Assessing and Strengthening Strategic Information Capacity of Local Partners Supporting USAID Missions to meet Journey to Self-Reliance goals

Receiving direct PEPFAR funding is an enormous opportunity for local organizations, enabling them to increase qualified staff, expand much-needed services, and strengthen enduring organizational systems. However, this funding comes with extensive requirements, including financial management, contractual compliance, and strategic information and results reporting. Newly established primes face a steep learning curve in meeting these requirements. To help local partners succeed, USAID Missions need ways to assess and build local organizations' capacity to independently manage funding, including their ability to complete routine and required reporting. Some local organizations also require support to "skill-up" their workforce to respond to critical HIV and COVID-19 data needs. Standardized assessment tools, online trainings, and virtual mentorship approaches support efficient capacity strengthening and allow organizations and their clients to check in on organizational growth over time. Data.FI's approach to capacity strengthening begins with a strengths-based assessment of staff skills and organizational processes related to strategic information and reporting, followed by an action planning step to agree on priorities. Data.FI then supports capacity strengthening in critical areas and assesses local partner progress in an iterative way. The PEPFAR Strategic Information Capacity Assessment (PSICA) tool, developed by Data.FI, is an easy-to-administer, rapid, and virtual assessment tool that can be self-administered by local partners or completed jointly by local partners and USAID Missions. Routine assessments communicate readiness for transition and inform action plans to strengthen local partners' SI capacity prior to or during the transition to prime awardee status. Data.FI provides customized trainings and mentorship to local partners to meet capacity gaps. A standardized training for local partners globally on data quality and site-level quality improvement has been developed and implemented, which was identified by local partners and USAID as a key area for growth. Country-specific training and mentorship programs in data review, visualization, and use have also been developed and carried out. As of January 2021, Data.FI had virtually assessed eight local partners from six countries in Africa and the Caribbean using the PSICA tool, and more than 100 SI and M&E managers, M&E directors, and data clerks from 30 local partner organizations in three continents have participated in Data.FI's virtual DQA tools online course. Data.FI works with Mission teams to understand the local partner landscape and their progress and goals related to the Journey to Self-Reliance. Data.FI then works with local partners prioritized by the Mission and helps identify promising local partners, should that be one of the Mission's objectives. To date, Data.FI has conducted all assessments, action planning dialogues, and trainings virtually, ensuring a highly efficient process. Data.FI is a five-year cooperative agreement funded by the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief through the U.S. Agency for International Development, implemented by Palladium in partnership with JSI Research & Training Institute, Johns Hopkins University, Right to Care, Cooper/Smith, IMC Worldwide, Jembi Health Systems, and Macro-Eyes, and supported by expert local resource partners.