Dear IHD Colleagues,

Below is our monthly IHD update outlining recent happenings in the Division. We look forward to receiving any feedback you may wish to share with us.

FROM DIANA’S DESK

Wishing you a wonderful summer at least in those countries that it is summer! This year will again see a significant number of projects concluding. We must finish strong while continuing to work on building the future through new proposals. Our country capture approach, utilizing the strengths of field teams and home office support, is an important step forward to proactively develop a pipeline of new work. Better coordination and harnessing technical synergies for maximum impact as well as strengthening our visibility and voice by knowing and being able to represent the complete Abt portfolio in a country are critical as we move forward in FY16. It is precisely during these moments of intensity and challenge that we most need balance, and to support each other. Maintain your life work balance. Enjoy special moments with family and friends. Rejuvenate! Together we are strong! Happy July!

PROJECT UPDATES 

SHOPS Celebrates Five Years of Achievements in Private Sector Health

On June 16, the SHOPS project hosted its end-of-project event, highlighting project accomplishments and lessons learned from private sector programs in family planning and reproductive health, HIV and AIDS, and maternal and child health. More than 160 participants in person with an additional 80 via live stream from across the globe came together to examine trends and achievements in private sector health via interactive panel discussions, presentations, and a project expo featuring SHOPS tools and country programs. Speakers included representatives from USAID and SHOPS field staff and technical experts who presented insights and findings from over five years of SHOPS work to increase access to and use of priority health information, products, and services through the private sector. Contact: elizabeth_corley@abtassoc.com.

Mosquito Madness

In July, the PMI AIRS Project is conducting two regional trainings to ensure the project’s entomologists and technical managers have the required skills needed to monitor intensity of insecticide resistance and to evaluate the impact of indoor residual spraying on entomological indicators. The five-day project-wide trainings are being held in Adama, Ethiopia, July 6-10, and Accra, Ghana, July 13-17. A total of 40 people will be trained, including counterparts from National Malaria Control Programs. Contact: dereje_dengela@abtassoc.com.

Indoor Residual Spraying Impacts Incidence of Malaria

On a recent visit to a PMI AIRS Project sentinel site in Zimbabwe, Rear Admiral Tim Ziemer, U.S. Global Malaria Coordinator, saw firsthand how entomological surveillance and monitoring can help guide malaria prevention policies and programming, such as indoor residual spraying, to reduce the burden of malaria. Entomological monitoring and surveillance at the sentinel site identified the primary malaria vector’s high level of resistance to pyrethroids, a type of insecticide. This finding led the government of Zimbabwe to switch from the previously-used pyrethroid insecticide to an organophosphate (OP) insecticide for its 2015 spray campaign. The continued entomological monitoring has shown that the OP insecticide is reducing vector densities and since it has been introduced, the malaria burden in the catchment area has decreased. Contact: lena_kolyada@abtassoc.com.

Red Crescent Society Nurses Contribute to Defeating TB in Kyrgyzstan

Through its wide network of nurses, the National Red Crescent Society visited over 25,000 households to let them know that TB can be cured, what symptoms people should seek medical attention for, and that once treatment is started, the patient ceases to be contagious and does not pose a risk to those around them. The Red Crescent Society is working to improve TB case finding, reduce stigma against TB patients, and improve patients’ adherence to TB drug treatment. The work of the Red Crescent Society of Kyrgyzstan is supported by Abt as part of the larger USAID Defeat TB Project (2015-2019), which works to reduce the TB burden in the country, especially for most at-risk populations. The nurses serve as a link between primary health care facilities and TB patients by delivering antibiotics to patients unable or unlikely to travel to the facility. In Chui Oblast, where Red Crescent was called upon to work with patients considered most at risk of leaving treatment, the treatment completion rate was over 85%, versus 80% total completion rate for the Oblast. Considering that Red Crescent is primarily serving migrant populations which tend to drop out of treatment more often than others, this completion rate is a huge achievement. Contact: Project Director ainura_ibraimova@abtassoc.com or sara_feinstein@abtassoc.com.

Tools to Help Civil Society Engage in Health Finance and Governance

Governments and international donor organizations increasingly acknowledge the role of civil society organizations (CSOs) in strengthening health systems. By facilitating dialogue between government and citizens on issues of health sector priorities, performance, and accountability, CSOs can help improve health service delivery and contribute to evidence-based policy. Often civil society efforts are unsuccessful because organizations lack a strategy for representing and aligning their interests with the systems and procedures of those they are trying to influence. Effectively engaging with public and private sector actors requires specialized tools for advocacy, gathering and using data, and deciphering health policy and budgets, and the skills to use these tools. HFG provides practical advice on a range of tools available to CSOs in the health sector, with a specific focus on social accountability tools to help gain access to information and mobilize collective action and advocacy. Contact: lisa_tarantino@abtassoc.com.

Ghana’s Learning Exchange with Taiwan Builds Cooperation in National Health Insurance Agency

The HFG Project has been working closely with Ghana’s National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) to make it a more financially sustainable organization by reforming its payment system and improving its generation and use of data for decision-making. This spring, a delegation of Ghanaians from the NHIA, Ministry of Health, and Ghana Health Service visited Taiwan’s National Health Insurance (NHI) in Taipei for a learning exchange. Contact: chris_lovelace@abtassoc.com.

Social Workers Advocate for Swaziland’s Child Victims

Nearly one in three Swazi girls experience sexual violence before the age of 18 and one in four suffer physical violence, according to a 2007 UNICEF national study on violence against children in Swaziland. To help these young victims, the Government of the Kingdom of Swaziland has taken strong steps to support them by providing not only counseling and health services, but also special child-friendly courts (CFCs) to make it easier for the girls to testify against their attackers. Through the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, the HFG project assisted with developing the country’s third CFC in Siteki, Lubombo region and with training social workers to assist young victims. Contact: kate_greene@abtassoc.com.

REPUTATIONAL CAPITAL UPDATES

Uganda Indoor Residual Spraying (IRS) Mobile Money Success Featured in USAID’s FrontLines

Mobile money, spreading across sub-Saharan Africa, is helping to address one of the most common and intractable development challenges: exclusion from financial services. The May/June issue of Frontlines tells the story of how the Uganda IRS Phase II Project is using mobile money to pay spray team members. The innovative payment system allows money to be sent from one location directly to a subscriber anywhere in the country. Notifications of payments are sent to spray personnel who can then travel to a convenient mobile money kiosk to receive their money. Previously, the project used Postbank vans to pay spray personnel. Often payments were delayed due to bad roads and liquidity issues with the bank. Now, with a simple click of a button, mobile money payment has replaced hundreds of staff hours of work, and eliminated the need for spray team members to travel long distances to get paid. With a satisfied spray team and staff spending less time making and collecting payments, the project can better focus on the work at hand. Contact: rwakimari_jb@ugandairs.com.

SHOPS and HFG Authors Publish in Global Health: Science and Practice Journal

Authors Abigail Vogus and Kylie Graff published “PEPFAR Transitions to Country Ownership: Review of Past Donor Transitions and Application of Lessons Learned to the Eastern Caribbean” in a recent issue of the Global Health: Science and Practice Journal. Contact: kylie_ingerson@abtassoc.com.

Thinking of Submitting an Abstract to a Conference?

IHD is committed to increasing the visibility of staff work at international conferences. Since our budget for conference attendance has not increased this year, we need to be strategic about how we spend our limited funds. Generally, we ask that projects cover all costs related to the presentation of work that they funded originally. If this is not possible, the division management and technical segment leads will consider, on a case-by-case basis, which presentations to support, with an eye to funding as many attendees as possible.  Priority for IHD funding will be given to presentations which are:

• Accepted at IHD priority conferences (priority conferences have an asterisk in list of upcoming conferences below and include the technical leads for each)
• Accepted as oral presentations (colleagues who are accepted for poster presentations will generally not be funded; their posters may be presented by funded oral presenters)
• Reviewed/approved by leadership (and, as necessary, the client) of the project that originally funded the work before submission
• Submitted by field colleagues
• Submitted by projects up for rebid
• Shared with IHD conference management (the relevant conference technical lead, Liz Nugent, and Elizabeth Magnusson) before submission
• Preferably submitted by colleagues with strong presentation and networking skills

Funding decisions will be made as soon as possible after all acceptance notices have been shared with the conference tech leads, but may be delayed while presenters await approval from clients. At conferences, presenters funded by IHD will be expected to:

• Look for any means possible to cost share with their projects, particularly preparation time
• Participate in the staffing of the Abt exhibit/booth
• Contribute to social media promotion efforts
• Attend sessions of importance to the company, and write up notes on those sessions to include in a post-event summary report
• Engage in networking and client maintenance activities, and report on these activities to the Business Development team

Upcoming Conferences: Abstract Due Dates, Notification Dates, and Acceptances

If you plan to submit an abstract or have an abstract accepted, please notify Liz Nugent and Elizabeth Magnusson. IHD priority conferences are indicated with an asterisk.

International AIDS Society Conference, July 19-22, Vancouver – Katherine Brouhard. 1 abstract accepted

*Global Maternal Newborn Health Conference, Oct 18-21, Mexico City – Lara Hensley. 6 abstracts submitted, 1 accepted

*American Society of Tropical Medicine & Hygiene, Oct 25-29, Philadelphia – Mariandrea Chamorro. 6 abstracts submitted

*American Public Health Association, Oct 31-Nov 4, Chicago – Kuhu Maitra/Liz Nugent. 16 abstracts submitted, 11 accepted, 2 waitlisted

*mHealth Summit, Nov 8-11, Gaylord Resort, MD – Pam Riley

*International Conference on AIDS and STIs in Africa - ICASA, Nov 8-13 Tunis, Tunisia – Katherine Brouhard. 1 abstract submitted

*American Evaluation Association Conference, Nov 9-14, Chicago – Jennifer Burnett. 1 abstract submitted

International Conference on Family Planning, Nov 9-12, Nusa Dua, Indonesia – Caroline Quijada/Saiqa Panjsheri. 16 abstracts submitted, 10 accepted

*Trust Women Conference, Nov 17-18, London – Abby Donner

*World Diabetes Congress, Nov 30-Dec 4, Vancouver – Dasha Migunov/Elizabeth MacGregor-Skinner

*46^th Union World Conference on Lung Health. Dec 2-6, Cape Town – Martha Benezet. 7 abstracts submitted, 6 accepted

HR MATTERS

Internal Mobility Pilot Participants

Abt’s Internal Mobility pilot program offers employees who wish to gain experience in a division or department other than their own an avenue to do so.  Through this program, employees may contribute some or all of their time to another part of the organization for a set period of time, either on a short-term or long-term basis. During the pilot phase, participation is limited to a group of US-based staff who have volunteered to participate.  IHD’s first pilot volunteer group includes the employees below.   

Contact: tessa_cappuccio@abtasssoc.com.

Looking to Hire

The below positions are currently available in the U.S. All IHD openings can be found at: www.abtassociates.com/careers.

·         Senior Analyst, Req 25062 – Posted 6/15/15

·         Senior Finance and Contract Analyst, Req 25621 – Posted 6/15/15

·         Principal Associate / Portfolio Manager, Req 15321 – Posted 5/5/15

Welcomes, Goodbyes – A Sampling

Welcome: Andrea Feigl (HFG), Emily Newman (BD), James Rawls (AIRS), Stephanie Saldana (FCA team)

Goodbye: Michael Rodriguez, Emily Sanders, Jim Setzer

DIVISION UPDATES

IHD FY16 Strategic Plan Moves Forward

After a series of internal consultation sessions, the Division finalized the IHD FY16 Implementation Plan on June 30.  We will provide an update of progress against the first quarter of implementation in the next eletter. View the strategic plan on AGI. Contact: julie_doherty@abtassoc.com.

IHD Performance Improvement Committee on Staff Engagement and Retention Update

The performance improvement committee has been working closely with IHD leadership and HR regarding staff engagement, satisfaction, professional development, and retention. Initiatives underway include clearer career paths and opportunities, “Portfolio Manager 1” opportunities, and a mentoring program for staff. The committee is also looking at how we can work together to improve the PREP process. Contact: nicole barcikowski@abtassoc.com.

IHD Launches Project Management Matters (PMM)

PMM is both a showcase and a resource of useful and successful project management techniques, tools, and approaches developed and field-tested by a broad spectrum of IHD staff and is now available on AGI. PMM serves as a living document with updated editions to be published on AGI once or twice annually. Submissions are welcome throughout the year and can be sent directly to martha_benezet@abtassoc.com. All that’s needed is a brief description of the project management technique/tool/methodology you’re nominating, why it’s an example of successful project management, who is responsible for it, what project it was applied to, and who to contact for more information. Your feedback is most welcome at IHDProjMgmtMattersFeedback@abtassoc.com. 

SAVE THE DATE!

Aug 19 – IHD Quarterly Report-out

Sept 16 – Townhall

Oct 21 – IHD Global Staff Meeting

CORPORATE UPDATES

IHD Shines at Abt Annual Meeting

Congratulations to the following IHD staff who were recognized at Abt’s annual meeting in Bethesda on June 25:

·         Best Scholarly Article Award – Minki Chatterji

“Can mobile phone messages to drug sellers improve treatment of childhood diarrhea? A randomized controlled trial in Ghana” published in Health Policy and Planning

The Best Scholarly Article Award recognizes an outstanding publication published in a peer-reviewed or refereed journal.

·         Local Country National (LCN) Administrative Excellence Award – Alioune Wade
For outstanding financial and administrative leadership on the Senegal Health Systems Strengthening Project

The award recognizes management excellence, leadership, and high standards of ethical behavior and compliance.

·         Local Country National (LCN) Technical Excellence Award – Zelalem Abebe Segahu
For outstanding technical leadership on the Ethiopia Health Sector Financing Reform / Health Finance and Governance Project

The award recognizes sound and innovative methods of translating technical knowledge into practical techniques that impact host countries.

·         Clark Abt Prize for Outstanding Social Impact – Mike Egboh, Amina Aminu, Ibrahim Yisa

For improving the financing, planning, and delivery of sustainable and replicable health services for common health problems in Nigeria through the Partnership for Transforming Health Systems (PATHS2)

The Clark Abt Prize recognizes work carried out that has had outstanding social impact. This prize honors Clark and our commitment to Abt’s mission.

And congratulations to Thierry van Bastelaer for his promotion to IHD Vice President!

eBooks Make Abt's Library More Accessible

​A new collection of more than 200 eBooks has been added to the Abt library. Viewing these materials digitally will allow easier access to resources for colleagues located around the world. The collection contains titles representing the diverse subject areas of our work including education, economics, family planning, and technology. You can browse the eBook collection through the Abt Library page on AGI and navigate to eBooks. You must have a My EBSCO host account to download books. For information on creating an account and accessing the eBooks, review the reference guide available on the eBooks page. Take a moment to check out what's available. If you are interested in topics or titles beyond this collection or have any questions, contact Abt Librarian sarah_curran@abtassoc.com.

Sent to ALL IHD US & Field, MAG, Corp Comm, JLipton@stratusconsulting.com