Pact, USAID partner to improve the lives of Tanzania’s vulnerable children

Pact recently received a new award from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) to transform the lives of vulnerable Tanzanian children and young people, particularly those affected by HIV. The US$64.9 million, five-year project, Caring for Children and Empowering Young People, builds on years of collaboration between Pact and USAID in Tanzania that already has made a significant, measurable difference for the country’s youth.

Caring for Children and Empowering Young People will improve the lives of Tanzanian families affected by poverty, marginalization and HIV. Its planned outcomes include better financial resources for parents and caregivers of orphans and vulnerable children (OVC), as well as improved access to health and HIV services  for children and adolescents, including those who are hard to reach. The project will work across all regions of Tanzania. It will employ Pact’s unique integrated approach to development, combining interventions in the areas of health, livelihoods and capacity development to create an environment for lasting change.

The project continues the success of Pact’s Pamoja Tuwalee project, also funded by USAID. A six-year effort, Pamoja Tuwalee builds the capacity of local nonprofits and government agencies that, in turn, work with families and caregivers in their communities to meet basic needs of at-risk children. Pact has reached more than 140,000 vulnerable children and their caregivers with basic services, including medical care, and more than 70,000 with food and nutrition services. Pact has also helped more than 60,000 parents and caregivers to boost their income through trainings and Pact’s award-winning WORTH model.

“Pact has worked in the OVC sector with USAID support for the past ten years in Tanzania,” said Todd Malone, Pact’s regional vice president for Africa, Latin America and global projects. “This new award will allow us to build on the high-quality work delivered by Pact’s Tanzania team.”

Additional Caring for Children and Empowering Young People partners include the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, the Aga Khan Foundation, Restless Development, Railway Children Africa and the Ifakara Health Institute.

Christian Loucq, Pact’s chief strategy and global engagement officer, said Pact is proud to again be partnering with USAID to transform people’s lives in Africa.

“We believe strongly in our integrated approach to development,” Loucq said. “Caring for Children and Empowering Young People leverages that approach and uses local solutions that are tailored to and implemented with the Tanzanian communities we will serve. We will continue to build the capacity of local organizations and institutions, which will have an impact far beyond the life of this one project.”

For more information about Pact’s work in Tanzania, please visit www.pactworld.org/tanzania.