New Partners Initiative Technical Assistance Project (USAID)

The public health sectors in many developing countries are challenged by the AIDS pandemic. In an effort to broaden the pool of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) that can offer innovative, high-quality HIV services, the PEPFAR-funded New Partners Initiative (NPI) was established. NPI provided funding for organizations new to USAID support, combined with technical assistance, to build the capacity of these local partners along with the new resources, and to help them comply with USAID requirements. With greater resources and strengthened capacity, NGOs are able to implement high-quality HIV services and, over time, to become sustainable contributors to national HIV and AIDS strategies.

Under NPI, three-year cooperative agreements were awarded to 54 NGOs, community-based organizations, and faith-based organizations. Each had little or no experience working with U.S. Government (USG) funding and typically their management systems were not as solid as established USG partners. In order to support these new partners technically and organizationally, USAID under PEPFAR also funded technical assistance grants. John Snow, Inc. implemented the New Partners Initiative Technical Assistance (NuPITA) Project, which supported 14 of the new USAID-funded partners.

The New Partners Initiative Technical Assistance (NuPITA) project increased the quality of program implementation and strengthened the institutional capacity of those 14 organizations providing HIV prevention and care services in sub-Saharan Africa. Under NuPITA, JSI and its partner, Initiatives, Inc., provided technical assistance to the NPI grantees in HIV prevention and care services, financial management and compliance with USG regulations, and organizational development.

With a regional headquarters in Kampala, Uganda, NuPITA supported NPI grantees who are implementing programs in Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa, Rwanda, Zambia, Ethiopia, and Nigeria.