2016 Nairobi iCCM Workshop

February 16, 2016 - February 18, 2016
Nairobi, Kenya

In April 2014, the Global Fund and UNICEF signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to better coordinate efforts aimed at reducing the burden of HIV, tuberculosis, and malaria and improving the health of mothers, newborns, and children in a select number of high burden countries. UNICEF and the Global Fund agreed to work together in the context of the Global Fund's New Funding Model (NFM) to include support for a complementary and comprehensive MNCH intervention package in line with national strategies for maternal and child survival. More specifically, the Global Fund permitted countries to apply for funding to support selected components of the iCCM package under the NFM, such as community health worker (CHW) training and salaries, malaria commodities, supportive supervision, as well as supply chain and health information system strengthening activities. Simultaneously, UNICEF committed to using its "best efforts" to support governments to secure and deliver an integrated iCCM package at the community level. To support this process, the iCCM Financing Task Team (FTT) - a multi-organizational team of global partners led by UNICEF - was formed in early 2014 to provide technical assistance to countries interested in integrating iCCM into their Global Fund malaria and/or health systems strengthening (HSS) concept notes.

During Phase 1 (2014/2015), the iCCM FTT focused its effort on supporting countries to: 

  1. Undertake gap analyses and revise/strengthen national strategies for iCCM;
  2. Develop strong, technically sound Global Fund concept notes; and,
  3. Successfully navigate the Global Fund's grant approval and grant-making processes.

During Phase 2 (2015/2016), as countries transition into the grant implementation phase, the iCCM FTT focused its efforts on ensuring maximum value for money and the optimal implementation of integrated delivery.

The purpose of the Nairobi iCCM consultation - Scaling up integrated Community Case Management (iCCM) in the context of the UNICEF-GFATM Memorandum of Understanding - was to bring key stakeholders from the global, regional, and country level together to share knowledge, lessons learned, and experiences across countries to accelerate progress from approved Global Fund malaria and HSS grants to integrated iCCM programming and implementation on the ground. 

The specific objectives of the workshop were to:

  • Review implementation planning and monitoring of the iCCM component of Global Fund malaria and HSS grants to: 1. share lessons learned/experiences across countries; 2. define key constraints and identify potential solutions; and, 3. develop a common performance monitoring framework, with an emphasis on community information strengthening link to HMIS to assess the outcomes and impact of iCCM implementation.
  • Share country experiences with integrating iCCM supplies into national procurement and supply chain management (PSM) systems and develop draft country actions plans which identify key bottlenecks, solutions, and critical actions for fostering this integration, including PSM strengthening.
  • Assist country teams to develop resource mobilization plans for co-financing needed, as described in the concept note.
  • Identify technical assistance needs for ongoing support for implementation and scale-up of iCCM-Global Fund grants.

This session began with an overview of iCCM progress to date under the auspices of the UNICEF-Global Fund MoU, followed by country teams sharing their experiences and lessons learned during early implementation of Global Fund-support iCCM programming.

The objectives of the session were to review iCCM implementation under the Global Fund's NFM to:

  1. Share experiences and lessons learned across countries;
  2. Identify key constraints; and,
  3. Identify common themes and potential solutions across countries. 

During this session, participants reviewed and discussed key components of writing strong national iCCM implementation plans. Common processes and challenges encountered, as well as possible solutions to common bottlenecks, were discussed. During the second part of the session, countries worked in teams and undertook peer review of their respective iCCM implementation plans.

The objectives of the session were to:

  1. Review key components of writing strong iCCM implementation plans, identifying common processes, challenges, and solutions; and,
  2. For country teams to engage in peer review of iCCM implementation plans and offer suggestions for strengthening and improvement.

Participants learned more about the importance of integrates PSM planning for effective iCCM implementation, including a discussion of common PSM challenges for iCCM. PSM resources that were developed by the iCCM FTT and UNICEF were shared with participants. During group work country teams developed draft country action plans for PSM strengthening to ensure successful iCCM implementation.

The objectives of the session were to:

  • Discuss integrated PSM planning for iCCM implementation, including commons challenges and possible solutions;
  • Share PSM tools and resources with country teams; and,
  • Develop country-specific PSM action plans to supportive effective iCCM implementation.

Participants were updated on the recommended indicators for iCCM, priority indicators that should be integrated within national HMIS, and best practices for supporting iCCM data quality and data use as a mechanism for strengthening broader community health information systems and HMIS in the context of new funding from the Global Fund. Participants also reviewed existing monitoring plans and began to develop and/or revise plans, as appropriate.

The objectives of the session were to:

  • Increase understanding of priority iCCM indicators, processes for integration into national HMIS, and best practices to support data quality and use;
  • Revise and update existing Global Fund program monitoring plans as appropriate; and,
  • Develop country-specific action plans for the integration of priority iCCM indicators into national HMIS and supporting data quality and data use.

This session provided an update on country support provided by the iCCM FTT in leveraging resources through the Global Fund’s new funding model and presented the principal recommendations for investing in CHW platforms. A panel of experts discussed financing opportunities to inform the development of country delegations’ resource mobilization strategies.

The objectives of the session were to:

  1. Present the latest evidence in strengthening and financing CHW platforms;
  2. Understand existing and future global financing opportunities for iCCM, CHWs, and community health system strengthening; and,
  3. Develop resource mobilization strategies.

Session Six began with a panel presentation by members of the community health system in Kenya. The panelists described successes, challenges, and visions for the future of community health services from their own perspectives and in their respective counties. During the second part of the session, country teams identified their technical assistance needs and country plans of action. The session ended with a meeting summary and the official closure of the workshop.