PR's activities October - December 2007

PR's activities October - December 2007

ACTIVITIES DEVELOPPED BY THE ROMANIAN ANGEL APPEAL FOUNDATION (PRINCIPAL RECIPIENT)

1) Organization of the first series of technical assistance seminars for the implementing organizations and institutions.

Seminars were addressed to, according to their thematic, project managers and coordinators and also to financial coordinators. Fhe following had been organized:

Three modules concerning Programmatic Monitoring and Evaluation:

  • Module #1: November 2nd 2007, with 16 participants;
  • Module #2: November 29th 2007, with 8 participants;
  • Module #3: November 30th 2007, with 9 participants;

Approached subjects:

  • General principles of evaluation and monitoring of the activities;
  • Reporting, centralizing and interpretation of statistics data systems;
  • Classification of project indicators;
  • Mapping and planning activities;
  • Identification of areas and complementary interventions.

Three modules concerning Financial Monitoring and Evaluation:

  • Module #1: November 22nd 2007, with 19 participants;
  • Module #2: November 29th 2007, with 9 participants;
  • Module #3: November 30th 2007, with 3 participants;

Approached subjects:

  • Financial management of the project principles;
  • Reporting and centralizing data systems;
  • Principles of Web-based centralized reporting.

One module concerning Communication: November 23rd, with 18 participants

Approached subjects:

  • General principles of organizational communication;
  • Communication instruments used in relations with local and governmental authorities;
  • Relations with mass media;
  • The importance or organizational communication in order to ensure project sustainability.

Benefits from the organization of these seminars:

  • Thorough knowledge of the systems concerning reporting, evaluation and monitoring of the activities;
  • Facilitated experience exchange between implementing organizations;
  • Improved communication between RAA coordination team and implementers.

Due to the interactive character of the meetings, the proposed objectives have come to fruition and other supplementary subjects of common interest were approached.

2) Organization of the first work group meeting in order to ensure sustainability of the programs funded by the Global Fund and to create an advocacy and lobby strategy (December 14th ).

Purpose: the creation of an advocacy and lobby strategy in order to ensure program sustainability after their funding by the Global Fund has been stopped.

Participants:

  • Representatives of the eight implementing organizations and institutions, as well as UNODC guests;
  • Most of them develop activities included in Objective 1 of the HIV Grant (HIV prevention programs and ensuring support services for the vulnerable groups);

Facilitator (RAA coordinator): dl. Codru Răzvan Vrabie, who has over eight years experience in training, public policy, local and central public administration and in the non-governmental field.

Work method:

  • Estimation of difficulties that implementers will have when ensuring project sustainability;
  • Accurate identification of solutions / objectives correlated with the problems;
  • Accurate identification of short and medium term priorities, so that the objectives become feasible;
  • Building a coalition of the implementing organizations which will develop and apply a strategy to ensure sustainability, at least on short and medium term.

Due to the justified absence of UNOPA from this meeting, there will be a similar meeting in January 2008, for the organizations that develop activities included in Objective 2 of the HIV Grant.

Special situations concerning the implementation of HIV/AIDS Grant:

- Adjournment of the sub-funding agreement signed with "Zâmbete de Copii" Association, Galaţi

The analysis of the quarterly reports has pointed out malfunctions in the project financial management system.

Intervention measures took by the RAA coordination team:

  • M&E technical and financial visit (December 4th 2007);
  • Permanent communication with the association in order to clarify the situation (requesting for information and other supplementary evidence).

Adopted measures:

  • Adjournment of the sub-funding agreement signed with "Zâmbete de Copii" Association, Galaţi;
  • Withdrawal from the accounts of the association of the funds available at the evaluation date;
  • The RAA Foundation suggests that the activities developed by "Zâmbete de Copii" Association should be taken over by another implementing organization, in order to attain proposed indicators.

- Suspension of negotiations with the National Administration of Penitentiaries (ANP)

In December, about six months after RAA Foundation initiated the negotiation process, ANP transmitted through an official note that has decided not to sign the sub-funding agreement meant to implement programs of HIV/AIDS infection prevention among detainees of the penitentiary system.

ANP has argued that it does not have the human resources nor the materials necessary to developing these activities.

Adopted measures:

  • The RAA Foundation communicated to the CNC-FG the decision of the ANP management;
  • Considering that ANP does not exclude the possibility that these activities are implemented by some other organizations or institutions, in January 2008, there has been initiated the selection procedure for the contracting HIV/AIDS prevention projects in the penitentiary system.

2) Examination of the progress reports of the activities developed by implementers during October-December 2007.

TB GRANT

1) Organization of the first work reunion with the TB Grant implementers (October 4th 2007)

Purpose: presenting main objectives of the TB Grant.

Participants:

  • 18 people representing the eight organizations declared the winners of the selection of implementers for the activities included in the TB Grant;
  • Mrs. Dr. Cassandra Butu participated at the reunion, as guest from the TB Control in Balkans WHO Bureau. Her involvement and support had great contribution to the creation and finalization of the Country Application for the TB component.
  • The delegation of each organization and institution which attended the meeting was formed of the project coordinators and financial coordination team representatives.

Approached subjects:

  • Presentation of conclusions drawn at the seminar organized by WHO as part of the STOP TB Global Plan, seminar which took place at Tbilisi.

The given information referred to the following:

  • MDR-TB, XDR-TB, WHO recommendations for medicated treatment of TB, news about MDR-TB control at global level: new guidebooks for testing the chemoresistance of line 2 antituberculosis substances.
  • Involvement of the communities in the MDR-TB and TB control;
  • Infections control, laboratory diagnosis consolidation;
  • New methods to determine the chemoresistance of isolated M. Tuberculosis stems;
  • The principles of TB control intervention in Romania;
  • WHO recommended standards and procedures;
  • Innovations in medicated therapy of different tuberculosis forms;
  • Intervention areas and planned activities of the TB Grant.

3) Evaluation and finalization of negotiations in order to sign sub-funding agreements with the TB Grant implementers:

  • Centrul pentru Politici şi Servicii de Sănătate (CPSS) - December 8th;
  • Şcoala Naţională de Sănătate Publică şi Management Sanitar (SNSPMS) - December 14th.

4) Meetings at the request of implementers:

Meeting asked by the Romanian Red Cross (CRR), October 17th.

The purpose of the meeting:

  • Financial difficulties that CRR anticipates occurring when attaining proposed indicators;
  • The necessity of finding a supplementary, complementary funding source for the CRR activities under the TB Grant.

5) Negotiations in order to sign sub-funding agreements.

Organization with which there were negotiations and amendments to the attached documents of the sub-funding agreements:

  1. CPPS;
  2. Organizaţia Salvaţi Copiii;
  3. SNSPMS;
  4. Centrul Naţional de Studii in Medicina Familiei (CNSMF);
  5. Institutul de Pneumoftiziologie "Prof. Marius Nasta".

Also, the negotiations with National Administration of Penitentiaries (ANP) were continued, in order to implement activities under TB Grant.

6) Signing the sub-funding agreements with the implementing organizations

In December, the RAA Foundation has signed the sub-funding Agreement with Centrul pentru Politici şi Servicii de Sănătate (CPSS). Using the funs from the Global Fund (Round 6), CPSS will implement six projects concerning TB prevention and control, specific personal training and increase the capacity of the sanitary system and the pneumophtysiology network, as well as a project dedicated to the involvement of the community in Tuberculosis control.

COMMON ACTIVITIES IN HIV/AIDS AND TB AGREEMENTS:

1) Continuing measures to ensure the VAT co-financing from the state budget through Public Health Ministry, in order to acquire goods for the programs funded by the Global Fund - Round 6:

In the September-October period:

  • Consultations between RAA representatives with decision authorities from the Public Health Ministry (MSP) and Finance Ministry (MEF);
  • The solution suggested by MSP, through an official note addressed to RAA, was to initialize the regulation of the existing legal frame that would permit co-financing, from the state budget, of the VAT resulting from assets acquired for the Global Fund programs.
  • Beginning from the laws recommended by MSP as work models, The RAA has drawn a draft, in collaboration with a specialized law office;
  • The components of the draft are: Emergency Ordinance Draft, Memorandum to the Minister, Fundament Note;
  • RAA has also drawn an Agreement Memorandum which will establish the terms of the partnership between MSP, CNC-FG and RAA. Through this Memo Agreement, the signatory parties will initiate and support the draft;
  • The draft as well as the Agreement Memorandum was filed at the MSP and MEF in order to be examined.
  • Subsequently, MEF has communicated its opinion as far as approaching this problem and law procedures are concerned. At the same time, MEF has communicated his answer to the RAA, mentioning that law measures need to be initiated by the MSP;
  • The draft as well as the Agreement Memorandum was filed at the MSP to be examined, in order to be referred to the Justice department, Budgets, Secretary of State and Health Minister.

2) Experimental launch of the Round 6 web-site (www.fondulglobal.ro ; www.globalfund.ro )

Purpose of the site:

  • Making Round 6 activities visible, promoting both the results and implementing organizations;
  • Facilitating reporting through a web-based centralized system.

Characteristics:

  • Romanian and English versions (mirror image);
  • The first domain which allows direct, centralized data report;
  • Secured access for implementers, in the reporting section;
  • Free access for the public;
  • Visualization of the report indicators dynamics;
  • Main information source as far as HIV/AIDS and TB are concerned;
  • Interactivity through the blog.

Categories and columns

  • Global Fund;
  • Global Fund in Romania;
  • National Coordination Commission of the Global Fund programs (CND-FG)
  • Principal Recipient (historic, team, prerogatives, activities)
  • HIV/TB implementers;
  • Resources (informative documents, guidebooks, useful links);
  • Program Implementation Stage;
  • Partners and Collaborators;
  • Testimonies;
  • Great success stories
  • Novelties
  • On-line reporting system for implementers;
  • Photo gallery;
  • Newsletter.

The novelty consists of technical and financial report systems which, on the basis of a secured access, allow implementing organizations to directly input data and report indicators.

Thus, time and resources are saved, allowing the RAA team to better supervise and coordinate, at the same time.