USAID announces first grants in international AIDS initiative

USAID last week announced the first recipients of grants under the five-year, $15 billion President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief. Much of the focus of the initial grants is on developing and strengthening abstinence programs overseas. The first-round grants will go to five organizations to support children affected by AIDS and for abstinence and behavioral change counseling programs aimed at young people, according to a USAID press release. Another round of USAID grants to support orphans and vulnerable children and HIV prevention programs will be announced in early summer. The first-round grants include $7 million to the American Red Cross for abstinence and behavioral change programs in Guyana, Haiti, and Tanzania; $9.7 million over five years to scale up HIV prevention programs that stress abstinence in Haiti, Kenya, Mozambique, and Rwanda; $7 million to Catholic Relief Services for AIDS orphans programs in Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Zambia, and Haiti; $5.1 million to Habitat for Humanity and Opportunity International to meet housing needs for AIDS orphans in Zambia, Uganda, and Mozambique; and $5.9 million to Save the Children to support children and family programs in Ethiopia and Mozambique.