Evaluation of the family planning logistics management II (FPLM II) project (936-3038)

Interim evaluation covers the period 1990-9/94. John Snow Inc. (JSI) is the principal contractor. The project has grown considerably since start-up and its activities have become increasingly diverse within the general scope of work. Committed to a service orientation and responsiveness to field needs, the project has operated successfully in a highly unstable environment, subject to changing USAID interests and priorities and the shifting landscapes of host countries. Clients are generally satisfied with project services, and project staff constantly strive to deliver quality products and services. The project engages in vigorous outreach to the donor and Cooperating Agency community, involving the community in many of its activities. It has been less vigorous in outreach to the commercial private sector, generally limiting its efforts to tracking technologies that have little application in countries in which the project operates. At the management level, JSI's commitment to delegation, teamwork, and participatory management, a commitment embodied in eight permanent, cross-disciplinary Function Groups and ad hoc work teams, has generally served the project well, although there is no clear locus of quality or cost control and it remains unclear whether USAID's interests and priorities are reflected in Function Group decisions. JSI has provided virtually the full range of training and TA support services and has met or expects to meet major contract deliverables. Each county's assistance package is based on needs, the priority of the country as determined by JSI and USAID's Commodity and Logistics Management (CLM) Division, the nature of the request for services, and available resources. There is a strong emphasis on collaboration at the local level, both with recipient institutions and other Cooperating Agencies. The project regularly reviews its services and products, constantly upgrading them in the light of field experience. On the negative side, both CLM and JSI lack strategic focus on logistics assistance services, making it difficult to assess choices on resource allocation and to determine if project assistance is a cohesive whole which promises long-term benefit to the recipient country. Also, both CLM and JSI tend to focus on quantitative outputs (e.g., number trained) rather than impact. As a result, neither has any way of measuring the ultimate usefulness of project services. Additionally, JSI does not avail itself of private sector, developing country commercial experience; only 3 of 52 local hires have this kind of experience, and there is no outreach to such individuals at the local level, even though knowledgeable input on how to estimate needs for, purchase, store, and deliver products effectively and efficiently under difficult circumstances would promote local sustainability. Recommendations are to: expand the project's mandate to include other logistics-related assistance (such as facilities improvement and transportation infrastructure); introduce measures to assess impact and promote sustainability; allow the project more flexibility to work with integrated health deliver systems (where appropriate); and increase staff commercial expertise. (Author abstract, modified)