Collaboration and Coordination

MEASURE DHS is charged with collaborating with local and international organizations as much as possible in order to cut costs, share resources, and increase inter-agency communication and cooperation. 

Collaboration happens on many levels.  Other countries and international agencies often supplement DHS’s funding from USAID by contributing to the cost of surveys or specific projects within surveys.  Collaboration also occurs within survey countries, as a variety of organizations (both governmental and non-governmental) must work together on the survey steering committee.  Once the survey results are released, collaboration occurs on the ground as DHS works with other organizations to disseminate the data to a wide range of audiences.

Examples of Collaboration and Coordination include:

• Development of Malaria Indicator Survey
  MEASURE DHS collaborated with MEASURE Evaluation, CDC, UNICEF and WHO, all members of the Roll Back Malaria Monitoring and Evaluation Working Group, to develop the Malaria Indicator Survey: Basic Documentation for Survey Design and Implementation document. Experience gained from the Demographic and Health Surveys and UNICEF’s Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys has been instrumental in the design, testing, and documentation of the various components of the Malaria Indicator Survey package. The entire package of materials has been loaded onto the Roll Back Malaria website (www.rollbackmalaria.org).

• Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Collaboration
  In October 2004, MEASURE DHS staff began participating in ongoing meetings of GIS specialists from all MEASURE projects (DHS, Evaluation, BUCEN, CDC) to share GIS related practices and discuss areas for collaboration. Meetings have been semi-annual (November 2004 and April 2005).

• Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Workshops
  In collaboration with MEASURE Evaluation, DHS GIS specialists held a workshop with the National Bureau of Statistics, Tanzania National AIDS Control Program (NACP), Tanzania AIDS Commission (TACAIDS), and MOH to train colleagues to analyze the data from the Tanzania HIV/AIDS Indicator Survey (THIS), in August 2005. External participants from Research on Poverty Alleviation (REPOA) and Engender Health also attended the training. Workshop participants were introduced to the geographic components of the THIS data and learned techniques for using the ArcGIS software to perform geographic analyses of health-related data. Participants were asked to bring data from their own organizations, and Macro provided data from the THIS and spatial data from the recent WHO HealthMapper data archives.

• In-Country Collaboration
  In Tanzania, MEASURE DHS collaborated with partners and CAs on a number of activities:
  
  
  • With MEASURE Evaluation to produce a curriculum on using data for district level planners.
  • With TACAIDS, PACT, Concern, and PATHFINDER to develop a curriculum for civil society organizations (CSOs) to review the findings of the THIS and how they can be used by district-level program managers. Pathfinder is now pre-testing the poster on the THIS findings that MEASURE DHS prepared. Pathfinder also will pretest the curriculum with their HBC staff.

In Kenya, MEASURE DHS has formed a working group of youth specialists to collaborate on designing a youth brochure based on the Kenya DHS. Among the members of the team are representatives from PATH, CDC, and the Population Council.

In Guyana, MEASURE DHS collaborated with Family Health International (FHI), using the HIV/AIDS SPA to provide FHI with some specific information on prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) of HIV in 17 facilities through observation and exit interviews.