Past Projects

Meeting Unmet Need for Family Planning

2009

Through this project, Futures Group estimated the reduction in population growth that would result from meeting all unmet need for family planning in the developing world and the United States, as well as the estimated costs of doing so. Our study compared these estimates with those implied by the UN Population Division’s projections. The results of the study are helping to inform the debate on the role of alternative population scenarios in reducing greenhouse gases and climate change.

The study applied Futures Group’s Spectrum software package, which includes linked models for cohort-component population projection and family planning. We analyzed data on approximately 100 countries in a series of scenarios that projected the population and other key indicators from 2005 – 2050. The study was funded by the Hewlett Packard Company Foundation.

Family Planning Program Effort Score (PES)

2009

Used in advocacy efforts, the Program Effort Score (PES) is unparalleled in the reproductive health field. Funded by the Hewlett Foundation, it demonstrates to national leaders the status of program progress, as well as what achievements can be expected if efforts in certain areas are improved.

Through its PES application in 2009, Futures Group concluded that family planning program effort across the developing world increased slightly from 1999 to 2004 and again in 2009. Policy positions were rated highest, with service arrangements and actual access to contraceptive methods rated lower. The Asia region received the highest scores and dominated the averages due to activities in Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, and Pakistan. There was great diversity among country scores in all regions.

Average family planning program effort levels remained robust in general, despite concerns about diversion of resources to HIV/AIDS, donor fatigue, and other problems. However, average effort in developing countries was still only at about half of the maximum, or about two-thirds of the level attained by the strongest countries. The profile of effort across the 31 indicators remained essentially the same, with sharp differences among the indicators and considerable selectivity in the contraceptive methods stressed.

DFID Project Completion Report for Banja La Mtsogolo (BLM – a Malawian Reproductive Health NGO)

2009

On behalf of the Joint Financing Arrangement Partners (DFID, Government of Malawi and Norway), Futures Group reviewed progress towards implementation of BLM’s Project Completion Report and achievements against targets from July 2006-June 2009. Futures Group also identified lessons learned in order to better inform Phase II of the BLM programme (July 2009-June 2015). BLM, a Malawian non-governmental organisation established in 1987, provides sexual and reproductive health and HIV and AIDS information and services nationwide.

Outputs

DFID Project Completion Report
General Report assessing progress and achievements, summarising lessons learned, and listing recommendations for Phase II
Draft review of the new JFA document for Phase II and debriefing session with all JFA partners

USAID | Health Policy Initiative: Peru

2007 – 2009

The objective of the USAID | Health Policy Initiative task order project in Peru was to strengthen policies and policy-related capacities to improve health sector performance in the context of Peru’s decentralization. HPI/Peru was implemented by Futures Group and Peruvian partner agencies (the Ministry of Health, regional governments, regional health directorates, and local governments) in seven focus regions. Our capacity building focused on five results as a means to improve family planning/reproductive health and maternal and child health programs. The project also promoted gender and cultural equity.

Human resources. Recruitment, retention, and training of health professionals are essential to Peru’s efforts to improve FP/RH and MCH service quality and access. Through HPI/Peru, Futures Group fostered coordination among health faculties, health professional associations, and health providers in the joint design of job and professional competencies, associated standards, and assessment tools. We supported Centers for the Development of Competencies at the MOH micro-network level to train health facility personnel. These centers also promote healthy habits and behaviors in the population and strengthen management training capacities of local authorities. HPI/Peru also strengthened the participation of civil society organizations in national, regional and local processes, in part through mentoring on updated technical and policy issues.

Data and information systems. Futures Group provided assistance to stakeholders to create high-quality, integrated, flexible, and reliable health management information systems. These systems, designed to be managed at the local level, produce information for management and decisionmaking on health and development issues that incorporates consideration of rights, gender, and cultural equity.

Pharmaceutical management and logistics. Futures Group helped strengthened the national policy and regulatory framework to support access to high-quality medications. In addition, project assistance facilitated efficient systems for distributing medications, contraceptives, and vaccines that meet high quality standards.

Service quality improvement. In conjunction with HPI/Peru’s work to enhance human resource capacity, Futures Group assisted stakeholders to use sound management systems, including health facility accreditation that adequately considers rights, gender, and cultural equity.

Policymaking and regulatory capacity. Futures Group provided technical assistance on the establishment of public policy management systems for improved health outcomes. We guided national and regional health authorities on effective, enforceable regulations pertaining to human resources, service quality, and information and medication distribution systems.

DFID Pakistan HIV/AIDS Prevention with Drug Harm Reduction

2002 – 2005

Although the general rate of HIV infections has remained relatively low for the general public in Pakistan, a major epidemic has been detected among injection drug users in Karachi, where 23 percent of users were found to be HIV positive in 2004, according to the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS. Experience has demonstrated that once HIV enters the injection drug-using population, rapid, large-scale epidemics within the general population can occur through sexual transmission.

The mandate of Futures Group’s Pakistan HIV/AIDS Prevention with Drug Harm Reduction project, funded by the U.K. Department for International Development, was to contract local nongovernmental organizations to provide quality drug harm reduction services in Pakistan’s four main cities: Karachi, Lahore, Peshawar, and Quetta.

Working in collaboration with Pakistan’s National AIDS Control Program and Anti-Narcotics Force, Futures Group contracted local nongovernmental organizations to implement specific harm reduction activities and establish services and facilities for drug users. Interventions included needle exchange programs, HIV education, promotion of safe sex, and provision of basic medical and social services.

At the end of the project, the government of Pakistan took responsibility for maintaining the contracts (using funds supplied by the World Bank), thus ensuring that these essential services continue to be offered to drug users.

Improved Pakistani Reproductive Health and Family Planning Services

2003 – 2008

The Government of Pakistan has aimed to reduce too-high annual population growth rates from 2.1 percent (2001) to 1.82 percent (2004) and 1.6 percent by 2012. Through a USAID-funded project (as the prime contractor in partnership with Jhpiego), Futures Group worked to increase the Pakistani private sector’s involvement in the provision of high-quality family planning and reproductive health products and services, to maximize the public and donor resource base and help those most in need of assistance.

Specifically, Futures Group grew the overall contraceptive market, fostering collaboration and healthy competition. Futures Group also provided sales, marketing, distribution, and other technical support to local organizations, building their capacity to create demand for and increase acceptance of contraceptives. Futures Group also focused specifically on the area of quality control, ensuring that locally-manufactured and imported products met or exceeded international standards. These commodities were not subsidized, but rather were targeted toward those who could afford them. This freed up government social resources to target the poorest of the poor.

One of the great successes of the Futures Group approach was illustrated through work with Zafa Pharmaceutical Laboratories, a company based in Pakistan. Under Futures Group’s guidance, Zafa entered the market as a hormonal contraceptive manufacturer and developed a quality assurance plan. In addition, Futures Group worked to ensure that the two social marketing organizations in Pakistan—Key Social Marketing and Greenstar/PSI—were working together, supporting each other’s product brands, conducting joint training, driving policy and advocacy issues, and sharing credit for the results. The coordinated efforts resulted in efficient use of donor funds and an increasingly greater reach of activities in underserved areas.

DFID South Africa HIV/AIDS Multi-sectoral Support Programme

2004 – 2007

South Africa’s national HIV/AIDS and STD Strategic Plan took a comprehensive multi-sectoral approach to addressing the epidemic. Although much progress had already been achieved, the project addressed some of the considerable remaining challenges, including the need to strengthen institutional capacity and scale up national response.

The HIV/AIDS Multi-sectoral Support Programme, funded by the U.K. Department for International Development, strengthened the capacity of partners in government, civil society, and the private sector to achieve the objectives of South Africa’s HIV/AIDS and STD Strategic Plan. The project provided technical support on HIV/AIDS to three national government departments, three provincial governments, the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV and AIDS, and a number of civil society organizations. For example, we supported development of provincial HIV/AIDS strategies, as well as a significant programme to strengthen home- and community-based care organizations.

Futures Group managed the programme in conjunction with Charles Kendall & Partners and the Centre for AIDS Development, Research, and Evaluation (CADRE).

Key Achievements

Trained 800 people in tuberculosis prevention and control in Kwa Zulu-Natal
Trained 95 nurses in sexual and reproductive health management
Revised tuberculosis crisis plans in Limpopo and Kwa Zulu-Natal and trained 60 provincial tuberculosis coordinators
Trained 285 staff of home and community-based care programs in NGO governance, mentoring, and leadership
Trained 300 health professionals in providing antiretroviral drugs
Launched an orphan and vulnerable child school support program in Eastern Cape
Conducted a situation analysis and designed a monitoring and evaluation strategy for the Kwa Zulu-Natal Department of Health
Trained 100 Eastern Cape AIDS Council stakeholders in monitoring and evaluation
Strengthened health systems in Kwa Zulu-Natal and Mpumalanga
Supported employee workplace programmes in Limpopo and Eastern Cape
Supported antistigma work through the Anglican Church of Southern Africa in 26 dioceses

South African Partners

National Department of Health
National Department of Social Development
Department of Defense
The Provinces of Eastern Cape, Limpopo, Kwa Zulu-Natal, and Mpumalanga
The Anglican Church of Southern Africa
Barnabas Trust
Eastern Cape NGO Coalition
Treatment Action Campaign
National Institute for Community Development and Management
Social Aspects of HIV and AIDS Research Alliance
Joint Economics, AIDS, and Poverty Program
University of Kwa Zulu-Natal
Wits Palliative Care Unit
Prenatal HIV Research Unit
Centre for Health Systems, Research, & Development
South African Business Coalition on HIV and AIDS

UNICEF Cambodia OVC Costing

2007

With funding from the UNICEF, Futures Group implemented a project to determine the costs of Cambodia’s National Action Plan for Orphans, Children affected by HIV, and Other Vulnerable Children, based on its experiences implementing the UNICEF-funded OVC Unit Cost Survey in 23 countries and facilitating multi-sectoral involvement in orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) resource analysis and allocation.

After presenting the methodology to the OVC Steering Committee, Futures Group trained local stakeholders (from the Ministry of Social Affairs, Veterans and Youth Rehabilitation, National AIDS Authority, and others) in the OVC Unit Cost Survey implementation methodology. During data collection, the team collected—from international and local NGOs, bilateral agencies, government institutions, OVC community representatives, and other stakeholders—information about all of the costs entailed in implementing the three-year National OVC Action Plan at national, provincial, and district levels. The data collection methodology included the Financial Resources Required to Support Orphans and Children Made Vulnerable by HIV/AIDS questionnaire and used a localized approach to generate specific OVC-data results.

Futures Group then synthesized the data using the OVC Cost Model, an OVC-specific adaptation of the Goals Model including SPECTRUM projections.

The project concluded with a national consensus workshop with key stakeholders from the Ministries of Education, Health, and Social Services, and major OVC NGOs in Cambodia. Participants reviewed and analyzed the data and the OVC Cost Model results, and developed a draft costed National OVC Action Plan to present to the OVC Steering Committee.

UNICEF Rapid Country Assessment, Analysis, and Action Planning, Democratic Republic of Congo

2007 – 2009

With funding from UNICEF, Futures Group initiated a Rapid Country Assessment, Analysis, and Action Planning (RAAAP) process for orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). In the first phase of the project, Futures Group adapted the common RAAAP tools to the DRC context with the national OVC task force, then planned and began the data collection process.

For the second phase of the DRC RAAAP process, Futures Group received USAID funds under the Health Policy Initiative (HPI) Task Order 1 project. We continued to support the data collection process, hold meetings with the national task force and RAAAP steering committee, and design and support provincial-level data collection and three zonal workshops. The zonal workshops brought together 10-member teams from each of DRC’s 11 provinces. Futures Group also facilitated the development of a communication and advocacy strategy with the national task force.

During the third phase of the process, Futures Group worked with both UNICEF and USAID, as well as the RAAAP Secretariat and the national OVC task force, to finalize the RAAAP synthesis report and support the first national OVC action plan, anticipated for mid-2009. Under USAID HPI funding, Futures Group also helped build the capacity of the DRC Ministry of Social Affairs, Humanitarian Action and Solidarity, to improve their coordination of OVC programs at national and provincial levels.

Uganda Program for Human and Holistic Development (UPHOLD)

2003 – 2007

The Uganda Program for Human and Holistic Development (UPHOLD) project, funded by USAID, assisted Ugandans to live healthier, longer, and more productive lives through integrated interventions in three social sectors: education, health, and HIV/AIDS. Futures Group strengthened local public-private partnerships, improved quality standards in private facilities, and identified, developed, and scaled-up best practices among private providers to increase the availability of high-quality services.

John Snow, Inc. served as prime contractor in the UPHOLD project team, whose key partners included Futures Group, Education Development Center, Manoff Group, Malaria Consortium, and World Education.

Key Accomplishments

Corporate Social Responsibility. Futures Group supported corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives under UPHOLD to improve health and education while increasing integration among sectors and stakeholders. Two examples follow:

Girls Retention Initiative. Futures Group worked with the Forum for African Women Educationalists/Uganda (FAWEU) to increase the number of Ugandan girls who complete their primary education. When partners identified lack of sanitary materials and facilities as a direct cause of girls dropping out from primary school, we developed a locally-focused public-private partnership strategy to create marketing and economic incentives for private sector corporate sponsors to supply sanitary towels and other hygiene and health materials to the girls.

Educators of Excellence Initiative. Futures Group responded to a need for improved performance by teachers and school administrators by creating recognition and non-financial incentives. To galvanize stakeholders and experts, we mobilized a local leadership team to ensure long-term impact of this corporate sponsorship initiative. Through a participatory process led by educators, strategists, and financial analysts, we created a sustainable, transparent process for selecting and recognizing Educators of Excellence that is fully supported by private sector sponsors and endorsed by the public education system.

Performance Improvement in Private Facilities. With the support of Futures Group, the UPHOLD project issued grants and provided technical assistance to local civil society organizations to improve social services and increase the capacity and sustainability of service delivery facilities in 20 districts. For example, Futures Group engaged a local management consultancy in a mentoring program for health facility managers to improve both individual performance and the service delivery environment.