Annex 2: Summary of BALANCED activities from January 1 - September 16, 2013
IR1
Capacity built for integrated PHE implementation
During this reporting period, we turned capacity building over to many of our PHE practitioners, while completed our post-mentoring support to partners in the field. This support was designed
to ensure that ownership of the PHE process is transferred to our partner organizations. Details of capacity building support provided during this reporting period are described below.
1.1
Build capacity of champion NGOs in Africa on PHE
BALANCED Project conducted a two-week course entitled, “Building Community Resilience: Integrating Population, Health and Environment PHE”, in Bagamoyo, Tanzania from February
18-28, 2013. Sixteen participants from Ethiopia, the Gambia, Kenya, Mozambique, Senegal, Tanzania and Uganda completed the training in PHE concepts relating to family planning,
health, climate change, coastal resources management, resilience, behavior change communication, systems thinking, advocacy, scaling up and monitoring and evaluation ME.
The purpose of the two-week intensive course was to increase was to increase capacity and skills among these 16 PHE program implementers in Sub-Saharan Africa. The course promoted
advanced thinking, the sharing of lessons learned from practical experience and the exploration of creative ideas from across Africa. It provided a rare opportunity for reflection, learning,
networking and access to leading thinkers and practitioners in natural resources management, population and health and the nexus of all three. The course built technical and management
skills and knowledge while also providing professional skills development. Participants also recognized their fellow trainees as resources for PHE information and tools.
By the end of the training, participants refined their knowledge in PHE concepts and gathered learned lessons on integrated PHE approaches through site visits to villages surrounding Saadani
National Park in rural Tanzania. Participants also prepared action plans to continue to advance and strengthen their personal and project PHE objectives beyond the course.
Results from Activity 1.1:
• 16 participants trained on PHE implementation
• 2 BALANCED trainees training peers on PHE implementation
1.2 Provide on-going support to BALANCED trainees and PHE practitioners
•
The Integrated Coastal and Fisheries Governance Project ICFG or the Hen Mpoano Our Coast Initiative in Ghana – Linda Bruce followed up with Peace Corp Volunteer,
Leslie Mwinnyaa, who trained student nurses from Esiama Community Health Nursing Training School ECHNTS as a means to promote PHE linkages in Hen Mpoano project
sites. Impressed with the results, Linda linked her to the Woodrow Wilson Center, who invited Ms. Mwinnyaa to give a presentation on Hen Mpoano’s PHE youth activities in
39 Ellembelle. PFPI followed up with Hen Mpoano CRC and Friends of the Nation for PHE
updates and offered technical assistance as needed. Results from Activity 1.2:
• Two post-training assistance interventions to FON and Peace Corp volunteer from one
BALANCED focus country Indicator 1.4a
Provide technical support to the HOPE-LVB Project
The BALANCED Project partnered with Partners in Expanding Health Quality and Access hereafter Partners, on behalf of ExpandNet, to expand USAID’s global leadership in integrated
PHE activities by building the capacity of Pathfinder International and its partners on PHE scale- up as part of the Health of People and Environment in the Lake Victoria Basin HOPE-LVB
Project funded by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthurDavid and Lucile Packard Foundations and USAID. In addition to the subcontract with ExpandNet, BALANCED staff also
provides technical assistance to the HOPE-LVB project. During this reporting period the following technical support was provided:
ExpandNet PartnersExpandNet is helping Pathfinder, Ecological Christian Organizations ECO,
Conservation Through Public Health CTPH, and OSIENALA to develop and test two models of integrated interventions in Uganda and Kenya that have the potential for sustainability and can
be scaled-up to other districts in the regions, with the possibility of expanded relevance and replication for the other countries in the LVB region. During this reporting period, the
ExpandNet team members provided the following virtual technical support to HOPE-LVB:
• Participated in the two-day “Meeting of the Minds II” with donors, members of the
technical support teams, including ExpandNet team members, and HOPE-LVB implementing partners to assess project progress and undertake strategic
planningmapping of future directions
• Both in country and virtually undertook analysis of baseline data report and supported
PHE Fellow’s preparations to facilitate team discussions on the implications of the data for current implementation and future scale up and to identify any possible mid-course
corrective measures, as appropriate.
• Conducted two field-visits to Uganda and Kenya project sites together with HOPE
colleagues to enable providing input into project implementation from a scaling-up perspective. Meetings took place with local stakeholders, health and environmental
service providers, community groupsorganizations leadersauthoritiesdecision makers and others about the challenges and opportunities encountered during project
implementation. This activity is expected to stimulate interest and buy-in from key stakeholders for expanding the adaptation and implementation of HOPE-LVB’s
intervention package.
• Supported Lucy Shillingi in the preparation of the scaling-up focused aspects for the
BALANCED Africa PHE course in Tanzania.
40 •
Supported the participation of Antony Omimo’s in the Africa PHE Course to promote learning and information dissemination about the Project’s experiences and to enhance
the potential for scalability of successfully-tested interventions within the region.
• Developed a draft tool for documentation of project activities not currently captured in
other areas of the project monitoring plan, which has been adopted by the Project team to help gather a more complete picture of the process of implementation and what will be
required to ensure future success with scaling up.
• Conducted brief preliminary interviews with a few team members to assess reflections on
what is being learned from applying the guidance contained in the ExpandNetWorld Health organization WHO document “beginning with the end in mind” which will be
analyzed as part of an exercise to write up preliminary lessons during the coming year
• Helped facilitate the decision to found a project steering committee in both countries and
helped develop the agenda and presentations and participated in the first meeting of the committee in Uganda
• Provided long distance technical support in the identification
BALANCED TA •
Linda Bruce attended the January 21 to 22, 2013 Meeting of the Mind meeting in Uganda and provided input on BALANCED TA to the HOPE-LVB Project
• Trained HOPE-LVB on what are job aids, and provided hands-on mentoring and
continued virtual support to develop a job aid for HOPE-LVB behavior change agents •
Assisted Pathfinder Uganda to develop a module for use in orienting the behavior change agents and the community on PHE. The module incorporated key messages from the job
aid.
• Assisted Pathfinder Uganda to develop a counseling tool that could be used by HOPE-
LVB behavior change agents as the counsel the community about PHE •
Provided input HOPE-LVB newsletter
•
PFPIPTAL participated in a HOPE LVB team meeting and provided inputs related to the project steering committee.
• PFPIPTAL provided technical support to HOPE-LVBExpandNet in preparation for
their one-day PHE Advocacy event as part of the August 2013 Eastern, Central, Southern African Community ECSA Best Practices Forum
Results from Activity 1.3 •
4 HOPE-LVB partners continue to incorporate ExpandNet scale-up methodology into their project activities Pathfinder Uganda, Pathfinder Kenya, Osienala, ECO, SO-1
• 6 3M, 3F HOPE-LVB project staff taught how to develop a performance-oriented job
aid for community behavior change agents. Indicator 1.1 •
7 TA interventions to HOPE-LVB Project Indicator 1.4a
41 -
2 hands on ExpandNet TA interventions on M E and project strategic directions -
5 TA interventions by BALANCED: 1 hands-on TA visit job aid development and MOTM meeting and 5 virtual TAs 2 for orientation module, 2 for counseling tool
and 1 for newsletter
IR2 PHE knowledge and tools developed, synthesized, and shared
The knowledge management KM element of the BALANCED Project serves as the nexus of IR1, Capacity built for integrated PHE implementation and IR3, Results-oriented PHE field
activities implemented in areas of high biodiversity. The BALANCED mid-term evaluation recommended, however, that the Project team reduce its KM-specific activities, while continuing
to maintain and build only modestly on those activities and outputs already invested in during the Projects’ first years. BALANCED KM activities continue to focus on three key areas:
• Identify, document and synthesize knowledge on PHE Activity 2.1
• Organize existing and new knowledge for the PHE website Activity 2.2
• Share knowledge within the PHE community and beyond Activity 2.3
2.1. Identify, document, and synthesize knowledge
