/23 to 12/27/25 and the total obligations have increased 1137% from $1,737,182 to $21,482,537.