Activity Monitoring and Evaluation Plan (AMEP) for the United States Agency for International Development’s (USAID) five-year Systems for Better Health (SBH) in Zambia activity

The activity is being implemented by Abt Associates Inc. in partnership with several subcontractors, including Akros Inc., American College of Nurse-Midwives, and Save the Children. The primary goal of the activity is to improve health outcomes for Zambians by strengthening systems that underpin the delivery of high-quality health services. Zambia has made significant progress in reducing child mortality rates over the past decade. According to the 2013/14 Zambia Demographic and Health Survey, the under-five mortality rate declined from 197 per 1,000 live births in 1996 to 75 per 1,000. Similarly, infant mortality rates dropped from 109 per 1,000 live births in 1996 to 45 per 1,000 in 2013/14. These reductions bring Zambia close to meeting the National Health Strategic Plan targets for under-five and infant mortality rates. The Systems for Better Health activity aims to increase the utilization of high-impact health interventions and provide technical, financial, logistical, and administrative assistance to the Government of the Republic of Zambia at the national, provincial, and district levels. The activity also seeks to strengthen the capacity of non-governmental and community-based organizations to deliver selected health services in remote areas. The activity's guiding principles include a comprehensive and flexible approach, with a focus on gender and equity. The Systems for Better Health Results Framework outlines the activity's objectives, indicators, and targets. The framework is based on a Theory of Change, which describes the expected outcomes and pathways for achieving the activity's goals. The activity's monitoring and evaluation plan is designed to track progress toward the activity's objectives and provide data for decision-making. The plan includes a research, monitoring, and evaluation team, routine monitoring, data sources, data collection and management, data quality assurance, and data use, dissemination, and reporting. The plan also outlines a schedule for performance monitoring tasks and a research and evaluation plan, including baseline documentation, indicator selection, and data quality assessment. The activity's budget for research, monitoring, and evaluation is outlined in the plan, as well as the indicators and targets for the activity. The plan also includes annexes with additional information, such as a summary of indicator revisions, a list of target facilities by province and district, and a detailed theory of change by result.