Health, Hygiene, Nutrition, and Food Security

 

Examples of health consultancies, focusing on health systems, institutional strengthening, food and water security, nutrition, maternal and child health, and health rights:

  • 2017 Kenya – Evaluation Services and Program Support – evaluation of health clinics, and maternal health (USAID)
  • 2016 Iraq/Kurdistan – Socio-Economic Study for Societal Development in Duhok (TAQA, United Arab Emirates)
  • 2016 Iraq/Kurdistan – Socio-Economic Study for Societal Development in Tawke, Duhok (DNO, Norway)
  • 2014 Kenya – Performance Evaluation of National Health Capacity Building (USAID)
  • 2013 Georgia – Health Rights Monitoring Strategy for Public Defender’s Office (SIDA)
  • 2010-2011 Georgia – (USDOS) Georgia Monitoring Project
  • 2009 Sudan/Darfur – Nutrition and Food Security Study (Global Relief Alliance)
  • 2006 Sudan – Revision of UNDP Poverty Alleviation Governance Program (Danida)
  • 2005 Botswana – Identification of Outcome Indicators for Education Sector Policy (EU)

2014 Kenya – (USAID) Performance Evaluation of National Health Capacity Building

Conducted a mid-term evaluation of USAID’s Kenya-FUNZO, which supported the Kenyan government’s National Health Capacity Building Mechanism. This was a multi-pronged assessment of all aspects of the health industry, from university courses, professional development, e-learning, health curricula, registration and licensing, industry requirements, public-private partnerships, funding models, system strengthening, clinical placements, a nationwide training needs assessment, and future forecasting for the supply and demand of health professionals. It was a results-based assessment against government priorities, indicators, and targets. Part of the assessment included site visits to hospitals and health clinics across the country, and 16 focus group discussions (FGD). The project also aimed to develop integrated Human Resource Information Systems (iHRIS Train) owned by the Ministry of Health with national identification numbers that link human resources with health training data, which was also assessed. The issues of centralization versus devolution, and inter-regional coordination, were also examined. There was also a focus on gender and leadership, and the cultural issues of midwifery.

Funding sources for Kenya-FUNZO included RH (Reproductive Health), Maternal and Neonatal Child Health (MNCH), and the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), which were assessed in terms of the courses offered. RH included an assessment of courses in Clinical Care of Sexual Violence (CCSV), Contraceptive Update, Long-Acting Permanent Methods (LPM) for Family Planning, and Screening for Cervical Cancer. For MNCH, the courses included Emergency Maternal Obstetric and Neonatal Care (EMONC), Infant Young Child Feeding (IYCF), Integrated Management of Childhood Illness (IMCI), Essential Maternal and Newborn Care (EMNC), and Focused Antenatal Care.

2013 Georgia – (SIDA) Health Rights Monitoring Strategy for Public Defender’s Office

Developed a participatory health rights and human rights short-term and long-term monitoring strategy and strategic plan with the Public Defender’s Officer in Georgia. This particularly focused on women, girls, disenfranchised youth, refugees, and internally displaced persons. In conjunction with the PDO Health Rights Unit the consultancy resulted in a one year and a three year Strategic Plan and monitoring strategy.

2009 Sudan/Darfur – (Global Relief Alliance) Nutrition and Food Security Study

Conducted a nutrition and food security study in the west Darfur region of Sudan. Designed and implemented an anthropometric assessment (especially the measurement of children and the identification of edema) and a household survey to evaluate nutrition, health, water sanitation, and food security. The aim was to provide recommendations for a multi-sectoral emergency and disaster relief program for internally displaced persons and refugees. The assignment for six humanitarian aid organizations (INGOs) specifically included a study to determine: (1) the level of acute malnutrition in children aged 6-59 months and factors influencing nutritional status in relation to care practices; (2) the health status of the beneficiary population; (3) a household food supply and agricultural-related assessment; (4) household water and sanitation practices; (5) breastfeeding and weaning practices; and (6) infant, pregnancy and maternal morbidity and mortality rates. In collaboration with the Ministry of Health, and with capacity building for data entry and data collection assistants for ministry staff for a participatory assessment, the study was conducted in three regions of west Darfur. After the study, the results were compared with the previous five annual data collections (2004-2009) to produce a synthesized report with a 5-year trend analysis.

2006 Sudan – (Danida) Revision of UNDP Poverty Alleviation Governance Program

Pro-poor, human rights programming in education and health to ensure accountability and transparency of financial data for the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) with the Ministry of Finance in the Red Sea State.

2005 Botswana – (EU) Identification of Outcome Indicators for Education Sector Policy, Statistician Specialist

Conducted an assessment of education and training indicators for the sector policy support program in Botswana for the European Union, as the statistician specialist. Reviewed the impact of HIV and AIDS on the education sector—such as the incidence of HIV and AIDs in the teacher population, in the student population, and in educational management; its impact on school and work attendance rates, drop-out rates, performance results, and completion rates; its impact on children as head of families; and the impact of children as carers of parents with HIV and AIDS.