Guidelines

TB/HIV Monitoring and Advocacy

Application Guidelines  |  Grantee List

TB and HIV constitute a deadly co-epidemic in many regions of the world: HIV/AIDS is the greatest risk factor for the development of active TB, and is fueling a resurgence of the TB epidemic in areas of high HIV/AIDS prevalence, making it a leading cause of death among people living with HIV/AIDS. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), TB accounts for approximately 15% of AIDS-related deaths worldwide and nearly 30% of AIDS deaths in sub-Saharan Africa. Despite the clear linkage between these two diseases, there has not been sufficient collaboration between national TB and HIV/AIDS programs and policies in many countries.

The WHO has sought to promote greater collaboration between national TB and HIV/AIDS programs, including through the development of a Policy on Collaborative TB/HIV Activities in 2004. The TB/HIV Policy calls upon governments to establish mechanisms for collaborative planning, and to implement activities to decrease the burden of TB among people with HIV/AIDS, and the burden of HIV among people living with TB. The TB/HIV Policy also recognizes the importance of community involvement in accelerating and improving TB/HIV services.

The WHO Policy on TB/HIV Collaborative Activities can be accessed at www.who.int/hiv/pub/tb/tbhiv/en/ in English, Spanish, French, or Russian.

Call for Proposals

Public Health Watch’s TB/HIV Monitoring and Advocacy Project seeks proposals from community-based or nongovernmental organizations (CBOs or NGOs) to conduct community-led monitoring of the WHO Policy on TB/HIV Collaborative Activities. The project defines monitoring as “assessing the effectiveness of a policy or program by identifying its strengths and weaknesses and offering recommendations to maintain or improve program performance.”

Successful grantees will prepare a written assessment of implementation of the 12 recommended points outlined in the TB/HIV Policy according to a questionnaire (which will be provided by the project and adapted for local settings). Assessments will identify policy strengths and weaknesses and offer recommendations for improving the quality and accessibility of coordinated TB/HIV services in their countries and communities. Grantees will be eligible to receive additional support for follow-up advocacy activities around the findings and recommendations outlined in their monitoring reports. By conducting advocacy, grantees will be aiming to convince or persuade policymakers and health officials to accelerate or improve upon implementation of collaborative TB/HIV activities.

Application Process

The project will accept applications from CBOs or NGOs to conduct monitoring and advocacy at either the national or sub-national level. Applicants are strongly encouraged to demonstrate strong involvement of people living with HIV/AIDS or people who are either living with or have survived TB.

Applicants must identify clearly in their application the geographic area or administrative unit they propose to monitor. Note that the applicant organization can choose to monitor at the national level or sub-national level. Examples of “sub-national” levels include community, municipality, district, region, or administrative unit; “administrative units” may include health clinics, prisons, hospitals, military units, hospices, or other social service institutions. Applicants who choose to monitor TB/HIV services within an administrative unit must indicate kind of unit it is.

Review of Applications

Through an open nomination and review process, Public Health Watch and its partner Treatment Action Group (TAG) have convened a TB/HIV Community Advisory Committee (CAC) to review, evaluate, and make recommendations on applications. CAC members are all TB/HIV advocates with significant experience in community-led advocacy. The CAC’s recommendations will be presented to Public Health Watch and TAG for review and final determination of grant awards. Award decisions will be made in June and finalists will be notified in July 2006.

Criteria

Applications will be accepted from established community-based or nongovernmental organizations only. As part of the grant review process, the CAC will evaluate applications according to the following criteria:

• capacity to conduct community-led monitoring of health or human rights policies and services;
• capacity to implement and carry out community-led advocacy;
• demonstrated involvement or interest in policymaking activities and processes;
• level of engagement of individuals and communities affected by HIV/AIDS and TB in proposed project activities.

Note: The TB/HIV Monitoring & Advocacy Project will NOT support:

• biomedical research;
• direct lobbying;
• service delivery activities;
• purchase of drugs, diagnostic test kits, medical equipment or setting up health services;
• programs for work in Western EU countries, the U.S., Canada, Australia, Japan, or New Zealand.

Post-Award Procedures

TB/HIV Orientation Workshop

Organizations selected for a TB/HIV Monitoring and Advocacy grant will be required to attend an Orientation Workshop (place and date to be announced). At this workshop, grantees will meet project staff and the CAC; review overall project objectives; receive training on the TB/HIV Policy and project materials; network with other grantees; and discuss initial advocacy strategies. More details will be made available to grant finalists in July.

Please note: Applicants must identify an English-speaking member of their organization to:

• attend the orientation workshop (which will be in English only); and
• act as a main contact person for correspondence with Public Health Watch.

Timeline and Grant Payments

TB/HIV Monitoring and Advocacy Grants are for up to a one-year period (six months to conduct field research and prepare the monitoring report and up to six months for follow-up advocacy events around report findings). Organizations should be prepared to start their monitoring activities in fall 2006, after participating in the Orientation Workshop.

TB/HIV Monitoring and Advocacy grants will be disbursed in two installments. The first installment of up to $5,000 (actual amount will be dependent on the area of monitoring proposed) will be made at the start of the project to support the monitoring phase.

For the advocacy phase, a second installment of up to $5,000 will be awarded to eligible grantees upon receipt of their 10-20 page monitoring reports in English. In addition, grantees will be asked to submit an advocacy strategy and budget to support targeted advocacy around their report findings and recommendations (amount to be determined based on quality of research and scope of proposed advocacy activities).

All grantees will be encouraged to start devising their advocacy plans during the monitoring phase and use opportunities provided by their monitoring activities to explore the feasibility of their advocacy strategies.

At the end of the advocacy phase, grantees will be required to submit a 5-10 page report summarizing their advocacy activities, strategies, results, recommendations and next steps.

Grantees will receive guidelines for preparing both reports at the Orientation Workshop.

Site Visits

CAC members will make site visits to grantees during the course of project implementation. These site visits will provide an opportunity for grantees to:

• receive additional technical assistance and support on their research and advocacy activities;
• provide initial feedback on project materials and progress on their monitoring/advocacy efforts;
• learn about and link into regional or international TB/HIV advocacy activities.

Bulletins

Public Health Watch will prepare and disseminate regular bulletins to update grantees on each other’s projects and activities. These bulletins may also feature reports on site visits from CAC members.

To Apply

Fill out the grant application attached below. Completed applications, including all required attachments, should be sent to Public Health Watch by May 31, 2006 (by 5:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time). All applications must be submitted in English. Incomplete applications will not be considered.

Completed applications can be sent via mail, email, or fax to:

TB/HIV Monitoring & Advocacy Project
Attn: Public Health Watch
Open Society Institute
400 West 59th Street
New York, NY 10019
Email: tbhiv@sorosny.org
Fax: +1.646.557.2553

For further questions about the grant, please contact tbhiv@sorosny.org.