PEPFAR Strategic Information/Evaluation: FY 2008

Project Title: Strategic Information/Evaluation (SI)

Budget: FY 2008 GHCS-State: $8,450,000

Implementing Mechanism: USAID, HHS and State Department contracts, cooperative agreements and grants

Contact Person(s): Kathy Marconi (OGAC)

Program Description:

Strategic Information measures progress toward PEPFAR’s 2-7-10 goals through surveillance and surveys, management information systems, program monitoring and evaluation. Counts of progress toward two million people supported in treatment and ten million individuals in care, including orphans, and vulnerable children are measured semi-annually. The goal of averting seven million infections is estimated using surveillance and survey data. In addition to reporting results, Strategic Information supports field target setting activities and capacity building efforts in these technical areas. Work is done in coordination with technical staff of other international donors. The SI budget funds multiple USG agencies to implement these technical efforts. USG agency SI work plans are defined jointly by technical working groups (TWGs) that include health management information systems (HMIS), monitoring and evaluation, and surveillance.

FY 2008 Program:

In FY 2008, the SI program has the overarching goal: “know your epidemic/know your results.” The foundation of PEPFAR SI can be characterized as supporting the PEPFAR global initiative, USG country teams, and most importantly resource-constrained host country nations and their members of civil society to strategically collect and use information in support of the global and local HIV response. In other words, to “know their epidemics/know their results” and to respond appropriately with sustainable, evidence-based, cost-effective program interventions.

Thus, “know your epidemic/know your results” as used here is to be interpreted broadly as meaning: support for the development of sustainable SI systems (including staffing, associated human capacity development, and supportive relationships) to collect, analyze, critically review, disseminate, interpret, display, and strategically use data at all levels.

Action areas that require support to address this goal can be classified as follows:

1. HQ SI Support and Staffing
2. SI Human Capacity Development
3. Data Quality, Analysis and Use
4. SI Systems Development, Evaluation, Improvement and Integration
5. Global Harmonization, Coordination, and Collaboration in SI
6. SI Knowledge Management

Of course, these action areas are not completely discrete from one another but serve as a classifying framework to plan future staffing and activities in support of the overall goal.

A key principle underlying this achievement is the unification of all areas of SI in support of a common goal that has been prioritized by the leadership of PEPFAR. An additional principle woven through all action areas is sustainability - striving toward the achievement of increased local ownership and support for and sustainability of the SI systems that PEPFAR currently supports. Specifically, countries need to plan for financial, human and institutional capacity. More institutional building or “centering activities” should be supported that move the locus of control away from USG and its partners into the domains of appropriate national institutions. For SI this means more resources to activities that promote training, data use and information exchange.

SI activities have a unique role to assist countries to ultimately obtain this sustainability by providing standards, guidelines, technical assistance and training, but also to work with WHO, UNAIDS, World Bank and Global Fund to assure standard uniform methods are used for data analysis, definitions of indicators, and procedures and assumptions for modeling. Additionally, SI HQ staff support to USG country teams and other TWGs are essential to assure quality PEPFAR reporting and appropriately analyzed and available quality data for reporting to Congress and for PEPFAR planning and resource allocation.

This program will contribute to achieving critical PEPFAR goals, including supporting prevention of seven million new HIV infections; supporting treatment for two million HIV-infected individuals; and supporting care for ten million people infected or affected by HIV/AIDS, including orphans and vulnerable children.

Time Frame: FY 2008 – FY 2009