MEASURE Evaluation in Kenya

MEASURE Evaluation has been working in Kenya since 1997, and the scope of its activities has grown considerably since then. “There’s a lot happening in Kenya because there is a lot of capacity in the country to do different things,” said Ani Hyslop, who serves as a MEASURE Evaluation Country Focal Person for Kenya. “It’s been a great opportunity for Kenya and MEASURE Evaluation to benefit and develop new tools and approaches.” 

MEASURE Evaluation’s activities are varied but all work toward the common goal of ensuring that Kenya has the information required to monitor and evaluate its national health strategies, plan and implement health programs, and develop health policies.

In early 2009, MEASURE Evaluation began work on a baseline monitoring survey on child health outcomes using Lot Quality Assurance Sampling (LQAS) in Kenya. The LQAS approach is a relatively rapid and inexpensive approach to data collection, which makes it a desirable tool. “It gives the USAID mission in Kenya outcome information that is related to the projects themselves at a more local level and in a more timely manner than other methods,” Hyslop noted. “LQAS can be done more frequently too.”

Kenya’s National Coordinating Agency for Population and Development implemented the survey in collaboration with the Department of Child and Adolescent Health and other partners, with technical assistance from MEASURE Evaluation. The survey collected information on numerous child health and survival indicators related to antenatal and postnatal care, breastfeeding, vaccinations, immunizations, water sanitation and hygiene, malaria treatment, diarrhea and acute respiratory infections in Nyanza and Western provinces. MEASURE Evaluation is helping roll out the study in six additional provinces throughout the country with the goal of building capacity within the local organizations to conduct future LQAS assessments without assistance.

In July 2009, the Kenyan government adopted the National Malaria Strategy 2009–2017 with the goal of reducing malaria morbidity and mortality by two-thirds from 2007–2008 levels. In order to measure the strategy’s progress, Kenya’s Division of Malaria Control (DOMC) developed a national monitoring and evaluation (M&E) plan with technical support from MEASURE Evaluation and other partners. MEASURE Evaluation hired Abdinasir Amin as Resident Technical Advisor to assist with this effort.

In an interview in January 2011, Amin described MEASURE Evaluation’s assistance evaluating the impact of a mosquito net mass distribution campaign, funded by a number of stakeholders, notably the Global Fund to fight AIDS, TB and Malaria, the President’s Malaria Initiative and The World Bank..

“We are working with the Division of Malaria Control to make sure the monitoring components are very robust,” Amin explained. “We will work with them to see what has changed, to see if they were successful in increasing net coverage, retention and net use which is the ultimate goal of the mass campaign. We are also assisting the DOMC in capacity building for malaria M&E, building and strengthening malaria surveillance systems, implementing the national M&E activities and supporting impact evaluations.”