The government of Botswana has thanked the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) for funding the HIV response programmes of five civil society organisations (CSOs).
Five organisations – Stepping Stones International, Hope Worldwide Botswana, Tebelopele Wellness Clinic, Humana People to People and Botswana Christian AIDS Interventions Programme – will collectively receive $29 million over a three-year period.
The organisations, which are expected to implement HIV-related interventions at community level, according to the humanitarian agency, were in the frontline executing community health intervention and expanding access to much-needed services.
Botswana is experiencing one of the most severe HIV/AIDS epidemics in the world. The national HIV prevalence rate is the third highest in the world, behind Lesotho and Eswatini.
Community health care, Development Diaries understands, is a key component of the country’s health care agenda.
Speaking at the launch of the five benefitting organisations, Minister of Health and Wellness, Edwin Dikoloti, said such gesture by the USAID was paramount to the country’s health care agenda.
He affirmed government’s commitment to continue working with CSOs and other local government organisations to optimise the country’s provision of health care services.
‘The launch serves as a platform for the U.S. government and the government of Botswana to continue to celebrate their long-standing partnership in the fight against HIV and AIDS, and recognise the role of these five local organisations as key players in Botswana’s HIV response’, USAID said in statement.
U.S. Ambassador to Botswana, Craig Cloud, said the organisations would receive direct funding from the United States Presidential Emergency Plan For AIDS Relief (PEPFAR).
Cloud said the organisations had over the years demonstrated high social health implementation strategies.
He also said recipients would gain a great deal from such organisations, which would also contribute to the fabric of society by improving social protection and making the country stronger and more resilient.
Source: USAID
Photo source: USAID
