DELIVERY OF IMPROVED SERVICES FOR HEALTH

IV. Improve Management of DISH Project

During the first 18 months, the project will place priority attention on developing a common vision and broad consensus on expected results and implementation frameworks among DISH-II, health districts and sub-districts, key departments at the MOH, and selected implementing and development partners. Recognizing the inherent challenges and critical importance of real partnerships for achieving sustained and significant results, the DISH-II team will establish a systematic collaborative approach that builds on commitment to:

• a set of core values including mutual respect, commitment to people-level impact, transparency and accountability;
• recognize and build on comparative advantages and strengths of implementing and development partners;
• joint planning of DISH-II resources with districts and sub-districts including key district stakeholders and participation of MOH to the extent possible;
• participate in the development of national policy, strategic and operational documents and guidelines, and to supporting their implementation at the district levels;
• assist districts to take advantage of financial and technical health resources available at the national level and facilitate their communication and understanding with relevant central ministries;
• support the further decentralization of district health services to Health Sub-Districts.

Establishing functional DISH-II management, administrative and technical assistance teams at the Kampala and four branch offices The project will organize its 71 staff into functional teams to ensure timely technical collaboration and coordination with its multiple partners. In-house team building sessions will be conducted to develop a common vision and delineate areas of responsibility. Specific management, technical and backstopping responsibilities for DISH staff will be further defined. The current management, administrative/personnel policy, financial systems, and communication procedures, as well as equipment will be assessed and improved to increase efficient use of DISH resources and coordination with its multiple partners.

Ensuring consensus about the expected DISH results, indicators and targets Following a review of the DISH evaluation survey results, the project will develop new indicators and targets in close consultation with USAID and key partners. The indicators and related targets will be submitted for USAID approval.

Providing technical and financial support for the development, implementation and evaluation of district and FLEP annual workplans A crucial element of the project management system will be the subgrants with the districts and FLEP. These will be developed during 3-day workplan meetings with each district involving key district officials and technical staff, MOH and other implementing and development partner representatives. A similar process will be conducted for the development and implementation of the FLEP workplan.

The project will provide an estimated total amount of $600,000 for "budgetary support" to the 12 districts during the first year. Specific criteria for eligibility, size and renewal of the subgrants have been defined in consultation with the districts (see attachment 2). The project will provide $300,000 to FLEP during the first year. Budgetary support to the districts and FLEP do not include $200,000 for clinical equipment, nor does it include vehicles and laptops for the two newest districts (Ssembabule and Nakasongola), maintenance costs for district vehicles, in-country technical assistance or home office backstopping.

Establishing/Validating cost-efficient consultation, collaboration and reporting mechanisms with key partners The project will take advantage of existing working groups, coordination bodies and regular organizational meetings of key partners to consult and work on pertinent issues and/or tasks. However, the project will hold regular meetings with key partners including USAID, district and sub-district management teams, and selected central departments of the MOH to discuss DISH related activities and issues.

The project will assist the MOH Reproductive Health Dvision to strengthen advocacy for family planning and other key reproductive health problems. Accordingly the project will support the work of the task forces which have been established by the RH stakeholders. The mandate of the task forces is to assist the MOH and districts address key operational constraints related to the inadequate human and financial resources, knowledge gap for improved decision making, limited coordination among MOH, implementing and development partners, quality assurance, gender and women and child rights.

The project will seek, as appropriate, to develop collaborative plans or MOUs with implementing partners such as AIC, CARE, CMS, MOST, BASICS, SEATS, Pathfinder, AMREF, Africare, World Vision, selected departments of Makerere University and JHPIEGO-supported pre-service institutions. An important project management tool will be the organization by the project, in collaboration with the districts and key stakeholders, of quarterly reviews of district performance and semi-annual performance reviews of the DISH-II project. These reviews will involve key stakeholders and implementing and development partners.

Developing and implementing a comprehensive DISH public relations strategy The project will develop and implement a comprehensive public relations strategy. The purpose of this strategy will be to ensure broad coverage, knowledge and community awareness of DISH-supported activities and smooth collaboration with key officials, partners and communities. This will facilitate the implementation of district activities and promote transparency and accountability of Districts and DISH staff. The project will also participate and take advantage of appropriate events to promote its reproductive health and child health agenda.

Attachment 1

DISH-II Manpower

The DISH-II project includes 71 staff members organized along key technical assistance functions under the leadership of an Unified Management Team:

Unified Management Team: COP; Team leaders of the four project components; 12 professional staff including the Financial&Administrative officer, the Deputy Administrative officer; and the Program Assistant/Coordinator

Training and Service Delivery Component will be managed by one Clinical Services & Training Advisor, Child Health Specialist, LT&PM Specialist and RH/MH Specialist based in Kampala and 16 trainers distributed to each of the 4 DISH branch offices. JHPIEGO RH advisor at the Regional Center for Quality of Care will work closely with INTRAH to implement collaborative activities.

The BCC Component will be managed by one Communication Advisor and 3 Communication Specialists based in Kampala; and 4 IEC Coordinators—each based in one of the DISH branch offices.

The Health Management/Quality Assurance Component will be managed by one HM/QA Advisor, one Child Health Advisor, one HMIS Specialist, one Logistics/Financial Management Specialist and 4 Planning/Management Coordinators -- each based in one of the DISH branch offices. The Child Health Advisor will work very closely with the Clinical Services and Training and BCC Components to support relevant activities.

The Monitoring, Research and Evaluation Component is managed by one Monitoring & Evaluation Advisor and one Monitoring & Evaluation Assistant based in Kampala.

The Financial and Adminstrative Unit is managed by a Financial&Administrative officer, one Deputy Administrator, one Procurement Officer, one Dispatcher, one Accountant, four secretary/bookkeepers-- each based in one of the DISH branch offices and 25 additional support staff.

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