AID contract with Management Sciences for Health to promote institutional development and to strengthen the management capabilities of family planning organizations in developing countries

The project, which will work with at least 50 public and private nonprofit FP institutions in Africa, Asia and the Near East, and Latin America and the Caribbean, will be implemented through a contract with Management Sciences for Health (MSH). A preliminary management development planning component will consist of 2 basic types of activities: (1) needs and resource assessments to identify the specific management problems and resource constraints of participating institutions; and (2) preparation of management development plans which will, at the individual institution and/or national level, provide the framework for institutional development, quantify and qualify training and TA needs, and develop plans and strategies for FP interventions. About 48 of each type of activity are planned. The bulk of project activity will consist of TA and training for institutional development. TA, both long- and short-term (92 and 300 person-months, respectively) will be provided in areas such as strategic planning, management information systems (MIS), financial management, marketing, and program development. An estimated 25 institutions will receive "ad hoc" or temporary TA, 30 will receive intermediate TA, and 18 intensive TA. Complementary training, in subjects analogous to the above, will consist of 100 workshops or study tours (80 in-country, and 20 U.S. or third country) and will include both training of trainers and direct staff training; no long-term training will be supported under this project. A separate component will focus on the development or acquisition of training materials; that is, new materials will be developed, but where possible, existing materials will be used. However, it is anticipated that 2 new handbooks will be developed under this project, addressing either MIS, financial management, management training, or cost effective improvements in quality of care. The final 2 components will be devoted to, respectively, evaluations of project activities, and dissemination, through publications, conferences, newsletters, etc., of information on project activities and lessons learned. A special effort will be made to address the professional and informational isolation often experienced by Francophone program managers. The project will employ distinctly regional strategies: for example, in Africa, the emphasis will be on developing nascent FP institutions; in Asia and the Near East, a major thrust will be decentralization and privatization of FP services; while in Latin America and the Caribbean, PVO sustainability will be a major issue. The project will explicitly include middle (15%-44%) and high (45% and up) contraceptive prevalence countries.