AusAID : Australian Agency for International Development

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OBJECTIVES

The Thai-Australia Northern AIDS Prevention and Care (NAPAC) Program is a program of assistance from the Government of Australia. The Program aims to reduce the rate of transmission of HIV/AIDS infection in northern Thailand. This will be achieved by assisting government, non-government and private sector organizations to develop effective measures for the prevention and control of the disease, and to develop and implement strategies for the care of these infected with HIV/AIDS.

The Program provides funds to AIDS initiatives developed by local organizations in the provinces of Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai and Payao. Assistance is provided on a grant basis under the Thailand-Australia development cooperation program administered by the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID), in cooperation with the Thai Department of Technical and Economic Cooperation (DTEC).

MANAGEMENT&ADMINISTRATION

The program is administered by the Thai-Australia NAPAC Office in Chiang Mai, which will:

1. receive project proposals from local agencies;
2. assess proposals against specific appraisal criteria;
3. recommend proposals for Australian funding to the Project Management Board (PMB);
4. encourage cooperation, coordination and joint programming at the sub-provincial level;
5. establish a Resource Center and data/information base; and
6. strengthen the capacity of local organizations through training and technical support.

The NAPAC Office is overseen by the PMB comprising of individuals representing the range of issues and experience relevant to AIDS programming, as well as representatives from AusAID and DTEC. The PMB will:

1. advise on the priorities for NAPAC Office activities to best meet Program objectives;
2. recommend proposals for approval of Australian funding; and
3. ensure the activities of the NAPAC Office are consistent with Provincial and National HIV/AIDS priorities and AusAID development assistance policies.

TARGET GROUPS

Target groups for assistance, consistent with Thailand’s five-year National AIDS Prevention and Control Plan, are as follows :

1. people who undertake high-risk behavior, including female and male prostitutes and their clients; injecting drug users; youth;
2. people who are susceptible to entry into high risk activities, such as potential recruits to the sex industry;
3. ethnic minorities and non-literate people who cannot access mainstream HIV/AIDS prevention and care activities;
4. educators, health professionals and community leaders who provide services to the community and people at high risk; and
5. people living with HIV/AIDS.

ELIGIBLE PROJECTS

The Program will provide support for activities for activities in the following priority areas :

1. education and prevention efforts which raise awareness of HIV/AIDS and facilitate behavioral change to enable individuals to avoid HIV infection;
2. skill counseling services which are confidential and non-prejudicial seeking to reduce stigmatisation and isolation of people with HIV/AIDS;
3. community/family-based care for people with HIV/AIDS;
4. acute care services available to impoverished and disadvantaged groups and/or pilot programs with potential to improve acute care services;
5. action-oriented research projects which focus on disadvantaged groups, particularly ethnic minorities, women and non-literate people;
6. economic and social development activities which are HIV/AIDS focussed;
7. institutional building activities which aim to improve the capacity of people living with HIV/AIDS and/or local agencies to work on HIV/AIDS prevention and care projects;
8. practical measures for the protection of the rights and confidentiality of people with HIV/AIDS. Funding will not be available for projects which are essentially charity or pure research or for funding mainly administrative costs or capital items.

ELIGIBLE ORGANIZATIONS

Any provincial government or universities, the private sector or local non-government organizations (NGOs) and other community organizations working on HIV/AIDS prevention and care projects are eligible to apply for grants. Thai NGOs applying for funds must :

1. be a non-profit organization with regulations and by-laws; and
2. have a bank account in the name of the organization.

Private sector organizations applying for funds must :

1. be registered as a company; and
2. have a bank account in the name of the company.

Australian NGOs and other Australian institution will be eligible to apply for funding to implement activities in partnership with local organizations. The project proposal should be developed jointly with an eligible Thai organization.

FUNDING&DURATION

The timeframe for funding of projects will not normally exceed two years though three year proposals may be accepted depending on the merit of the proposal and availability of funds. Funding will be contingent on a positive annual review of the project and a work-plan being submitted for the following year which is consistent with the original objectives of project.

The grant per project will not normally exceed one million baht per year. Administrative costs, i.e. project management and personnel costs, office maintenance costs and other administrative expenses and overheads should not exceed 25% of the total amount of grant being requested.

MONITORING&REPORTING

Organizations supported by the Program are required to provide financial and physical reporting on implementation of project activities :

1. regular progress reports (for projects exceeding six months in duration); and
2. a completion report.

APPLICATIONS

All applications for project funding should be submitted in accordance with a standard format. Further details in funding procedures and activities of the NAPAC Program are available from :

Thai-Australia NAPAC Office

3^rd Floor, Shinawatra Building

14/10 Huai Kaeo Road

Chiang Mai 50300, Thialand

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