Pakistan BCC Project Award Ceremony Held

MAY 2004 — FHI/Pakistan organized a project awarding ceremony at its office in Islamabad, Pakistan, on May 4.

The ceremony not only officially recognized the local implementing agencies (IA) chosen to lead behavior change communication (BCC) efforts in Pakistan, but also kicked off a five-day workshop to build capacity of the organizations.

FHI/Pakistan Country Director Dr. Naseer Muhammad Nizamani opened the ceremony with welcoming remarks and awarded certificates to the agencies.

USAID/Pakistan Mission Director Lisa Chiles, chief guest of the ceremony, also attended and awarded local organizations with behavior change communication projects for HIV/AIDS.

During the ceremony, Chiles praised the work of the organizations, adding that she hoped the projects would contribute to a positive HIV/AIDS situation in Pakistan.

Chiles further explained that USAID and Family Health International financial and technical assistance would strengthen the multilateral response to HIV/AIDS prevention. She also noted the projects would contribute toward effective programming and designing of BCC for HIV/AIDS prevention for the entire country.

BCC Expert Attends Workshop, Helps Build IA Capacity

Following the ceremony, international BCC expert Nancy Jamieson led a five-day workshop (May 4-8, 2004) entitled HIV/AIDS Behavior Change Communication Strategies and Developing an Action Plan. Jamieson held the workshop to build technical capacity of partner organizations.

To build upon these initial efforts, FHI/Pakistan plans a comprehensive technical capacity-building strategy for these organizations during the next two years.

As part of that plan, FHI/Pakistan developed the following guidelines for use by the local implementing agencies (IA):

1. introduction to FHI/Pakistan operations
2. selection criteria/score sheet for selecting IAs 
3. policies and protocols for BCC/IEC material development
4. project designing and proposal writing workshop
5. quality assurance checklist for IMPACT Project operations
6. technical and programmatic reporting requirements for subagreements

Photo, top: FHI/Pakistan Country Director Dr. Naseer Muhammad Nizamani, right, awards a BCC project to Dr. Khalida Bajwa of ASEER group, while USAID/Pakistan Mission Director Lisa Chiles, back left, observes. (FHI) View larger image.

Photo, middle: USAID/Pakistan Mission Director Lisa Chiles awards project to Nazir Masih of New Lights AIDS Awareness Group. (FHI) View a larger image.

Photos, bottom: International BCC expert Nancy Jamieson gives a workshop certificate to Dr. Iftikhar of PAVHNA. (FHI) View a larger image.