Capacity Building

Increasing local capacity is a central focus of Advancing Partners & Communities (APC). Through targeted assistance, APC prepares organizations to receive USAID funds and implement successful programs. APC’s capacity-building approach includes strengthening organizations’ ability to comply with USAID regulations, identifying issues and challenges to determine innovative solutions, strengthening monitoring and evaluation systems, and supporting learning for community-based family planning and other health approaches. This level of capacity building will help ensure the sustainability and scalability of community-based approaches.

Photo credit: Arne Hoel/World Bank

Below you will find links to resources created by APC and other organizations.

APC Resources

Technical Brief: Strengthening the Health Workforce in Sierra Leone
June 2017 | Brief

This Technical Brief provides detailed information on the capacity building work done by APC under the Post-Ebola Rebuilding Health Services project in Sierra Leone.

Technical Brief: Rebuilding Trust in Health Services: Engaging Communities through Facility Management Committees
June 2017 | Brief

This Technical Brief provides detailed information on APC's community engagement work through facility management committees under the Post-Ebola Rebuilding Health Services project in Sierra Leone.

Strengthening Health Services as Part of the Post-Ebola Transition in Sierra Leone: Community Engagement Implementation Toolkit
April 2017 | Toolkit

The purpose of this toolkit is to guide the community engagement process for improved community ownership of peripheral health unit quality and catchment area health outcomes in support of the project’s Community Engagement Implementation Strategy.

Strengthening Health Services as Part of the Post-Ebola Transition in Sierra Leone: Community Engagement Implementation Strategy
April 2017 | Strategy

The purpose of this document is to define a harmonized community engagement implementation strategy that is aligned with: a) national health guidance, strategies, and policies; and b) all implementing partners across the project’s five districts.

Life After Ebola: Mothers Return to Health Facilities in Sierra Leone
April 2017 | Photo Gallery

After the Ebola epidemic, a community health center in Sierra Leone is now able to provide improved quality health care services, including family planning.

Community Health Policy Matters
April 2017 | Video

APC’s Community Health Policy Matters video tells the story of fictional characters Winnie and Mary, and how a fragmented health system affects each woman’s ability to access family planning services in her respective community. This animated video highlights how policy can improve the health system for women.

Revue de Performance des Données de Planification Familiale au Sénégal
December 2016 | Brochure

Le projet Advancing Partners & Communities a apporté une assistance technique à la Direction de la Santé Reproductive et de la Survie de l’Enfant (DSRSE) dans le domaine du suivi-évaluation notamment dans le programme de planification familiale.

Revue de Performance des Données de Planification Familiale au Sénégal
December 2016 | Report

Pour repositionner la Planification Familiale, le Sénégal a rédigé un Plan d’Action National 2012-2015 (PANPF). Le principal objectif de ce plan est d’offrir les services de la planification familiale à 350 000 femmes additionnelles en union et d’atteindre un taux de prévalence contraceptive de 27% en 2015.

Local People of Various Ages and Professions Trained to Promote Family Planning in Senegal
December 2016 | Summary

In Senegal, Advancing Partners and Communities designed an approach to convince non-traditional sectors and civil society organizations in regions with low contraceptive prevalence rates and high unmet need for family planning services to support the Ministry's National Family Planning Action Plan.

How Data is Strengthening Community Health Systems in Zimbabwe
December 2016 | Publication

In Zimbabwe, district health executive (DHE) teams are using community scorecard data to understand major health challenges facing local communities and taking action to reduce barriers to care.

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Below is a list of key issues within capacity building that APC focuses on. Within each key area you will find resources related to capacity building that have been pulled from multiple sources. 

Organizational Development

Through organizational development, or building organizational capacity, an organization can become more effective, efficient, and sustainable, and ensure they are complying will all applicable USAID rules and regulations. Organizational development activities can focus on one specific aspect of an organization, or a wide range of areas such as financial management, human resources, program management, sub-grant management, and monitoring and evaluation.

Local Capacity Initiative Final Report
May 2019 | Report

In 2013, the U.S. Government, with funding from PEPFAR, established the Local Capacity Initiative (LCI) to strengthen sustainability of national HIV and AIDS responses through increased advocacy capacity of local NGOs. Read the final report which talks about the work done from 2014 -2018, where USAID and CDC made awards to local organizations through APC in 14 countries/regions which focused on designing and implementing local solutions to policy barriers that impede key populations’access to HIV and other health services.

Enhancing Organizational Performance and Impact
October 2013 | Webinar

Watch a recent series of webinars where JSI shared experiences in the growing and diverse field of capacity development. These webinars cover topics such as connecting organizational and technical capacity, developing capacity through grants, and responding to shifting demands in capacity development.

The Essential NGO Guide to Managing Your USAID Award
September 2012 | Publication

This publication is designed to assist NGOs to more effectively administer resources from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). The guide aims to help USAID awardees (also referred to as grantees or recipients) clarify specific requirements, regulations, and compliance issues mandated by their agreements.

Organizational Development Toolkit
July 2012 | Toolkit

This toolkit from NPI-Connect is a compilation of sample manuals, forms, policies, and guidelines that were distributed amongst partners as guidance documents during the NPI program. The resources and tools included in this toolkit serve as examples for organizations to reference when creating organizational or project documents. These are not official templates. Organizations should adapt them according to the needs of their organization.

Technical Assistance

Technical assistance through trainings, workshops, guidance documents, and other means allow organizations to build their technical capacity in a specific technical area or areas. They also allow staff to remain up-to-date on the most recent changes to policies, service delivery guidelines, state-of-the-art practices, etc.

Improving Health Care Quality
November 2015 | E-Learning

The USAID ASSIST Project has launched an eLearning course on Improving Health Care Quality through USAID's Global Health eLearning Center. Free and open to learners from around the world, this course is the first of its kind to focus on quality improvement approaches and methodologies for low-resource settings. It is designed for anyone looking to understand how to improve health care, including health care workers and managers, government officials, donors, and implementing partners. It will help learners to demystify health care improvement, describe its underlying principles, and explain how proven interventions can be incorporated into practice for every patient. The course focuses on process improvement which has a large body of evidence in USAID-supported countries.

Peace Corps Maternal and Newborn Health Training Package
January 2015 | Training Guide

This training package, developed in partnership with Advancing Partners & Communities (APC), introduces Peace Corps Volunteers to the fundamentals of maternal and newborn health and exposes them to key concepts and global trends.  The training package highlights the latest evidence-based practices that can be implemented by Volunteers and their counterparts at the community level to improve maternal and newborn health outcomes. 

Developing Capacities of Community Health Workers in Sexual and Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn, Child, and Adolescent Health: A Mapping and Review of Training Resources
April 2014 | Journal Article

This paper aims to identify, organize and provide a synthesis of existing training resource materials for community health workers in different components of sexual and reproductive health and maternal, newborn, child, and adolescent health as well as to determine gaps and opportunities and inform efforts to avoid duplication and harmonize approaches to training.

Program Design, Monitoring, and Evaluation of Family Planning Program: A Facilitator's Guide
October 2009 | Training Guide

This course provides mid- and senior-level country managers with the skills to develop project designs using a results framework. When these skills are used in the design process, project activities are more reliably linked to desired outcomes, and the elements necessary for success are more likely to be addressed.

Sustainability

In many cases the goal of building an organization’s technical or organizational capacity is sustainability of an organization or a project. Through organizational development and technical assistance, local organizations are able to increase the likelihood that their organization can adapt to a changing environment and have a long-term impact on their community.

Family Planning Sustainability Checklist
September 2012 | Toolkit

This resource is a project assessment tool for designing and monitoring sustainability of community-based family planning services. This document is designed to assist community-based family planning project planners and implementers to identify key elements to incorporate in a community family planning project to increase the likelihood of family planning services continuing beyond the project’s end.

Going the Distance: A Step-by-Step Strategy to Foster NGO Sustainability
September 2012 | Training Guide

This training guide offers practical strategies to help nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and community-based organizations (CBOs) plan and effectively navigate the ever-changing environments within which they operate.

Community Health Worker Motivation

In the face of global health worker shortages, the use of community health workers (CHWs) is an important health care delivery strategy for underserved populations. In Uganda, community-based programs often use volunteer CHWs to extend services, including family planning, in rural areas. This study examined factors related to CHW motivation and level of activity in three family planning programs in Uganda.

Support to the Policy and Regulatory Framework for Improving Community Health Systems in Sierra Leone
October 2016 | Summary

Advancing Partners & Communities has been an active partner in the Community Health Workers (CHWs) policy revision process, offering ongoing technical assistance to the Ministry of Health and Sanitation (MOHS) of Sierra Leone.

Expanding global impact through Community Health Workers: progress and challenges in counting CHWs
March 2016 | Webinar

On March 2, 2016, World Vision, Frontline Health Workers Coalition & One Million CHWs Campaign hosted a webinar: Expanding global impact through Community Health Workers: progress and challenges in counting CHWs. The webinar presented key findings and discussed the relevance of the journey “from fragmentation to harmonization” for the CHW community at large.

CHSS

Photo Journal - Community Engagement, Stories Of Change: Sustaining Health Facility Improvements Program
July 2019 | Photo Gallery

APC's Sustaining Health Facility Improvements (SHFI) program in Sierra Leone aims to engage communities, health service providers, and district authorities in building better systems, structures, and processes for conducting maintenance and preventive maintenance of health facilities by mobilizing community and government resources to fund it. This booklet provides stories of the work the FMCs and their communities have done, as they devote their time, resources, and energy to maintaining and improving their community PHUs.

Women Survivors Leading Post-Ebola Recovery in West Africa
March 2018 | Success Story

Women leaders of survivor organizations in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone are stepping up across the region to address challenges for Ebola survivors, while promoting gender equality in their countries.

Mental Health Nurses and Disaster Response in Sierra Leone
January 2018 | Journal Article

Advancing Partners & Communities has supported mental health nurses in responding to the mudslide disaster in Sierra Leone.

Building Capacity within the Sierra Leone Association of Ebola Survivors
January 2018 | Brief

The Ebola Transmission Prevention and Survivor Services program objective is to help the Sierra Leone Association of Ebola Survivors become an effective, autonomous institution that can serve and advocate for Ebola survivors.

Endline Infographic: Improving Community Health Services in the Post-Ebola Context
June 2017 | Infographic

This infographic summarizes APC's work in strengthening critical health services in local communities in Sierra Leone, with focus on reproductive, maternal, newborn, and child health.

Technical Brief: Strengthening the Health Workforce in Sierra Leone
June 2017 | Brief

This Technical Brief provides detailed information on the capacity building work done by APC under the Post-Ebola Rebuilding Health Services project in Sierra Leone.

Controle De La Qualite Des Donnes De Planification Familiale A L'aide De L'outil RDQA Dans Les Regions Medicales De Dakar, Thies, Et St. Louis
April 2017 | Study

La présente étude se situe dans ce cadre et a pour objectif d’évaluer la qualité des données de routine dela planification familiale dans les régions médicales de Dakar, Saint Louis et Thiès au Sénégal.

Strengthening Health Services as Part of the Post-Ebola Transition in Sierra Leone: Community Engagement Implementation Toolkit
April 2017 | Toolkit

The purpose of this toolkit is to guide the community engagement process for improved community ownership of peripheral health unit quality and catchment area health outcomes in support of the project’s Community Engagement Implementation Strategy.

Life After Ebola: Mothers Return to Health Facilities in Sierra Leone
April 2017 | Photo Gallery

After the Ebola epidemic, a community health center in Sierra Leone is now able to provide improved quality health care services, including family planning.

Revue de Performance des Données de Planification Familiale au Sénégal
December 2016 | Brochure

Le projet Advancing Partners & Communities a apporté une assistance technique à la Direction de la Santé Reproductive et de la Survie de l’Enfant (DSRSE) dans le domaine du suivi-évaluation notamment dans le programme de planification familiale.

Revue de Performance des Données de Planification Familiale au Sénégal
December 2016 | Report

Pour repositionner la Planification Familiale, le Sénégal a rédigé un Plan d’Action National 2012-2015 (PANPF). Le principal objectif de ce plan est d’offrir les services de la planification familiale à 350 000 femmes additionnelles en union et d’atteindre un taux de prévalence contraceptive de 27% en 2015. 

Local People of Various Ages and Professions Trained to Promote Family Planning in Senegal
December 2016 | Summary

In Senegal, Advancing Partners and Communities designed an approach to convince non-traditional sectors and civil society organizations in regions with low contraceptive prevalence rates (CPR) and high unmet need for family planning (FP) services to support the Ministry's National Family Planning Action Plan (NFPAP).   

How Data is Strengthening Community Health Systems in Zimbabwe
December 2016 | Publication

In Zimbabwe, district health executive (DHE) teams are using community scorecard data to understand major health challenges facing local communities and taking action to reduce barriers to care. 

Understanding the Challenges of Delivering Community Maternal and Child Health Services in a Post-Ebola Context
October 2016 | Infographic

Following the Ebola epidemic, Sierra Leone faces challenges to rebuilding its community health system. This infographic helps explain the challenges of delivering community maternal and child health services in a post-Ebola context.

Program Overview: Sierra Leone, Liberia & Guinea
October 2016 | Publication

The Ebola Transmission Prevention and Survivor Services Program (ETP & SS) launched in July 2016 and is operating under the umbrella of priorities set by USAID’s Global Health Ebola Team. The program works with ministries of health and nongovernmental organizations in regions of Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Guinea that are most affected by the Ebola outbreak.

Sierra Leone: Community Engagement Implementation Strategy & Toolkit
April 2016 | Strategy

Advancing Partners & Communities has drafted a community engagement strategy for adoption and use by all implementing partners in the project’s five districts. In line with the project’s goal of strengthening health services, the strategy focuses on district- and facility-level interventions and emphasizes the role of community health workers (CHWs). The strategy complements other community-based interventions.

Advancing Partners & Communities, Sierra Leone: Program Overview and Accomplishments
March 2016 | Summary

Advancing Partners & Communities received a grant from USAID’s “Ebola Response and Preparedness” funds authorized by the United States Congress to strengthen critical non-Ebola health services, in Sierra Leone. 

The University of Nairobi is a collegiate research university based in Nairobi. It is the largest university in Kenya. Although its history as an educational institution goes back to 1956, it did not become an independent university until 1970.

The University of Pittsburgh is a state-related research university, founded as the Pittsburgh Academy in 1787. Pitt is a member of the Association of American Universities (AAU), which comprises 62 preeminent doctorate-granting research institutions in North America.

WellShare International, founded in 1979, has a mission to advance sustainable community health around the world. WellShare applies a holistic approach that builds effective partnerships, engages community health workers to bridge the gap between communities and the formal health sector, rigorously evaluates outcomes, and promotes long-term sustainability. WellShare reaches its goal of healthy people through a focus on health education, transfer of simple technologies, and connecting people to timely and appropriate health resources.

World Education improves the quality of life through education for half a million children and adults in 22 countries. World Education's training programs improve adult education, help displaced peoples, stem the tide of HIV, and reduce violence through conflict resolution. World Education is a leader in building the skills, knowledge and resources of local groups so they can accomplish their missions effectively.

World Vision is a Christian relief and development organization that focuses its efforts on emergency relief, education, health care, gender issues, economic development, and child advocacy. World Vision partners with children and families to help them break the cycle of poverty using a community development approach.

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March 18, 2016 | Announcement

On March 9, 2016, Advancing Partners & Communities in Sierra Leone officially launched the Strengthening Reproductive, Maternal, Neonatal, and Child Health (RMNCH) Services as part of the Post-Ebola Health Sector Recovery in Western Area project at the Sierra Leone Bank Complex. The project is a collaborative effort between the Government of Sierra Leone and its development partners- the Ministry of Health and Sanitation (MOHS), JSI Research & Training Institute, Inc. (JSI), Action Contre la Faim, and Save the Children- to improve access to and availability of high-quality health services in the country. The project is funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

February 18, 2016 | Event

The Association of Reproductive Health Professionals is holding a webinar on emergency contraception this Thursday, February 18 at 1 p.m. EST. The webinar will cover the mechanism of action of different EC methods, safety and side effects.

December 03, 2015 | Event

On Friday, November 4, The Advancing Partners & Communities (APC) project is hosting a dissemination meeting to present to key partners the findings and recommendations from an assessment of the health and social needs of trans persons in the Dominican Republic. The assessment was carried out in collaboration with the Center for Integrated Training and Research (COIN) with academic support from the Iberoamericana University (UNIBE), and the active participation of community-based organizations representing trans communities in the Dominican Republic.

The meeting will include work group sessions to encourage partners to use the assessment findings and begin planning follow up activities. Approximately 75 representatives from government, civil society, and donor agencies are expected to attend the event.

Join us as we work to integrate the needs of trans people into the national agenda.

December 01, 2015 | Event

On Tuesday, December 1, at 9 a.m. EST, the Health Communication Capacity Collaborative (HC3), with support from the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), is hosting the first webinar in a series of three that focus on increasing the demand for life-saving underutilized commodities for reproductive, maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health (RMNCAH). This webinar will bring together technical experts in gender and RMNCAH programming to share best practices and experiences in developing effective programs to reach and work with men and boys in resource-constrained settings.

November 19, 2015 | Announcement

The votes are in for USAID Learning Lab’s Collaborating, Learning and Adapting case competition! Advancing Partners and Communities’ story about social inclusion of transgender (trans) persons in the Dominican Republic (DR) is the Fan Favorite winner! Inclusion, Not Exclusion follows the story of Valentina, a trans woman living in the DR, as she overcomes stigma and discrimination to advocate for the equal rights of trans persons in her country.

November 13, 2015 | Announcement

Through Advancing Partners & Communities (APC), FHI 360 has developed the first mobile phone applications based on the traditional paper-based Family Planning Checklists.

November 02, 2015 | Announcement

The USAID ASSIST Project has just launched an eLearning course on Improving Health Care Quality through USAID’s Global Health eLearning Center. Free and open to learners from around the world, this course is the first of its kind to focus on quality improvement approaches and methodologies for low-resource settings.

November 04, 2014 | Announcement

Nakuru County, through the Ministry of Health, has launched a global pilot project of delivering wheelchairs to individuals in need. ACCESS (Accelerating Core Competencies for Effective Wheelchair Services and Support) is supported by the Wold Vision, Motivation and USAID in partnership with Association for Physically Disabled of Kenya (APDK) and the Kenya government.

July 11, 2014 | Blog

In honor of World Population Day, Kate Plourde and Joy Cunningham, Technical Officer and Advisor for APC respectively, address APC's work with youth as part of a comprehensive approach to strengthening community health systems. 

July 03, 2014 | Blog

UCP Wheels for Humanity staff participated in startup meetings for the El Salvador portion of the USAID-funded ACCESS (Accelerating Core Competencies for Effective Wheelchair Service and Support) project from June 24-26 and Nicaragua from July 1-3. ACCESS aims to strengthen and develop the wheelchair sector across five countries including Kenya, India, Nicaragua, Romania, and El Salvador.

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Check back again for related photo galleries or videos.

Leaders of RENASEG participate in the Survivor Network Regional Workshop in Conakry, Guinea in March 2017. Dr. Seny Ivonne Loua, Vice President (left) and Dr. Mamadou Oury Diallo, President (right).

This short story highlights the work that Guinea’s national Ebola survivor network, RENASEG, has accomplished with its 24 member organizations. The network’s vice president, Seny Yvonne Loua, explains what her group has done to help create jobs for Ebola survivors.

Photo of Marius popping a wheelie in his wheelchair

When Motivation Romania Foundation (MRF) met Marius, he was shy, not ready to use a wheelchair, and still looking for explanations. One year later, Marius left the MRF sports camp with a gold medal for wheelchair basketball and archery.

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