The US government’s Agency for International Development (USAID) pledged in Maputo today around US$50 million in support for orphans and vulnerable children.
The assistance plan will run until 2027 and intends to cover around 217,234 children, adolescents and their caregivers in the first year.
The initiative will be implemented by the Facilitating Lasting Impact for Orphaned and Vulnerable Children (FILOVC) project in the provinces of Cabo Delgado, Nampula, Inhambane, Gaza, and Maputo city and province.
The project has three intervention components, namely case management focused on HIV-infected children, primary prevention for adolescents, and “Dreams”, a component aimed at adolescents and young women from 10 to 24 years of age.
Speaking at the launch of the project, US-AID Director Helen Pataki said the support materialises a plan to make aid more accessible and equitable, and particularly to make the organization more responsive to local voices. “We are here today to deliver a portfolio of almost US$50 million to partners that meet the needs of the most vulnerable,” she said.
She added that the implementation of FILOVC projects will reduce the vulnerability of children and adolescents to HIV and its effects, through a robust community system that ensures the well-being of beneficiaries and their communities.
In turn, Dário Sacur, the National Director of FHI 360 (Family Health International), the implementer of the program, said that the project transition process highlighted today is accompanied by the achievement of goals, and represents a contribution to and support for the Mozambican government’s strategic objectives in terms of children, adolescents and girls.
Sacur said that the launch of the project marks a historic and important stage in the funding cycle for orphans and vulnerable children in Mozambique.
He assured that FHI 360 is committed to building the capacity of local organizations and has been adjusting priorities in response to global changes and funding trends.
Meanwhile, Francisco Matavele, general director of OSCIDA, the entity that will manage FILOVC in the southern zone, said that the project will support around 113,000 children in all provinces there.
Matavele said that OSCIDA will disburse around US$ 28.8 million in the southern region.
“The project will consist of social activities and the care of teenagers and orphaned and vulnerable children,” he said.
The close mapping of beneficiaries, a process that has been developed since 2016, will also continue, he added.
The FILOVC project replaces CO-Vida, implemented from July 2016 to March 2023 and also funded by US-AID in the amount of US$84 million. CO-Vida had operated in more than 20 districts in the provinces of Cabo Delgado, Nampula, Inhambane, Tete, Gaza and Maputo, as well as in Maputo city.
During its implementation, CO-Vida benefited more than 760,000 children, adolescents and their guardians.
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