LMG Honduras Quarterly Report: October – December 2015

The program was funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) under Cooperative Agreement AID-OAA-A-11-00015. During the October to December 2015 period, the LMG program focused on strengthening coordination with the MOH's Unit for the Administration of External Cooperation Funds (UAFCE) authorities, providing them with technical assistance on processes related to the implementation of USAID implementation letters, NGO-related processes, and accountability. The Unit for Decentralized Management (UGD) continued to receive assistance in activities related to technical audits and analysis of indicators from the United States President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR); and health regions received assistance in the strengthening of their processes for monitoring the management agreements with NGOs. NGO capacity was developed through the training of new counselors and technical staff to perform rapid HIV tests. The skills and abilities of the NGO technical personnel were also strengthened through diversified strategies for promoting rapid HIV testing services in key and prioritized populations that allowed them to expand service coverage, identify new cases, refer cases to the health system, and provide ongoing monitoring. Major accomplishments of the LMG Honduras program during this period include conducting a workshop with staff from the UAFCE's Internal Control Department on the UAFCE's guidelines for financial field audits, providing training to UAFCE's new Internal Control staff on how to review funds liquidation by those NGOs contracted by the MOH with USAID funds, conducting a workshop with UAFCE employees on the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 9001 certification process, and facilitating the assessment of gaps at UAFCE to obtaining the ISO 9001 certification. Additionally, the program conducted a workshop on proposal development aimed at coordinators, administrators, and educators at the NGOs that currently have contracts with the MOH, and with two coordinators of nationally-funded NGOs. Two workshops were also conducted on the expansion of rapid HIV testing, one with technical staff and coordinators of NGOs that provide HIV prevention services to key populations, and another with NGOs that provide HIV prevention services to the Garífuna population. The program also conducted a refresher workshop on HIV testing for testing counselors, involving technical personnel and coordinators of NGO projects that provide HIV prevention services to key and prioritized populations, and two workshops on how to carry out and report on the knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) surveys. Honduras is a country located in Central America, divided into 18 administrative departments, with a population of 8,045,990 people (2010), of which 3,965,430 (49.28%) are men and 4,080,560 are women (50.71%). The population under 18 years of age represents 48.7% of the country's population. The country continues to face challenges related to HIV/AIDS, including a high prevalence of the disease among key and priority populations. The LMG program's activities were aimed at strengthening the capacity of the MOH and NGOs to provide HIV/AIDS education and prevention services to key and priority populations, and to improve the overall management and governance of the health sector in Honduras. The program's accomplishments during this period demonstrate its commitment to improving the health and well-being of the people of Honduras.