The Centre for Clinical Care and Clinical Research, Nigeria (CCCRN) is the Implementing Partner for the Integrated Child Health and Social Services Award Lot1 (ICHSSA1), a five-year cooperative agreement funded by the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), beginning December 19, 2019. CCCRN is implementing this project in partnership with Catholic Relief Services, and supported by expert local resource partners in priority LGAs in Akwa Ibom and Cross River States, S/South Nigeria.
Applications are invited for:
Title: Request for Expression of Interest (REOI) for the Integrated Child Health and Social Service Award (ICHSSA)
Location: Bayelsa
Type of Award: Fixed Amount Award (FAA)
Duration of Award: One (1) year, renewable based on performance (October 01, 2021 – September 30, 2021)Purpose of REOI
- The project will ensure that Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVC) are cared for and protected by their households, communities, local and state governments to reduce their vulnerability to HIV. This achievement is through evidence- based strategies developed along four result areas and clear plans to integrate Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL) practices, local partnership, collaboration and considerations for sustainability.
ICHSSA1 Critical Result Areas comprise a set of intermediate results targeted at measuring the following:
- Improvement in household access to basic health and social services
- Improved community capacity to influence, prevent and resolve harmful community practices,
- Improvement in state and local capacity to effectively coordinate, monitor and mobilize resources for OVC
- Increased Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) prevention, case-finding, retention and viral load suppression for a successful HIV epidemic control.
CCCRN is expanding the ICHSSA1 Project to Bayelsa state by October 1, 2021. The purpose of this REQUEST FOR EXPRESSION OF INTEREST (REOI) is to solicit proposals from Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) and/ or Community based organizations (CBOs) who wish to collaborate with CCCRN to implement the project in Bayelsa state.
Goals and Objectives
- The goal of the REOI is to identify organizations that are interested in providing OVC services in ALL LGAs of Bayelsa state in accordance with ICHSSA1 standards. At inception, CCCRN will prioritize some LGAs of interest although CBO must demonstrate capacity to expand to any or all areas of the state if indicated in the near future.
- Based on submissions from applicants, CCCRN will invite shortlisted organizations for a more detailed engagement and a Pre-award orientation/ assessment before final selection. Responses must be brief and comply with the guidelines provided in the CCCRN ICHSSA1 EOI Application Form to avoid disqualification.
- CCCRN will work with shortlisted CSOs to assess eligibility for funding in line with Donor requirements.
Project Scope, Specific Challenges and Expected results
Project Scope:
- The Integrated Child Health and Social Services Award focuses on HIV epidemic control particularly among children and their households. It ensures early identification of children infected with HIV to link them to highly active anti-retroviral therapy while ensuring that risk of infection is mitigated among those not infected, particularly children living with HIV+ adults and adolescents at high risk of HIV infection.
- Respondents should demonstrate capacity and understanding in implementing across project service areas. EOI should briefly describe innovative, proven and sustainable interventions as outlined in the EOI Application Form.
Problem Statement/ Challenges of OVC Implementation in Bayelsa:
- As with many states in Nigeria, especially regions with relatively high burden of OVC, gaps exist in achieving the country’s objectives as enumerated in the OVC National Priority Agenda (2015).
- Implementing the ICHSSA1 Project requires an in-depth knowledge of key issues, ability to prioritize milestones against limited resource and the potential barriers to achieving project objectives. Added to the aforementioned are the unique challenges anticipated in implementing the project in Bayelsa state. Some anticipated challenges to implementing ICHSSA Project in Bayelsa state are:
- The demographics in the state suggests high burden of malnutrition, relatively high infant and maternal mortalities, children often present at Health Facilities with advance disease, which may affect treatment outcomes. These indices suggest inadequate interventions around case detection.
- OVC-specific Donor funding has been absent for over 5 years in the state. This suggests that Local Partners may have little or no functional structures to work with and may need to revive several moribund structures or create new ones at start-up.
- High rate of HIV stigma and discrimination, combined with high- risk behavior, poverty and high mobility of population of interest makes it imperative that strategies are context-specific to accommodate local and generic issues that can affect successful implementation.
Specific Expected Project Interventions and Results:
Interventions on the ICHSSA 1 Project target 4 specific result areas:
- Result 1: Households have increased access to basic services and care for OVC: services that cater to the health, nutrition, education, safety, protection and general wellbeing of a child, the stability of the household and contribute to reducing susceptibility to HIV will contribute to achieving this result.
- Result 2: Communities ensure that OVC secure their rights: this pertains to interventions targeted at ensuring that Community structures that respond to and sustain services and investments in the OVC portfolio are strengthened through collaboration and ongoing engagement.
- Result 3: Result 3: Local and State Governments deliver basic services, detect, and respond to child rights violations: where interventions are targeted at ensuring policies and governance that foster the wellbeing of orphans and vulnerable children and their households exists and is enforced.
- Result 4: Prioritized targeted services for specific OVC subpopulations utilized: At the heart of the ICHSSA1 Project is the drive to reverse the HIV epidemics in the pediatric subpopulation via intensified case finding and linkage to anti-retroviral therapy, retention in care and treatment and ultimately sustained viral suppression. Also considered is case management of beneficiaries through the continuum of care with the aim to optimize outcomes of intervention. This result also measures the quality and impact of HIV prevention interventions towards achieving epidemic control.
Responsibilities of Civil Society Organization
Successful CSO (s) shall perform the following tasks, among other responsibilities:
- Set-up a main operational base at Yenegoa with a Liaison Office at Brass to ensure integration into the target communities in accordance with ICHSSA1 OVC Service Delivery Model. It is an added advantage if one or both structures already exist.
- Rapidly identify and enroll at least 350 Children (0 to 17 years old) Living with HIV (CLHIV) already linked to lifesaving highly active Anti-Retroviral Therapy (HAART) at USAID supported Health Facilities into ICHSSA1 OVC Project and provide available services in accordance with identified needs
- Carry out intensified Pediatric HIV Case Finding for 3,050 children in target communities, offering child-focused, family-centered, age appropriate and culturally sensitive HIV testing services (HTS) where indicated. HIV positive children and their positive caregivers will be linked to ART and enrolled into the OVC Program. At least 100 children will be identified via this approach.
- Actively identify and follow up HIV positive pregnant women, especially those not enrolled in Health Facilities for Antenatal Care and link to PMTCT programs (Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission of HIV) and follow-up HIV exposed infants (HEIs) according to standard protocols for optimal outcomes.
- Offer HIV Prevention services (including Gender Norms) to Adolescents at heightened risk of HIV and offer referral services to identified survivors of violence against children (SVACs) and survivors of Sexual and Gender-based Violence (S/GBV). Targets will be communicated at the final stages for the successful CSO(s).
- Provide OVC services to 4,050 eligible children and their caregiver in accordance with ICHSSA1 standards.
Minimum Programmatic Requirements and Responsibilities of CSO
Minimum Programmatic Requirements:
- To be eligible for consideration, the organization must be duly registered with both Corporate Affairs Commission and the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs, Economic and Social Development of the state and any other regulatory body as required by local laws. In addition, the CSO must have successfully implemented a project in the last 3(three) years. This is NOT limited to OVC programs only. Please refer to the EOI Application form for other requirements.
- Additionally, as targets are relatively small with an attendant limited resources for implementation and service provision which is anticipated to occur across wide geographical and often difficult terrains, implementation strategies will require innovative approaches that is cost-efficient, inclusive and maximize impact while galvanizing Community, Local and State government involvement and ownership for sustained gains. Organizational approach that imbibe these principles should be outlined in Section III of the EOI Form.
EOI Process and Submission Information
Summary of Key Dates:
- Intent to Submit Deadline: September 10th, 2021 (Via email – similar to the email addresses below).
- Virtual Bidders Conference Date: 13th September, 2021 Monday at 11:00am prompt. (This is an online meeting. The meeting link will be shared ONLY with organizations that replied to this announcement with an email indicating an intent to submit.)
- Question and Answer Due Date: 14th September, 2021 (Via email: [email protected]).
- EOI Q & A Due Date: Tuesday 14th September, 2021 (Via email: [email protected]).
Intent to Submit:
Interested organizations must submit the Intent to Submit notification by the date indicated above. CSO must send an e-mail to the attention of the Centre for Clinical Care and Clinical Research Contact in above mail with the following information:
- Name of CSO designated project contact for the purposes of this proposal.
- Contact information.
- A statement indicating their Intent to Submit an Expression of Interest.
- An SMS and/or WhatsApp Chat or Calls shall not be entertained.
Questions about the Expression of Interest or Project:
- Applicants with questions about the Expression of Interest should forward them via email to the CCCRN ICHSSA1 Contact outlined below. CCCRN will remove all identifying marks from the e- mail and forward the original question, with an answer, to all CSOs who registered during the Intent to Submit process. CCCRN will not respond to questions by phone calls or in person.
Application Closing Date
Sunday by 4.30 pm, 19th September, 2021.
Method of Application
Interested and qualified organizations should send their EOI (Expression of Interest) by email via: [email protected] and cc: [email protected] using the Job Title as the subject of the email.
And
Click here to download Application Form (Ms Word)
Click here for more information (PDF)
CCCRN ICHSSA1 Project Contact:
For the purpose of this REOI, refer all questions and other inquiries about the REOI to the contact below:
Director of Programs, ICHSSA1 Project,
Plot 58 Unit G, Ewet Housing Estate, Uyo,
Akwa Ibom State.
Email: [email protected] Cc: [email protected]
Note: EOI Forms must be submitted electronically as MS Word. Support document should be scanned and attached.
