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Housing, land and property in the context of climate change, disasters and displacement

July 10, 2023

This brief presents the Norwegian Refugee Council's knowledge and experience in addressing housing, land and property (HLP) issues associated with climate change, disasters and displacement, including those often aggravated by conflict. It is not a comprehensive catalogue of HLP issues, nor does it present the full breadth of NRC's operations. Rather, it reflects the organisation's experience in delivering information counselling and legal assistance (ICLA), shelter and settlements and other programmes, and draws on its role as lead and co-lead of inter-agency coordination. The brief documents examples of NRC's operations in Afghanistan, Iraq, Mozambique, Somalia and South Sudan, countries also identified for the work of the Special Adviser.

Harnessing the Power of Data: Inclusive Growth and Recovery Challenge Impact Report

March 23, 2023

With generous support from the Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth and The Rockefeller Foundation, data.org issued an open call in May 2020 for breakthrough ideas that harness the power of data to help people and communities rebound and remain resilient in the wake of COVID-19 and its economic impact.Through the Inclusive Growth and Recovery Challenge, data.org sought to address a systemic issue: the majority of social initiatives don't have the budget, staff, capacity, or partnerships to take full advantage of our current data revolution. But with support, mission-driven organizations can use data, tools, and methods to make their work go further and faster, helping more people.After thorough review, we awarded $10 million in funding and technical assistance across eight exemplary awardees from a pool of over 1,200 applications, and the Paul Ramsay Foundation funded a ninth project. These awardees show the range of opportunities that exist to use data to drive social impact for workers, entrepreneurs, and communities. 

Annual Impact Report, Fiscal Year 2022: July 2021 to June 2022

November 1, 2022

EngenderHealth's fiscal year 2022 (FY22) impact report illustrates our progress across 22 projects, while countries continued to grapple with the immediate and longer-term effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Our progress and associated impacts are guided by our organizational Strategic Plan and complementary Theory of Change (see Figure 1). This report highlights our overall impact and examines findings related to each level of the socioecological model represented in our theory of change, including our influence on policies, laws, and processes; our contributions to health systems; and our impact on communities and individuals at the center of our work. We also illustrate our achievements in relation to our three core impact areas: sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) (including contraception care, abortion care, and more), gender-based violence (GBV), and maternal and obstetric care—all of which critically support EngenderHealth's mission. Furthermore, the report highlights how we achieve our results through specific pathways to change, including community engagement, digital health, and health systems strengthening; and via our priority approaches of gender-transformative change, localization of leadership, meaningful youth participation, and partnerships. All our achievements are accelerated through partnerships, learning, and leadership, and through our emphasis on organizational effectiveness and gender equity, which amplifies our impact.

Applying the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research to Identify Implementation Determinants for the Integrated District Evidence-to-Action Program, Mozambique

September 15, 2022

Introduction: The Integrated District Evidence-to-Action program is an audit and feedback intervention introduced in 2017 in Manica and Sofala provinces, Mozambique, to reduce mortality in children younger than 5 years. We describe barriers and facilitators to early-stage effectiveness of that intervention.Method: We embedded the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR) into an extended case study design to inform sampling, data collection, analysis, and interpretation. We collected data in 4 districts in Manica and Sofala Provinces in November 2018. Data collection included document review, 22 in-depth individual interviews, and 2 focus group discussions (FGDs) with 19 provincial, district, and facility managers and nurses. Most participants (70.2%) were nurses and facility managers and the majority were women (87.8%). We audio-recorded all but 2 interviews and FGDs and conducted a consensus-based iterative analysis.Results: Facilitators of effective intervention implementation included: implementation of the core intervention components of audit and feedback meetings, supportive supervision and mentorship, and small grants as originally planned; positive pressure from district managers and study nurses on health facility staff to strive for excellence; and easy access to knowledge and information about the intervention. Implementation barriers were the intervention's lack of compatibility in not addressing the scarcity of human and financial resources and inadequate infrastructures for maternal and child health services at district and facility levels and; the intervention's lack of adaptability in having little flexibility in the design and decision making about the use of intervention funds and data collection tools.Discussion: Our comprehensive and systematic use of the CFIR within an extended case study design generated granular evidence on CFIR's contribution to implementation science efforts to describe determinants of early-stage intervention implementation. It also provided baseline findings to assess subsequent implementation phases, considering similarities and differences in barriers and facilitators across study districts and facilities. Sharing preliminary findings with stakeholders promoted timely decision making about intervention implementation.

The Use of Research for Health Systems Policy Development and Implementation in Mozambique: A Descriptive Study

September 15, 2022

Health policy and systems research (HPSR) is generating an increasing amount of evidence in Mozambique, where implementation of a wide range of public health policies and interventions, and innovative technologies and solutions, is underway. We used qualitative methods to explore the relationship between HPSR and policy development and implementation in Mozambique. We conducted a literature review and in-depth interviews with researchers, experts, and policy makers. Through our analysis, we assessed barriers to the use of research evidence in the development and implementation of national health policies and identified potential opportunities to improve evidence use in this context.We found an increasing number of research institutions producing solid scientific evidence in the country, with activities in health in general and health systems specifically. There is also a growing trend for decision makers and policy makers to use the results of research during the design, formulation, and implementation of health policies. Most HPSR conducted in Mozambique is funded by international donors and focused on research questions of international interest. Therefore, research generated in Mozambique does not always address questions that are relevant to the local health system development agenda.While Mozambique has a lot of "gray literature" outlets, few of its publications support the translation of research evidence into policy. Much of the evidence generated in country is disseminated through project reports and briefings, not peer-reviewed literature. Furthermore, when the research evidence generated is not locally relevant, results may be published only in English and in scientific articles, instead of in formats useful to Mozambican policy makers—to the detriment of national-level understanding and use. We recommend that research institutions and policy makers in Mozambique collaborate on developing a platform that consolidates HPSR, making it more accessible and useful to policy makers.

Maternal and Child Health Care Service Disruptions and Recovery in Mozambique After Cyclone Idai: An Uncontrolled Interrupted Time Series Analysis

September 15, 2022

Introduction: Climate change-related extreme weather events have increased in frequency and intensity, threatening people's health, particularly in places with weak health systems. In March 2019, Cyclone Idai devastated Mozambique's central region, causing infrastructure destruction, population displacement, and death. We assessed the impact of Idai on maternal and child health services and recovery in the Sofala and Manica provinces.Methods: Using monthly district-level routine data from November 2016 to March 2020, we performed an uncontrolled interrupted time series analysis to assess changes in 10 maternal and child health indicators in all 25 districts before and after Idai. We applied a Bayesian hierarchical negative binomial model with district-level random intercepts and slopes to estimate Idai-related service disruptions and recovery.Results: Of the 4.44 million people in Sofala and Manica, 1.83 (41.2%) million were affected. Buzi, Nhamatanda, and Dondo (all in Sofala province) had the highest proportion of people affected. After Idai, all 10 indicators showed an abrupt substantial decrease. First antenatal care visits per 100,000 women of reproductive age decreased by 23% (95% confidence interval [CI]=0.62, 0.96) in March and 11% (95% CI=0.75, 1.07) in April. BCG vaccinations per 1,000 children under age 5 years declined by 21% (95% CI=0.69, 0.90) and measles vaccinations decreased by 25% (95% CI=0.64, 0.87) in March and remained similar in April. Within 3 months post-cyclone, almost all districts recovered to pre-Idai levels, including Buzi, which showed a 22% and 13% relative increase in the number of first antenatal care visits and BCG, respectively.Conclusion: We found substantial health service disruptions immediately after Idai, with greater impact in the most affected districts. The findings suggest impressive recovery post-Idai, emphasizing the need to build resilient health systems to ensure quality health care during and after natural disasters.

Primary Health Care Management Effectiveness as a Driver of Family Planning Service Readiness: A Cross-Sectional Analysis in Central Mozambique

September 15, 2022

Introduction: The effectiveness of facility-level management is an important determinant of primary health care (PHC) reach and quality; however, the nature of the relationship between facility-level management and health system effectiveness lacks sufficient empirical grounding. We describe the association between management effectiveness and facility readiness to provide family planning services in central Mozambique.Methods: We linked data from the Ministry of Health's 2018 Service Availability and Readiness Assessment and a second 2018 health facility survey that included the World Bank's Service Delivery Indicators management module. Our analysis focused on 68 public sector PHC facilities in Manica, Sofala, Tete, and Zambézia provinces in which the 2 surveys overlapped. We used logistic quantile regression to model associations between management strength and family planning service readiness.Results: Of the 68 facility managers, 47 (69.1%) were first-time managers and (18) 26.5% had received formal management training. Managers indicated that 63.6% of their time was spent on management responsibilities, 63.2% of their employees had received a performance review in the year preceding the survey, and 12.5% of employee incentives were linked to performance evaluations. Adjusting for facility type and distance to the provincial capital, facility management effectiveness, and urban location were significantly associated with higher levels of readiness for family planning service delivery.Conclusions: We found that a higher degree of management effectiveness is independently associated with an increased likelihood of improved family planning service readiness. Furthermore, we describe barriers to effective PHC service management, including managers lacking formal training and spending a significant amount of time on nonmanagerial duties. Strengthening management capacity and reinforcing management practices at the PHC level are needed to improve health system readiness and outputs, which is essential for achieving global Sustainable Development Goals and universal health coverage targets.

Barriers and Facilitators to Data Use for Decision Making: The Experience of the African Health Initiative Partnerships in Ethiopia, Ghana, and Mozambique

September 15, 2022

Background: Three African Health Initiative (AHI) partnership projects in Ethiopia, Ghana, and Mozambique implemented strategies to improve the quality and evaluation of routinely collected data at the primary health care level and stimulate its use in evidence-based decision making. We compare how these programs designed and carried out data for decision-making (DDM) strategies, elaborate on barriers and facilitators to implementation success, and offer recommendations for future DDM programming.Methods: Researchers from each project collaboratively wrote a cross-country protocol based on these objectives. By adapting the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR) through a qualitative theme reduction process, they harmonized lines of inquiry on the design of the respective DDM strategies and the barriers and facilitators of effective implementation. We conducted in-depth interviews and focus group discussions with stakeholders from the primary health care systems in each country, and we carried out multistage, thematic analyses using a deductive lens.Results: Effective implementation of DDM depended on whether implementers felt that DDM was adaptable to context, feasible to trial, and easy to introduce and maintain. The prevailing policy and political environment in the wider health system, learning climate and absorptive capacity for evidence-based change in DDM settings, engagement of external change agents and internal change leaders, and promotion of opportunities and means for team-based reflection and evaluations of what works influenced the success or failure of DDM strategies.Conclusion: Opportunities for team-based capacity building and individual mentorship led to effective DDM programming. External policies and associated incentives bolstered this but occasionally led to unintended consequences. Leadership engagement and availability of resources to act on recommendations; respond to capacity-building needs; and facilitate collaborations between peers, within hierarchies, and across the local health system proved crucial to DDM, as was encouraging adaptation and opportunities for iterative on-the-job learning.

Improving Primary Care Quality Through Supportive Supervision and Mentoring: Lessons From the African Health Initiative in Ethiopia, Ghana, and Mozambique

September 15, 2022

Introduction: Supportive supervision and mentoring (SSM) is crucial to primary care quality and effectiveness. Yet, there is little clarity on how to design and implement SSM and make it sustainable in primary health care (PHC) systems. The 3 African Health Initiative partnership projects introduced strategies to do this in Ethiopia, Ghana, and Mozambique. We describe: (1) how each partnership adapted SSM implementation strategies, (2) the dynamics of implementation and change that ensued after intervening within PHC systems, and (3) insights on the SSM sustainability as a mainstay of PHC.Methods: Researchers from each project collaboratively wrote a cross-country protocol based on those objectives. For this, they adapted implementation science frameworks—the Exploration, Preparation, Implementation, and Sustainment model and the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research—through a qualitative theme reduction process. This resulted in harmonized lines of inquiry on the design, implementation, and potential sustainability of each project's SSM strategy. In-depth interviews and focus group discussions were conducted with stakeholders from PHC systems in each country and thematic analyses ensued.Results: Across the projects, SSM strategies acquired multiple components to address individual, systems, and process-related determinants. Benefits arose from efforts that addressed worker-level attitudes and barriers, promoted a wider learning environment, and enhanced collaborative structures and tools for monitoring performance. Peer exchanges and embedded implementation research were critical to the perceived effectiveness of SSM strategies.Discussion: Despite differences in their approach to SSM implementation, there are common crucial ingredients across the SSM strategies of the 3 AHI partner projects from which important lessons arise: (1) positioning learning and adaptation opportunities within the routine workings of PHC systems, facilitation, and technical support to reflect and utilize new knowledge; (2) multisectoral collaboration, particularly with academic organizations; and (3) building PHC decision-makers' and implementation teams' capacity for evidence-informed change.

Embedding Research on Implementation of Primary Health Care Systems Strengthening: A Commentary on Collaborative Experiences in Ethiopia, Ghana, and Mozambique

September 15, 2022

Achieving universal health care coverage requires the adoption of primary health care policies and delivery strategies that are evidence based. Although this has been confronted by manifold challenges, particularly in the health systems of sub-Saharan Africa, there are promising approaches for accomplishing this objective. Salient among these is embedding implementation research (i.e., the study of methods to promote the systematic uptake of evidence-based interventions (EBIs) into routine practice) into policy making and implementation processes. Since 2007, the African Health Initiative of the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation supported partnerships that strengthened primary health systems and policy implementation in 7 countries in sub-Saharan Africa using the embedded implementation research as a core strategy. This programmatic review and analysis aims to identify the core features and processes that characterized how the partnerships operationalized the embedded implementation research approach and understand the factors that helped and constrained partnerships' effective use of this approach. For this, we drew upon findings from a desk review that consisted of 30 examples of embedded implementation research conducted by 3 African Health Initiative partnerships between 2016 and 2021 in Ethiopia, Ghana, and Mozambique. In addition, we conducted and analyzed 13 in-depth interviews with embedded implementation research stakeholders of the 3 projects.Core features and processes of embedded implementation research were: (1) the leadership role of policy decision makers and implementation leaders; (2) positioning research with program implementation at multiple levels of health systems; (3) multidisciplinary and multisectoral partnerships; (4) focus on research capacity building; and (5) real-time feedback loops and knowledge translation.Factors influencing the effectiveness of the embedded implementation research experiences involved: (1) the implementation climate and leadership; (2) opportunities and capacities to circulate and absorb new information; and (3) stakeholders' baseline knowledge and embedded scientists' identification within their organizations.

Learning Health Systems to Bridge the Evidence-Policy-Practice Gap in Primary Health Care: Lessons From the African Health Initiative

September 15, 2022

The authors provide a brief history of the African Health Initiative and introduce the articles of the Global Health: Science and Practice journal supplement, highlighting the importance of evidence-based interventions (EBI) in global health and summarizing key takeaways.

No One Is Spared: Abuses Against Older People in Armed Conflict

February 1, 2022

This report describes patterns of abuses against older people affected by armed conflict in Burkina Faso, Central African Republic, Ethiopia, Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Mali, Mozambique, Niger, South Sudan, Syria, and Ukraine. It also draws on the situation of serious protracted violence in two English-speaking regions of Cameroon, Myanmar security force atrocities against older ethnic Rohingya in Rakhine State, and the experiences of older refugees in Lebanon displaced by conflict in Syria. It also includes abuses against older people in the 2020 armed conflict in the ethnic-Armenian-majority enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh.