End of project evaluation of the USAID/Zimbabwe family AIDS initiative (FAI) project

FAI was funded through a cooperative agreement (CA) between USAID/Zimbabwe and the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation (EGPAF.) FAI was launched on October 1, 2007 and concluded on September 30, 2012. The project was designed to build on earlier efforts, by EGPAF and others, to create and maintain a national program for the prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) of HIV, a disease that has for many years been an extremely heavy burden on Zimbabwean health systems. This evaluation assessed FAI's success in achieving its objective of building the capacity of the Zimbabwean Ministry of Health and Child Welfare (MOHCW) to develop and maintain PMTCT services of high quality on a national scale. The evaluation took place during October and November of 2012 and sought answears to two overreaching questions: (1) has FAI managed to develop capacity within the Zimbabwean Ministry of Health and Child Welfare and local non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to support continued delivery of PMTCT services beyond the life of the project?; and (2) how can these efforts be improved upon? The evaluators found that FAI has succeeded in achieving its principal objective, namely to ensure access to high quality PMTCT services for women, children and their families in urban and rural health service facilities, but several recommendations are outlined to continue progress towards the original goals. (Excerpt, modified)