Category: Region: Global - CSF

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Effective Programming Begins on the Inside: Strengthening UNAIDS with Better Data

5/10/2018

Seth Davis, Communications Officer, Community Systems Foundation

While 1.4 million new HIV infections have been averted since 2010, the disease continues to persist. According to the Michel Sidibé, UNAIDS Executive Director, in 2017 alone, 180,000 children became infected with the virus. [1] Children, along with society’s most vulnerable populations — “adolescent girls and young women, indigenous peoples, migrants, the poor and uneducated, and key populations at highest risk of HIV infection—are being left behind.” [2]

Embracing a Culture of Monitoring and Evaluation in FGM Programming

3/10/2018

Menna El Shiati, Advisor - Gender and FGM, Community Systems Foundation
Seth Davis, Communications Officer, Community Systems Foundation

Since 2008, the UN Global Joint Programme (JP) on Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) has supported “more than 3.2 million girls and women in 17 countries” [1] The JP, a partnership between The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and UNICEF has assisted with provision of appropriate and quality services, increased community-led engagement, legal and policy frameworks, government ownership and increased access to accurate and timely data. At the same time, the JP seeks to measure the progress, quality and success of FGM programming. This is done by focusing on planning, reporting, monitoring and evaluation.

Data Mapping: The Power of Policy Visualizations in the Fight to be Free & Equal

1/10/2018

Seth Davis, Communications Officer, Community Systems Foundation

Globally, LGBTQ+ individuals face discrimination, stigma and violence due to dangerous national legislation. This is especially the case in at least 72 countries where discriminatory laws criminalize private, consensual same-sex relationships. These policies expose “millions of individuals to the risk of arrest, prosecution and imprisonment – and even, in five countries and several regions, the death penalty” – for simply loving another person. [1]

ASMAN: Leveraging Technology to Reduce Early Maternal and Neonatal Mortality

1/10/2018

Reblog: ehealth.eletsonline.com IN THE NEWS

Since 2017, Community Systems Foundation's technology partner AVALON has partnered with Jhpiego, India on Project ASMAN. This innovative health-facility-based intervention provides accurate and timely visualizations with the goal of providing quality care to mothers during the first 48-60 hours after delivery. The overall aim of Project ASMAN is to reduce maternal and neonatal mortality. As an Android-based mobile application, this labor monitoring tool seeks to overcome labor complications by including partographs and gamification techniques that seek to facilitate referral management based on needs of mothers.

As discussed in the article, the ASMAN initiative "will not only improve the way data is collected but [will] also improve the ability of the system to interpret, analyze, translate and use the data...towards improving decision making by service providers and the beginning of [a] new dawn for informed data-driven decision making by the facility as well as district and state level officials."

ASMAN: Leveraging Technology to Reduce Early Maternal and Neonatal Mortality

National Planning, Monitoring and Reporting Webinar

20/9/2018

Community Systems Foundation VIDEO

Through this webinar, Jon F. Kapp, Executive Director of Community Systems Foundation, introduces the Data For All (DFA) toolkit - a vision and solution to assist countries with national planning, monitoring and planning.

As part of a holistic solution, data dashboards serve the end product to report progress on national priorities, building on a solution that strengthens plans and improves monitoring of development.

To demonstrate how governments can integrate similar tools, Kapp discusses CSF's on-going work in Cote D’Ivoire and CSF's partnership with the UN System to develop UN INFO. Kapp also highlights to viewers how a platform for national priorities can help enhance coordination and collaboration efforts between all development partners, governments, civil society and the private sector. In this regard, the webinar outlines how Data For All can be applied to answer real world questions and help build and strengthen institutions to ensure solutions are sustainable.

This webinar is available in English and will soon be released in French.

For access to the full slide deck, click here.

Data for Development: Data Models to Help Reduce Child Mortality

19/9/2018

Seth Davis, Communications Officer, Community Systems Foundation

Despite having the knowledge and technology to provide life-saving interventions, nearly 15,000 children died every day in 2017 from preventable causes and treatable diseases. [1] To reduce child and adolescent mortality, national and international decision-makers continue to advocate for universal quality and affordable healthcare. However, without access to comparable estimates on child mortality, policymakers are unable to make evidence-based decisions that can create national and global change. [2]

The map above reflects global trends in Under 5 Child Mortality Rate from 1987-2017. Source: www.childmortality.org/index.php?r=site/map.

The Universal Health Coverage Partnership: The Power of Visibility and Awareness in Knowledge Management and Sharing

19/9/2018

Menna El Shiati, Advisor - Gender and FGM, Community Systems Foundation

Presently, millions of people die every day from diseases that could have been prevented or cured with access to quality health services and affordable, effective medicines. [1] Living in a global environment where transitions continuously occur, countries often face the challenge of finding the time and resources needed to document healthcare progress and policies that lead to health gaps. To help overcome this coordination barrier and facilitate dialogue on national health policies, strategies and plans towards Universal Health Coverage, the World Health Organization (WHO) entered into a collaborative agreement with the European Union (EU) and Luxembourg in 2011.

Call for Action: Data Driven Development!

4/9/2018

Jon F. Kapp, Executive Director, Community Systems Foundation

Sustainable development is not easy. And the Sustainable Development Goals are ambitious. To be successful, one requires strong and clear plans, deep partnerships, and accountable organizations.

Community Systems Foundation has worked in over 130 countries in the past 50 years and have seen governments, civil society organizations and development partners struggling with the same challenges:

Well intended, but poor quality plans
Limited information to monitor progress towards those plans
Weak or non-existent platforms to collaborate and report on successes and gaps in achievement.

We strongly believe that technology can make a positive impact. We are asking for your help to make this a reality.

Since 2004, we have developed tools to support better planning, monitoring and reporting on development plans.

We call it DFA Monitoring - a solution in a toolkit of open-source tools within an initiative called Data For All.

We are raising funds to refine these tools and get them in the hands of those that need them most.

Sincere thanks,
Jon Kapp

#DataDrivenDevelopment #DoGood #MakeChange #SDGs

Community Systems Foundation is a 501(c)3 registered not-for-profit organization, based in the United States. All donations are tax deductible.

UN INFO: Promoting Transparency, Collaboration and Accountability in Country Programming

27/8/2018

Jon F. Kapp, Executive Director, Community Systems Foundation
Seth Davis, Communications Officer, Community Systems Foundation

While UN Country Teams (UNCTs) work in support of national development across the world; historically, it has been difficult to report with precision and timeliness of the UN’s contributions to development as a whole. In his end-of-2017 report, Secretary-General António Guterres outlined a need and mandate for unprecedented UN reform. According to the Secretary-General, “By the end of 2019, a system-wide online platform for monitoring and reporting on the contributions of the United Nations development system to progress in the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals should be put in place.” [1]

Strengthening National WASH Implementation through the Reduction of Bottlenecks

3/8/2018

Seth Davis, Communications Officer, Community Systems Foundation

In 2016, UNICEF’s Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Bottleneck Analysis Tool (WASH BAT) was updated by CSF to become an online and user-friendly platform called WASH BAT 2.0. In an effort to reduce barriers to WASH project implementation, WASH BAT 2.0 has acted as a decision-making support system for 848 projects in over 80 countries to reduce bottlenecks in the WASH sector.

Data For All – Building Trust in Data Platforms

2/8/2018

Kris S. Oswalt, President, Community Systems Foundation
Reblog: The World Data Forum

The world is going through an unparalleled transition affecting the way communities live and work together. Urbanization, Poverty, Inequality, Scarce Natural Resources, Gender, Health, Education, Climate. The issues are not new, but a challenge faced by many communities remains: How to put quality data in the hands of policymakers at the right time and in the right format to improve planning and decision making?

CSF Impact

1/8/2018

Jon F. Kapp, Executive Director, Community Systems Foundation

For over 50 years, CSF has been supporting human development by applying innovations in the area of information management. Our work has spanned six continents, over 130 countries, multiple languages and a range of development sectors. We welcome you to learn more about our work through a review of our portfolio.

On 1 August, we are launching an initiative to reflect on our work, to share the voices and experiences of our partners, and to discuss areas where innovations are leading to impact. We will aim to share not only what we do, but more importantly what results we have helped to achieve.

I encourage you to join us in discussions, to contribute and to grow together in responding to the challenges and opportunities that lie before us.