African Strategies for Health (ASH): Monthly Progress Report: January 2012

The project is managed by Management Sciences for Health (MSH) and is supported by the US Agency for International Development (USAID). The ASH project began in 2012 with the goal of assisting the Africa Bureau in achieving its objectives. In January 2012, the ASH team prepared for a retreat with USAID, which was held at the end of the month. The team worked closely with USAID counterparts to understand the needs of the Africa Bureau and to determine the role ASH can play in assisting the bureau. As a result of these discussions, ASH staff produced 28 Technical Concept Notes (TCNs) based on the results of their mapping work during the previous three months. The TCNs provided a brief summary of potential activities ASH could begin to undertake in year one of the project. The TCNs were generated based on discussions with the relevant Strategic Team, leading experts in the technical field, review of documents, meetings with other USAID projects and donors, as well as analysis of recommendations made by Africa 2010. The ideas in the TCNs were organized around the relevant WHO health systems building blocks: service delivery, health workforce, information, financing, and leadership/governance. During the retreat, USAID provided feedback on the TCN ideas proposed by ASH, and the proposed activities were categorized into three groups: approved, waitlisted, and not approved. Thirteen ideas were green-lighted. The ASH team also focused on project management and administration in January 2012. Dr. Rudi Thetard, the Infectious Diseases Specialist, received approval for his L-1B visa petition and relocated to the US on January 28, 2012. Gwen Morgan, the Communication Advisor for ASH, seconded from APHRC, relocated to the US on January 6, 2012. The team also worked on revising the budget in response to a request from USAID Contracting Officer. The revised budget and budget notes were submitted to USAID on February 10, 2012. Budget constraints for year one continue to impact ASH's capacity to engage and work in close collaboration with African institutions. ASH is exploring innovative ways of collaborating with these institutions, such as leveraging trips by ASH staff funded by other MSH activities. The team has planned several key activities for February 2012, including submitting the ASH Retreat Report, developing scopes of work and COR letters based on retreat outcomes, continual networking and mapping, and submitting the ASH Project budget revision and modification request to USAID.