The CORE Group


Spring Membership Meeting
2002

April 22 - 26, 2002
Project HOPE
Millwood, Virginia

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Sharing and Reflection: FY02 Working Group Highlights, Ideas, and Recommendations

Monitoring and Evaluation Working Group:

Highlights:

  1. Tools
    • KPC 2000+ field guide revised, produced, disseminated
    • Environmental HFA module produced
    • LQAS curriculum/manual finished
    • KPC 2000+ training curriculum drafted
  2. Meetings
    • November/December 2001: regional training in Cambodia (KPC sampling)
    • September 2001: “Nutrition Works”, joint meeting with FAM, FANTA, to share experiences on measuring indicators related to nutrition and nutrition practice
    • May 2001: Job Aids Symposium with QAP, to share experiences
  3. Information and Dissemination
    • Two SOTA papers drafted: C-HIS, Health Worker Performance
    • LQAS Manual completed
    • FAM Monitoring Toolkit (contributions from CORE members)

Future:

  1. Call for abstracts is on the listserv for “Data for Action” for September 2002
  2. Advancement of the KPC 2000+ Training Curriculum
  3. Regional training using the KPC 2000+ Training Curriculum
  4. EPI Info update
  5. KPC review meeting (may link with Food Security, and be revised to consider motherless households, maybe tuberculosis, conflict situations, etc.)
  6. Finalize SOTA paper on Measuring Impact of IEC/BCC/SBC
  7. Links to M&E documents on the web, connecting NGO Networks, FAM, etc. Possibly an “M&E website”.
  8. Meetings:
    • June 2002: Curamericas TOST
    • Summer 2002: LQAS Workshop with IRC in Rwanda for Francophone countries

Ideas and Recommendations:

  • Identify an OR topic and carry out the OR
  • Training on how to carry out OR
  • Standardized HIV indicators (keep up with developments and provide CORE inputs)
  • Intervention-specific application of LQAS examples.

Malaria Working Group:

Highlights:

As a result of the Fresh Air Workshop and resulting CD:

  1. Resource mobilization (RBM, USAID; country priority list)
  2. Awareness raising
  3. Networking (RBM, private sector, CAs)
  4. Integration with other Working Groups (ex.: IMCI, Safe Motherhood/Reproductive Health)
  5. Dissemination of the Minimum Package
  6. New Initiatives:
    • · SOTA paper with JHU
    • · Participation with Malaria and Pregnancy Working Group with Mary Ettling and JHU participants

Ideas and Recommendations:

  • Provide a technical update on long-lasting nets
  • Look more closely at quality of home-based care (similar to the Monitoring and Evaluation Working Group Job Aids)
  • · Look at other bilateral donors’ malaria activities (DFID, CIDA, etc.)
  • · IPT as a prenatal minimum package (TT, FeSO4, IPT)
  • · TRM: malaria needs to be reviewed
  • · Work with IMCI WG more closely, using a specific mechanism.

Nutrition Working Group

Highlights:

  1. Improve documentation of impact (food/nutrition) intervention, looking back five years in Child Survival Projects with at least a growth monitoring component. Status: plan discussed with technical assistance agencies (FANTA, FAM, others); requested hiring an intern
  2. Technical updates: “Nutrition Works” Workshop with CSTS, FAM, FANTA, MEWG. Status: Workshop held; report pending (distributed at meeting).
  3. Reviewing Hearth Manual. Status: Manual reviewed; considering translation to French, Spanish.
  4. Improvements to survey tools (KPC2000+, data capture with PDAs). Status: taking place at this meeting.
  5. Review PVO experience in food fortification. Status: taking place at this meeting.
  6. Presentations about non-invasive assessment of anemia and managing severe malnutrition. Status: taking place at this meeting.
  7. Increase collaboration with other Working Groups: MEWG, IMCI (AIN). Status: AIN review being discussed with IMCI Working Group.

Ideas and Recommendations:
None provided.

IMCI Working Group

Highlights:

Mission: to strengthen PVO efforts to implement effective IMCI programs.

Objective 1: Documentation of PVO C-IMCI efforts Survey; CSGP input; collection of materials; targeted documention with regional meetings and specific issue areas; searchable database.

Objective 2: Increased advocacy for C-IMCI framework Journal article submitted; C-IMCI materials created and distributed (CD ROM, framework depiction, laminated tool, new commmunications tools); country workshops (to be expanded); regional workshops (W. Pacific NGO Consultation; W. Africa; LAC; Asia).

Objective 3: Improved implementation in selected countries PVO CSP efforts; Bolivia-AIN study; Benin- request for mission partnership (RFMP); coordination- Malawi.

Objective 4: Other.
Policy involvement: IAWG participation.

Ideas and Recommendations:

  • Integrated behavior change approach for improving care seeking for IMCI danger signs;
  • How to address the 16 key behaviors from Durban meeting; some are multiple behaviors;
  • neonatal interventions;
  • integrate across Working Group's supervisory and quality improvement activity.

Safe Motherhood/Reproductive Health Working Group

Highlights:
1. Reproductive Health Updates
Topics presented in the past year: MCTC; home-based life saving skills; midwifery; saving newborn lives; natural family planning.

2. Crucial Checklist
The checklist (started by CSTS) is being updated, revised, expanded, and cross-referenced by experts from ACNM.

3. Collaboration with FHI/IMPACT
Products under development: improved KPC questions and TRMs (in collaboration with CSTS and the MEWG); three manuals on VCT (setting up VCT services, national policies, and counseling); similar materials for MTCT; primer on project planning and evaluation.

4. Collaboration with LINKAGES
Two meetings held to discuss collaboration with AED/LINKAGES. More support and “buy-in” is required by USAID to support collaboration between CORE PVOs and LINKAGES.

Ideas and Recommendations:

  • Definitely link with HIV/AIDS Working Group. Need to work on a mechanism for more participation in planning.
  • OR with the Monitoring and Evaluation Working Group.

HIV/AIDS Working Group

Highlights:

  1. CORE- FHI/IMPACT collaboration
    • VCT guidelines
    • MTCT guidelines
    • TRMs
    • KPC 2000+ AIDS module

  2. CORE-SEEP collaboration
    • Two-day workshop in November 2001
    • HIV/AIDS curriculum for micro-finance.

    Ideas and Recommendations:
    Not available.

    Social and Behavior Change Working Group

    Highlights:
    IR1: Increase CORE member awareness, networking, access to external resources

    • Posted NGO Networks technical approach paper on the CORE website, accompanied by a CSTS bookmark.

    IR2: Assess, stay apprised of relevant needs and interests of CORE members.

    • Assessed current technical strengths and areas for improvement – to recommend tools and approaches to provide technical support to strengthen PVO capacity.
    • Meta-analysis of SBC approaches in CS – 16 DIPS.

    IR3: Coordinate effective partnerships with other agencies to build PVO capacity.

    • Regional training in South Africa on the “BEHAVE” framework for 56 participants from 19 organizations in 15 countries.
    • Project managers and counterparts from CS programs.
    • The “Learn to BEHAVE” workshop was an opportunity for managers and planners of CS projects to experience how a behavioral framework can aid them in planning their project strategically for maximum effectiveness. The workshop was based on the BEHAVE framework as found in the most recent version of the CSGP TRM.
    • The report is on the CSTS website at http://www.childsurvival.com/documents/workshops/BEHAVE.

    Existing Plans:
    1. Feedback on use of Behave Framework use by February Workshop participants

    2. “Behave” framework training for HQ personnel

    3. Tools for measuring determinants, for either monitoring or evaluation

    4. Develop Behave framework case studies based on current programs

    5. SOTA paper on monitoring behavior change- going beyond inputs and outputs.

    Ideas and Recommendations:
    None provided.

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