Assessing Scale-Up Potential for the Zimbabwe Expanded IMPACT Project

Author(s): MEASURE Evaluation

Year: 2019

Abstract:

The HIV epidemic has a profound effect on children in sub-Saharan Africa, where more than 15.1 million children have lost one or both parents. In 2014, as part of its orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) programming, the United States President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) announced a special initiative for children under five years old affected by the epidemic.

The initiative funds interventions and research in Lesotho, Eswatini (formerly Swaziland), and Zimbabwe that integrate early childhood development (ECD) with pediatric HIV treatment or prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV (PMTCT). Evaluations of each intervention generate data on successful approaches that improve health and early childhood development outcomes; the evaluations also establish evidence to improve programs. However, evidence of effectiveness is not enough to ensure that interventions become part of routine program implementation elsewhere. Achieving that end requires early planning and strong advocacy from multiple stakeholders. To prepare for potential scale-up after the results of the evaluation become available (scale-up pertains o efforts to reach more people with a proven practice more quickly and more effectively), the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) asked MEASURE Evaluation to assess the scalability of the ECD-integrated intervention in each country. (MEASURE Evaluation is a project funded by USAID and PEPFAR.)

This document outlines interventions and assessment results in Zimbabwe.