Featured Projects

USAID Program for Strengthening the Central American Response to HIV/AIDS (PASCA)

The USAID Program for Strengthening the Central American Response to HIV/AIDS (PASCA) was launched in October 1995 to strengthen the Central American capacity to respond to HIV/AIDS. After more than ten years of work, PASCA has contributed greatly to improving the regional policy environment in support of effective HIV/AIDS/STD policies and programs. Major activities have included stimulating sound, policy relevant research; promoting leadership development and policy dialogue; and increasing public support through mass media activities. A complementary strategy included capacity building of non-governmental organizations to provide sustainable, high quality HIV prevention and other services.

During the past four years, PASCA's activities have included the continuation of political work to help foster an enabling environment, capitalizing on previous political and information activities in order to support the development, implementation and supervision of national strategic plans, as well as applications to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. In addition, PASCA has continued its work to improve political environments by carrying out new activities that support the protection of human rights of people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA), men that have sex with men (MSM), commercial sex workers (CSW), and civil society groups so that they can implement activities of public importance.

Key work areas for which Constella Futures plays either a lead role or has substantial involvement include: (1) Technical assistance and support in national and regional HIV/AIDS strategic planning and Global Fund grants; (2) Technical assistance and support to formulate national HIV/AIDS monitoring and evaluation plans; (3) Proactive dissemination of up-to-date information and data on HIV/AIDS to key stakeholders, through the project's Website, email lists, bulletins, informative CDs and other informative materials; (4) Development of an organized entity to ensure the continuity of the Central American HIV/AIDS/STI Congress (CONCASIDA) that takes place every two years and which provides a forum to formulate norms and policies and implement regional programs; and (5) Implementation of both the National Health Accounts methodology and the AIDS Program Effort Index as a means for measuring the response of individual countries in relation to the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Constella Futures is responsible of measuring and reporting on the three main project indicators: API, Policy Matrix, National AIDS Expenditures.

More recently, Constella Futures and the Academy for Education entered into a cooperative agreement with CDC/GAP, whereby through PASCA, the consortium would assist CDC in strengthening Central American countries capacity to implement HIV/AIDS/STI epidemiological surveillance. Constella Futures prior experience in implementing a multi-country HIV/STI second generation surveillance in Central America was key in establishing this cooperative agreement.

Under the auspices of USAID, Constella Futures in collaboration with the Academy for Educational Development, continues to implement this extended 10-year project in five Central American countries: Belize, Costa Rica, Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Panama.