On behalf of the HIV/AIDS Small Grants Fund Steering Committee, we would like to thank all applicants for their proposal submissions. We were very pleased with overwhelming response we received to our Call for Proposals. The Review Committee has now completed its review of all the submitted proposals, a process that was not easy given the high quality of so many proposals.

We are pleased to announce that the following organizations have been selected for this year's Small Grants Fund:

Project Title: Brazil - Canada HIV/AIDS Cooperative Exchange Programme
Project Location: Brazil
Website: www.actoronto.org
www.alternex.com.br/~abia
Contact: John Maxwell, jmaxwell@actoronto.org
Project Description: This project will allow the two organizations to exchange information, skills and staff to improve their ability to reach out to target groups. This project will place special emphasis on HIV/AIDS prevention among men who have sex with men and impoverished or isolated groups at risk for HIV infection in Toronto and Brazil.

Project Title: Working Together, Working for Health
Project Location: Philippines
Website: www.asia.bc.ca
Contact: Cynthia Low, asia@asia.bc.ca
Project Description: This project will develop and put into place an education and prevention program for migrant and prostituted women in the Philippines and Canada. The partnership will work to increase the organizations' capacity to develop and administer programs, and to network in the community. The education and prevention programs will use radio and television as ways of reaching the marginalized women's communities.

Project Title: A Pilot Project: The Role of Rural Storekeepers as Disseminators of Information on Prevention of HIV/AIDS and Promotion of Safer Sex in Mexico'.
Project Location: Mexico
Websites: www.1888stophiv.com
www.imifap.org.mx
Contact: Wendy Morrison, aidsbv@telusplanet.net
Project Description: This international partnership will develop an innovative sexual health education program to train rural storekeepers as providers of information to promote safe sex and the prevention of HIV/AIDS. This project will encourage a discussion about HIV/AIDS and sexuality issues at a social level by working outside the realm of health services and training rural storekeepers as peer educators.

Project Title: Campagne contre les MTS-SIDS soutenue par l'alphabetisation fonctionnelle et la mise sur pied de microprojets
Project Location: Mauritania
Website: www.cjonquiere.qc.ca
Contact: Aurélien Leclerc, admin@cjonquiere.qc.ca
Project Description: This project will carry out a campaign to stop the spread of sexually transmitted infections and HIV/AIDS among the poor women of Moughataa d'Arafat in the capital, Nouakchott. Twenty literate young women will be trained to educate the older women in their community about prevention techniques. The awareness campaign will also include giving micro-credit loans to the women so that they are able to support themselves and their families.

Project Title: Capacity building for HIV/AIDS Care
Project Location: Suriname
Websites: www.dal.ca
www.sur.paho.org
Contact: Dr. Tom Rathwell, trathwell@Kilcom1.UCIS.Dal.ca
Project Description: This project will focus on providing care and support for women, children and families infected and affected by HIV/AIDS to foster healthy communities. The School of Health Services Administration, with the support of PAHO, will work to strengthen the Claudia A. Foundation's capacity at every level through administrative upgrading and training, restructuring management, creating support groups, meeting basic care and sanitation needs, building sustainable fund-raising strategies, and establishing a viable volunteer programme to offer counseling, basic nursing care, and practical advice about nutrition, hygiene, and preventative health care.

Project Title: Collaborative Project between Facilitating Access to Confidential Treatment and Support and Lawrence Heights Community Health Centre
Project Location: St. Kitts
Website: www.lawrenceheightschc.on.ca
Contact: Cathy Paul, cpaul@lawrenceheightschc.on.ca
Project Description: This project will improve counseling and support for people living with HIV/AIDS on the Caribbean islands of St. Kitts and Nevis. It is among the countries in the region most affected by the AIDS pandemic. Through Canadian support, FACTTS will raise awareness about the issues facing people living with HIV/AIDS including confidentiality, discrimination, stigma, and the lack of access to treatment.

Project Title: Capacity Building for HIV/AIDS Education in Tanzania and Manitoba
Project Location: Tanzania
Website: www.marquisproject.ca
www.serc.mb.ca
Contact: Zack Gross, mproject@escape.ca
Project Description: The purpose of this project is to integrate HIV/AIDS education into existing agricultural and small-business development projects in rural Tanzania where HIV is spreading quickly among youth. The project will raise awareness among youth through seminars and the media. It will develop educational and media tools that cover disease prevention, care and counseling of those affected, and encourage open discussion among community members.

Project Title: Soft Cover: Youth, Creative Vision, and AIDS
Project Location: South Africa
Website: www.cel.mcgill.ca/csaemp/default.html
http://aleph.salib.ac.za/cb
Contact: Dr. Claudia Mitchell, Claudia.Mitchell@mcgill.ca
Project Description: This project, a youth-based participatory approach to HIV/AID prevention, focuses on how young township authors can become involved in a hands-on literacy initiative to address issues of sexuality and AIDS. It will bring together new methods to address HIV/AIDS prevention, such as hip-hop music, computer-based technologies, performance art, and graphic novels as well as creating new youth-AIDS partnerships between Canada and South Africa and within South Africa.

Background

The Canadian International Development Agency, in collaboration with the Canadian Society for International Health (CSIH) and the Interagency Coalition on AIDS and Development (ICAD), is pleased to invite the submission of Proposals for Small Grants to encourage new or emerging partnerships between Canadian organizations and those in developing countries or countries-in-transition to address HIV/AIDS priority issues. CSIH and ICAD have been asked to administer this second phase of the Small Grants Fund and have established an HIV/AIDS Small Grants Fund Steering Committee, which includes government and NGO representatives, to guide the process.

CIDA is committed to reducing the spread and impact of HIV/AIDS and has developed an HIV/AIDS Action Plan. The goals of the Action Plan include increasing collaboration between Canada and developing countries or countries-in-transition, encouraging the development of innovative, cost-effective, knowledge-based approaches to address the pandemic, and increasing the quantity and quality of HIV/AIDS programming.

During the first phase of this Small Grants Fund, CIDA made funding available for Small Grants (up to $50,000 for each grant for a 12 month project period) to encourage Canadian and developing country and/or countries-in-transition collaboration to work on HIV/AIDS priority issues. Twelve small grants were awarded for this phase and excellent results were achieved. Many of the established partnerships are ongoing in various ways.

For this second phase, CIDA will make available a new round of Small Grants (up to $75,000 each for up to an 18 month period) to further encourage new and emerging partnerships between Canadian organizations and organizations in developing countries and/or countries-in-transition.

One of the aims of the second phase of the Fund is to strengthen the institutional capacity of the participating organizations. This component will provide support and training to Canadian and developing country/country in transition partners on a wide range of topics, including sustainable fund-raising strategies, proposal writing, programme management, governance issues, HIV/AIDS mainstreaming, and the application of information and communication technologies (ICTs). Networking between participants and the reporting on lessons learned will also be included in this component. Goals and Objectives of the HIV/AIDS Small Grants Fund Phase II

The goals and objectives of the HIV/AIDS Small Grants Fund Phase II are:

To increase Canada's global contribution to HIV/AIDS activities in developing countries and countries-in-transition, in the context of CIDA' s HIV/AIDS Action Plan, in order to reduce the impact of the HIV/AIDS global pandemic.

• To encourage new partnerships in HIV/AIDS between Canadian organizations and those in developing countries and/or countries in transition.
• To encourage cost-effective, innovative, inter-sectoral knowledge-based approaches to HIV/AIDS, particularly as they address the socio-economic determinants of health among vulnerable populations.
• To encourage the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in addressing HIV/AIDS issues.

To be eligible for consideration, proposals can address any aspect of the epidemic from prevention to care, treatment and support. Proposals must address the impact on persons infected and/or affected by HIV/AIDS. Defined activities and deliverables as a result of the Canadian/developing country/country-in-transition partnerships must be identified.

While there is particular emphasis on practical programming, action-oriented research is not excluded. However, for action-oriented research projects, evidence that an appropriate institutional ethics committee has reviewed the proposal must be appended. Proposals must be consistent with CIDA. s statements on gender sensitivity and human rights.

The Small Grants Fund aims to encourage new partnerships. Consequently, partnerships that have previously received considerable or sustained funding are not eligible for funding in this phase. All other criteria being equal, preference will be given to those partnerships that have not previously received any funding. Eligible Canadian organizations will be those that are involved in (i) HIV/AIDS work in Canada or (ii) international development or HIV/AIDS work. Organizations that have not previously been involved in either HIV/AIDS or international development may apply but must clearly demonstrate a strong rational and capacity to undertake their proposed activities.

Questions should be directed to:

HIV/AIDS Small Grants Fund