USAID/Ghana Evaluate for Health (E4H) Quarterly Report

The project also builds Ghana's local capacity to sustain monitoring and evaluation, research functions, and provides overall evaluation support to the entire USAID health portfolio. Task Order 1 focuses on evaluation studies and assessments, performance monitoring and evaluation assistance, and strengthening local capacity for research. Under Component 1, the Ghana Health Service (GHS) 2017 Midline Health Services Study was completed, with Evaluate submitting an updated final draft on December 5, which was approved by HPNO the same day. The final draft of the Key Findings booklet was also approved on December 12 and printed for dissemination to stakeholders in 2018. Component 2 of Task Order 1 involves performance monitoring and evaluation assistance. Evaluate submitted 12-month DHIMS2 data to all implementing partners on November 14, including PEPFAR and PMI datasets. The FY17 DHIMS2 dashboard illustrating DHIMS2 indicator performance against FY18 targets was submitted on December 29. Evaluate also organized a "mini" MECOP meeting on the FY17 PPR on October 25 to prepare IPs for PPR data submission, and the final CY 2017 MECOP was held on December 6, 2017, focusing on DQA findings, PPR process, and the Evaluate Health Service Midline Study. Under Component 3 of Task Order 1, Evaluate submitted the CY18 Organizational Capacity Development Plan (OCDP) to HPNO on December 29, based on results from a needs assessment for research capacity building for the Greater Accra Region and the Northern Region Regional Health Management Teams for regional and district-level research. Task Order 2 involves several subtasks, including Malaria Impact Evaluation, Health Worker Training Evaluation, Evaluation of Nutrition and Poverty Reduction Initiatives in Northern Region, and Research subcontract to the University of Zurich. Under Subtask 1, a Steering Committee meeting was held on October 24, 2017, during which the evaluation schedule was revised to produce the report by the end of April 2018. Evaluate also hired a Research Assistant for Dr. Baiden, Lead Researcher, to assist in compiling data sources and organizing the data for the evaluation. Preliminary trends were communicated to Steering Committee members in December, in advance of the next Steering Committee meeting on January 18, 2018. Under Subtask 2, the first Steering Committee meeting was held on October 20, and Evaluate received conditional approval from the ERB of the Ghana Health Service on December 7 for the Subtask 2 protocol. The resubmission was approved on December 19, 2017. Evaluate finalized data collection instruments on December 13 and conducted background key informant interviews throughout December. Under Subtask 3, the first Steering Committee meeting was held on October 17, and Evaluate received conditional approval from the ERB of the Ghana Health Service on December 7 for the Subtask 2 protocol. The resubmission was approved on December 19, 2017. Evaluate has continued secondary data collection and review this quarter, in preparation for the next Steering Committee meeting scheduled for January 11, 2018. The project has made significant progress in building Ghana's local capacity to sustain monitoring and evaluation, research functions, and providing overall evaluation support to the entire USAID health portfolio. The project has also established baselines, developed and implemented studies and evaluations, provided technical assistance to HPNO's implementing partners, and rapidly implemented operations research to guide continual programmatic improvement.