President’s Malaria Initiative announces major local program to battle disease

November 27, 2007 -- At the White House Summit on Malaria in December 2006, First Lady Laura Bush announced the launch of the Malaria Communities Program (MCP), an effort to engage local organizations in fighting malaria under the President's Malaria Initiative (PMI)—an historic $1.2 billion, five-year initiative to control malaria in 15 of the highest-burden countries in Africa.

The MCP is a new grants program that will provide $30 million over four years in grants to new partners in PMI focus countries. Senegal is one of 15 PMI focus countries. Last month, USAID announced the first five organizations to receive grants under the MCP. These organizations will receive a total of nearly $7 million to help extend the coverage of malaria prevention and control activities in communities most affected by malaria, with specific attention on children under age five and women who are pregnant.

Funding will support the efforts of communities and indigenous organizations to combat malaria at the local level. These initiatives will protect children and families and will help citizens take charge of their own health.

In June 2005, President Bush launched the PMI and pledged to increase U.S. malaria funding by more than $1.2 billion over five years to reduce deaths due to malaria by 50 percent in 15 African countries. PMI is a collaborative U.S. Government effort led by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), in conjunction with the Department of Health and Human Services (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention).

PMI is already saving lives and has reached more than 6 million Africans. This year, an additional 30 million people are expected to benefit from lifesaving treatment and prevention measures as PMI expands to four additional countries.
The MCP will identify and enable groups to become new partners in malaria control in Africa, specifically aiming to:

1. Identify potential new organizations uniquely positioned to work at the community level in PMI focus countries
2. Increase local and indigenous capacity to undertake community-based malaria prevention and treatment activities
3. Build local ownership of malaria control for the long term

The MCP will offer capacity building assistance to successful applicants, focusing on successful program implementation, needs analysis, and organizational strengthening, and offer possible mentoring relationships with established USAID partners.

PMI uses a comprehensive approach to prevent and treat malaria, supporting four key areas – indoor spraying of homes with insecticides, insecticide-treated mosquito nets, lifesaving anti-malarial drugs, and treatment to prevent malaria in pregnant women.
The MCP is a competitive assistance program open to new U.S. Government partners including U.S.-based non-governmental organizations/private voluntary organizations and in-country non-governmental organizations and their local partners.  New partners are those that have not been awarded in excess of $5 million in total, direct U.S. Government funding over the five years prior to submission of an application. For more information on eligibility requirements and new partner definition, refer to Section III, A. Eligibility Requirements of the RFA, available at the link below or from the USAID Mission in the countries listed above.  Proposals must be submitted in English.

Applications in response to this RFA are due by 10:00 AM EST on January 23, 2008.  The complete RFA can be found at: http://www.grants.gov/search/search.do?oppId=13262&mode=VIEW. 
Additional information about the MCP can be found on the PMI website at: www.pmi.gov/mcp/.