Current Projects

Nigeria Targeted States High Impact Project (TSHIP)

2009 – 2014

The Targeted States High Impact Project (TSHIP) is a USAID-supported project that aims to strengthen healthcare delivery in Bauchi and Sokoto states in northern Nigeria.

TSHIP aims to establish strong and durable bonds between community institutions and the healthcare delivery system in every ward of Bauchi and Sokoto, to measurably improve health outcomes. Specifically, TSHIP focuses on improving health systems and management and providing higher quality services in family planning and reproductive health (FP/RH) and maternal and child health (MCH), including emergency obstetric and neonatal care, routine immunization, and vitamin A distribution.

TSHIP has four objectives:

Strengthen state and local government capacity to deliver and promote use of high impact FP/RH/MCH interventions
Strengthen the delivery and promotion of high impact FP/RH/MCH interventions at primary healthcare facilities and essential referral levels
Strengthen the roles of households and communities in promotion, practice, and delivery of high impact FP/RH/MCH interventions
Improve policies, programming, and resource allocation

Futures Group’s role concentrates on improving the policy environment for service delivery and strengthening the information base for improved interventions through targeted operations research.

TSHIP is managed by a consortium of U.S. and Nigerian organizations, led by John Snow, Inc. Team members include Futures Group, Jhpiego, The Centre for Development and Population Activities (CEDPA), and Management Strategies for Africa.

TASC3 AWARE II –Support for Investing in People through Health Action for West Africa Region

2009 – 2012

The purpose of this task order project under the USAID TASC3 IQC is to design, coordinate, facilitate, and provide high-quality technical support to a variety of public and private health entities in West Africa. The project builds on work done by the flagship predecessor programs, Action for West Africa Region (AWARE), AWARE-RH, and AWARE-HIV/AIDS.

As a consortium member with prime Management Sciences for Health, Futures Group leads activities to

Identify barriers to health policy implementation at regional and country levels and develop strategies for removing them
Mobilize stakeholder groups at national and regional levels to advocate for political commitment, funding, and implementation of policies, guidelines, and standards for family planning and reproductive health, HIV and AIDS, and maternal and child health services
Strengthen the role of regional networks and the West African Health Organization (WAHO) to develop, implement, and monitor regional policies for selected best practices, and encourage national leaders to make real commitments to key health issues as a means of achieving national development goals
Help countries in the region achieve an enabling policy environment to reduce unmet need for family planning services and increase resources and support for national family planning and reproductive health programs
Leverage resources for policy implementation through public-private partnerships, government support, donor funding, and other sources

To implement these activities, Futures Group is building on its successes as an integral team member of the AWARE-HIV/AIDS predecessor program led by Family Health International.

Technical Assistance, Program Implementation, and Capacity Building Support in Zambia

2009 – 2014

As the monitoring and evaluation lead on the Catholic Relief Services (CRS) consortium for this CDC-funded project, Futures Group is developing and implementing activities to build the capacity of local partner treatment facilities (LPTF) in the monitoring, collection, and reporting of PEPFAR indicators on prevention of mother to child transmission of HIV. We are working in close collaboration with the Zambian Ministry of Health.

Activities include field visits, mentoring, data compilation and analysis, and report writing. Futures Group provides guidance to CRS and all program staff on programmatic inputs at the site level that will ensure the delivery of high-quality patient care.

Futures Group’s work is contributing to the overall program strategy of delivering technical assistance to enable LPTFs to provide effective and sustainable care. Guided by CDC’s transition guidelines, our workplan includes fully transitioning the M&E component of the project to local partners by March 2014.

Grant Management Solutions

2007 – 2010

The Grant Management Solutions (GMS) project was established by USAID to provide urgent, short-term technical support to countries receiving grants from the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria. GMS is a task order under the TASC3 Indefinite Quantity Contract, led by Management Sciences for Health with partners Futures Group, Abt Associates, International Program Assistance, and MIDEGO.

Futures Group assists the GMS project in providing short-term technical support to Global Fund Country Coordinating Mechanisms (CCMs) and Principal Recipients (PRs) in five broad areas:

Governance and leadership challenges
Financial and grants management
Procurement and supply management
Monitoring, evaluation, and reporting
Improving the effectiveness of civil society organizations and local consultants

CCMs and PRs submit applications for technical assistance to USAID’s Office of the U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator. GMS actively collaborates with other technical support providers, for example, internationally with UNAIDS, GTZ, Roll Back Malaria, Stop TB, and the Green Light Committee. At national levels, GMS coordinates with other short- and medium-term providers of technical support to Global Fund activities.

The GMS project is assisting CCMs and PRs in improving the performance of their Global Fund grants. An important part of our short-term technical support is to liaise with local funding agents, which are the in-country eyes and ears of the Global Fund.

To date, Futures Group has implemented GMS task orders in Afghanistan, Albania, Cambodia, Central African Republic, Comoros, Ghana, Honduras, Indonesia, Jordan, Namibia, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Swaziland, and Zimbabwe.

For more information, see the project’s website: http://www.gmsproject.org.

UNAIDS Technical Support Facility for West and Central Africa

2010 – 2012

In February, UNAIDS selected the consortium of which Futures Group Europe is part, to manage its Technical Support Facility (TSF) for West and Central Africa from 2010 to 2012. The lead organisation is the Bureau d’Appui en Santé Publique based in Burkina Faso.

The primary objectives of the TSF is to:

Provide competitively priced, quality assured and timely short-term technical assistance
Strengthen the capacity of country partners to manage technical assistance effectively
Assist in the professional development of national and regional consultants
Encourage a harmonized and collaborative approach to the delivery of technical assistance in support of country partner-owned and partner-led action plans

Primary areas the TSF focuses on include planning; resource mobilisation and tracking; monitoring and evaluation; implementation management; and various thematic areas (e.g., gender, people living with HIV, women and AIDS, harm reduction).

Futures Group’s role on the TSF is to provide leadership in capacity development of country partners and consultants to manage and provide TA; and quality assurance support services on large, strategic assignments in the region.

The five key deliverables proposed for the TSF contract are:

Timely delivery of high-quality technical assistance in identified priority areas consistently provided;
Capacity of country partners to manage technical assistance effectively strengthened;
Capacity of national consultants and organisations in the region to provide high quality technical assistance strengthened;
TSF effectively promoted to potential clients and other stakeholders;
Increased harmonization of TSF technical assistance with other providers in the region.

DFID Reproductive and Child Health Programme, Sierra Leone

2010 – 2013

Futures Group Europe, together with lead consultancy, Options, was awarded this reproductive and child health (RCH) programme in February 2010. The RCH programme is funded by DFID and is aimed at improving the financing, management and delivery of sustainable and replicable pro-poor services to ensure the achievement of Sierra Leone’s RCH Strategic Plan to reduce maternal, under-five and infant mortality rates. The primary activities comprise the following:

Provision of technical assistance in key strategic points of the Ministry
Finalisation and support to the implementation of a joint financing mechanism that will fund the Ministry centrally, and to finance district’s annual health plans
Oversight of the UN Joint Programme for RCH to ensure synergy and coordination with the rest of DFID’s programme
Oversight and support to a consortium of international non-governmental organisations (INGOs) to ensure synergy and coordination with the rest of DFID’s programme

Futures Group’s role is to ensure effective and efficient human resources in the Ministry of Health and Sanitation (MOHS) of the Government of Sierra Leone, as well as managing the Northern Region Health Sector support, in order to contribute to delivering essential health services in Sierra Leone.

By the time the RCH programme is completed in 2011, it aims to have delivered the following outputs:

Significant increase in the numbers of MCH Aides, SECHNs, and CHOs
Facilities have essential equipment and are functioning efficiently
Increased utilisation of RCH services
Appropriate laws, regulations, rules and guidelines developed and enforced
Improved monitoring and evaluation
Effective governance and management across the health system

EC Lot 11, Macroeconomic and Fiscal Impact of HIV and AIDS in Lesotho

2009 – 2010

Futures Group, in collaboration with TDI Group, is providing leadership on an EC assignment to analyse the macroeconomic impact of the HIV and AIDS epidemic in Lesotho, and assess the fiscal impact of HIV/AIDS on government revenues, spending and on the budget balance.

Outputs

Inception and interim reports
Seminars with the main stakeholders to present findings
Final report detailing the models and methodologies utilised; epidemiological and demographical analyses; estimates of the cost implications of HIV and AIDS and their likely impact on the Government budget; and recommendations at the policy and implementation levels for mitigation of the macroeconomic and fiscal impacts of HIV and AIDS

KFW Strengthening the Capacity of the HIV Prevention and Control System in Henan and Yunnan Provinces, China

2009 – 2012

Futures Group is part of a consortium led by GFA Consulting Group that is providing state-of-the-art support on HIV prevention and control measures to the Programme Executing Agencies at the Health and Finance Bureaus in Henan and Yunnan Provinces. Futures Group provides specific input on planning and scheduling; human resources; training; information; education and behaviour change communication measures; harm reduction; and reporting between the provincial health bureaus, the national government and KfW.

Outputs

Ongoing reporting on HIV prevention and control at the provincial level
Strengthened harm reduction interventions
Strengthened HIV prevention measures for commercial sex workers, males who have sex with males, floating populations and other high-risk groups
More effective mass media campaigns developed and implemented at the provincial level
The establishment and utilisation of a common M&E strategy and framework

DFID Technical Assistance Support Team for India’s National AIDS Control Organisation in Support of the National AIDS Control Programme III: India

2009 – 2012

Futures Group is leading a support team that is providing technical assistance (TA) and management support to the National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO) and State AIDS Prevention and Control Societies (SACS) in India. The TA focuses on strengthening capacity of NACO and SACSs, facilitating policy formulation, and guiding implementation in three core areas: harm reduction and opioid substitution therapy (OST) for injecting drug users (IDUs); males who have sex with males and transgender interventions; and research capacity. This support is enabling an effective decentralised response to HIV and AIDS that is focused on vulnerable groups and context-specific needs.

Outputs

Mid-term evaluation and development of reports
Scale-up of harm reduction and OST interventions for IDU
Scale-up of interventions for males who have sex with males and transgenders
Flexible funding mechanisms implemented
Research capacity of NACO strengthened
Overall institutional capacity of NACO strengthened

KFW Niger Social Marketing Project: Family Planning and HIV Prevention

2003 – 2010

The goal of this project is to reduce the transmission of HIV and unwanted pregnancies in Niger by making good-quality condoms available at an accessible price through private sector distribution channels. Futures Group and GFA Consulting Group are implementing the project with funding from KfW, the German development bank.

The Futures team has launched an integrated communication program with information on using condoms for dual protection against HIV/AIDS and unwanted pregnancies. We are directly involving the local private sector as we work to increase the availability, affordability, and use of contraceptives in Niger. In addition, we are researching the development of a second branded product. In all of our activities, Futures is building the capacity of an independent social marketing organization in Niger, to ensure that progress is sustainable.

The project developed advocacy and awareness raising campaigns to spread information and build support for the prevention of HIV/AIDS and unwanted pregnancies. The campaigns involve messages for radio, TV and film. We have also used interactive community theatre.

As awareness has increased and the environment for social marketing improved, the “Foula” condom is now widely distributed beyond the major towns and cities that were the initial focus for distribution. An independent social marketing NGO, ANIMAS-SUTURA, has formed and registered in Niger and will continue to develop branded family planning products.