Strategic Information and Introduction to the Country Response Information System

By Geoff Manthey,

Chief

CRIS Unit, UNAIDS.

Strategic Information used for National Strategic Plans

Situational assessment– Policy index– Resources– Prevention– Care– Treatment– Knowledge and behaviour– Impact

Questions for national responses

• How can we ensure that lessons learned are not lessons lost?

• How do we begin to have greater access, synergy and cohesion vis-à-vis strategic information?

• How to coordinate a variety of information sources?

• How do our information systems work together?

What is Strategic Information?

• lessons learned – in countries of Southern America, globally

• Knowledge of “what works” among and between partners

• Indicators – input, impact, outcome, etc

• Inventories – partners, research, activities

• Resource tracking• Policies and legislation

What strategic information is needed?

• Does it have relevance to NSP and the national response

• Can the data be collected according to agreed guidelines?

• Are there resources available to collect the data

• Will the data used? Will it be made available to all partners?

Collect what will be used for your program management.

Information for a strengthened AIDS program

Sustained expanded national response

Improved data collection and

strategic information

Strengthened policy and planning

Improved analysis and synthesis of information

National Strategic Plan

(including National M&E Plan)

National Reporting to UNGASS or partners

Programmatic data with core and local

Indicators

CRIS – the system

Questions to answer!

• How will it work in your country?• Where will it be, where will it live?• Who will use it?• What indicators and other information

will be contained within the system?

Issues we considered when developing CRIS

• How to improve flow of national and sub-national data for national AIDS responses?

• How to prepare NAC information systems (if they exist) for the Internet?

• What analytical tools are required by NACs / NAPs?

• How do we leverage existing applications and their analytical tools for NACs / NAPs?

CRISAn information system for National AIDS

Councils – allows systematic (1) collection, (2) storage, (3) analysis, (4)

retrieval and (5) dissemination of information on a country’s response to

HIV/AIDS

What does CRIS look like?

• Indicator database (Version 1.4 available)

• Project / resource tracking database (end 2003)

• Research Inventory database (end 2003)

Who can use CRIS?1. National entities including National

AIDS Councils & National AIDS Programs

2. NGOs and civil society

3. GFATM (Global Fund)

4. Regional entities

5. Donor/bilateral agencies (CDC GAP)

6. The UN system (World Bank MAP)

Immediate benefits of CRIS

• Rapid establishment of an information system at country level

• Strengthening of existing systems

• Enhanced ability to monitor National Strategic Plan and the national response

• Improved ability to report to funding sources e.g. GFATM, WB and UN

Other benefits…..

• Supports global indicator standardization process, transmission format and prioritisation

• Supports next generation indicator development process

• Manages large volumes of information

• Streamlines information flows and greater local access

Where will the principle CRIS live?

• Negotiated with each country

• National AIDS Commission / Council recommended

• Consider technical and human resource capacity available and/or planned

• Can have a “temporary” home

• Can be installed as “peer” systems in line Ministries, sub-national and/or NGOs

Introduction to the GRID

Global Response Information Database available via the UNAIDS website

links via the GRID…..

• AIDS Programme Indicator Survey

• AIDS Programme Effort Index

• HealthMapper / Global Atlas (WHO)

• EpiFact Sheets

• DHS

• Key documents

• Contacts

Indicator Database

• 1st available component of CRIS

• Core indicators (UNGASS) that are consistent across all CRIS

• Ability to add indicators specific to national AIDS responses

• Ability to add regionally specific indicators

Indicator Database V1.4b

• Multilingual capability (EN,FR,RU,SP)

• It could easily be translated into Asian languages including Indonesian

• PivotTable and charting capability

• Indicator management, e.g. status

• Data import/export of data and definitions

• Comments field to support report making

Features of CRIS IND?

• Allows countries to load all global data• Ability to share indicator definitions• Demonstrated that minimal training

required• Immediate use – rapid installation via

CD-Rom• Leverages the functionality of other

information systems through data exchange

More features

• Application is browser based

• Configured as stand alone, but in future network and web-enabled

• HTML technology allows for ease of addition of screens to the system

• SQL Server 2000 Desktop allows for migration to SQL Server

Project / resource tracking database

• Available end 2003

• Allows data collection in a hierarchical fashion

• Project – Intervention – Activity

• Project level data (summary information) exportable

PRT

Data to include:– Sub-national functional level i.e. province or district– Executing/implementing organization – Resource provider (donor) – Planned or actual start and/or end dates for projects – Target populations' sex, age group, occupation and/or

ethnicity – A variety of activity descriptions or keywords that

more fully describe projects – How a project fulfills the goals in the National

Strategic Plan.

Project/resource tracking database

Project

Intervention Intervention

Activity Activity Activity Activity Activity Activity

Research Inventory Database • To be released by end of 2003• Existing systems evaluated• Database design in progress• Compatibility with PRT database• Harmonization with existing systems, e.g.

NIH, USAID• Data from funding agencies & from the

country level• Information available on GRID• Analysis on gaps and opportunities (research

and partners)

Research Inventory Database

Global Research data

Analysis of Gaps, opportunities and possible partnerships(Information available at country and global levels)

Country level data

RID

• Pilot in a number of priority countries

• National Research Institution to partner with National AIDS Council / Commission

• Match global research award data with national research data

Current issues

• CRIS complements & leverages other information systems – how to communicate this message well

• CRIS can be used to leverage the establishment / improvement of a basic M&E system – how do we do this?

• Need for “model” countries where CRIS / M&E is functioning – which countries and in what time frame?

• Developing capacity among (cosponsors’) country based staff for M&E and CRIS – joint action required

CRIS endorsed by:• UNAIDS Programme Coordinating

Board • UNAIDS Committee of Cosponsoring

Organizations • Monitoring and Evaluation Reference

Group (MERG) and its members• USAID• CDC• DfID• Governments of Japan, Norway &

Portugal.

Things to remember before installing CRIS

• Does your Hardware meet the documented requirements

• You will need to have administrator rights to computer for installation

• Your computer Operating System must be Windows 2000 not an earlier model

A User Guide has been developed to guide you through the installation process as well as other functionality.