The University of Notre Dame (NDIGD) was recently awarded a contract from (PCI) to conduct a post-project sustainability study.

The study will evaluate the long-term impact of Project CHOICE (Child Health Opportunities Integrated with Community Empowerment), a four-year, USAID-funded project designed to improve the health and nutrition status among children and their caretakers. The project ran from October 2003 to September 2007 in the Pandeglang District of Indonesia. Significant poverty, low employment, limited access to education and corruption among elected leaders characterized the project sites.

PCI aims to shed light on the determinant factors that may contribute to, or work against, the likelihood of project sustainability. Six years after CHOICE activities in Indonesia were completed, PCI is interested in returning to the communities to complete an in-depth post-project sustainability study. The project was designed to provide improved access to quality primary health care services, improved health-seeking and caregiving behaviors among caretakers, and successful implementation of PCI’s community-based health development model by partner nongovernmental organizations. Post-project sustainability studies measure whether program benefits are still present after project completion and examines what factors contribute to the success or failure in the sustainability of the program. Thus, NDIGD monitoring and evaluation experts will determine whether the benefits achieved during the program operation are still present in both the new cohort of children and in children who received services during the project.

NDIGD will integrate a data collection and an evaluation plan to synthesize the outcomes of this project. NDIGD’s previous experience in collecting data from rural and hard-to-reach population using rigorous research methods will be helpful in designing and executing this evaluation. For this study, NDIGD will use mobile phones in data collection, using technology NDIGD has successfully applied in other countries around the world. Survey questionnaires will be programmed in smartphones or tablets, and responses will be collected during the interview using the mobile devices. In addition, NDIGD will also conduct focus group discussions with project beneficiaries.

Edwin Michael

The research team includes , professor of biological sciences and a member of Notre Dame’s . “Conducting a post-project evaluation is a unique opportunity to identify the longer-term impacts of the health and nutrition program. It is the type of evaluation that should be conducted more often for global health interventions. I am delighted to see that PCI has taken such evaluations seriously, and am pleased that I will be able to work with NDIGD in developing and conducting this evaluation,” Michael said.

NDIGD monitoring and evaluation specialists and will oversee the data collection in Indonesia in early 2014. “Post-project sustainability study is rarely done in the international development arena. This opportunity will provide us a better understanding of what works and what does not when we go back to the same communities after six years,” Khatiwada said.

NDIGD embraces a holistic approach in areas including commerce and economic development, security and peacebuilding, rule of law, global health, infrastructure, human development, energy and the environment, and education. Notre Dame strengths will help advance PCI goals via an evidence-based, multidisciplinary approach that will combine stringent project monitoring and evaluation, development policy and cooperation and policy improvement.

“Indonesia is a country of increasingly strategic importance to the University, and we are very pleased with this new research opportunity to assist PCI in measuring the outcomes of the health intervention conducted in the Pandeglang District,” said Notre Dame Vice President and Associate Provost for Internationalization .

Contact: Michael Sweikar, NDIGD managing director, msweikar@nd.edu

The University of Notre Dame (NDIGD) was recently awarded a $375,000 contract from the (MCC) to conduct an evaluation of MCC’s water project in Ghana.

In 2006, MCC signed a five-year, $547 million compact with the Republic of Ghana aimed at reducing poverty through agribusiness development. The University of Notre Dame will help evaluate the benefits of the water component of that project, which was designed to provide water systems to communities in Ghana. Three hundred ninety-two water points were constructed, including boreholes, small town water systems and pipe extensions.

The evaluation will help determine whether improving water systems in participating districts has reduced the prevalence of illness — particularly diarrhea — and generated health improvements, and whether beneficiary productivity and incomes have increased with the availability of better water. Some 137 selected communities in the intervention areas are benefiting from the improved water systems.

NDIGD will work with MCC to evaluate the water activity of these improved water systems, integrating a survey and data collection to synthesize outcomes of the project. NDIGD’s previous experience in using rigorous research methods to collect data from communities will be helpful in designing and executing the evaluation.

The research team includes , professor of biological sciences and a member of Notre Dame’s . “We are excited about investigating whether the model used for the water intervention has led to improved health outcomes, particularly in the case of diarrhea, which continues to be a leading cause of death among the developing world’s children,” Michael said.

NDIGD monitoring and evaluation specialists and will travel to Ghana in December to develop the design for the survey and data collection that will be implemented in 2014. “We are collaborating with several experts in Ghana to assist in providing local expertise and knowledge as we design the study and carry out the evaluation,” Khatiwada said.

Economics professor will provide input into the design of the evaluation and assist in analyzing the data. Other researchers on the project, including research fellow and , data management consultant for the , also serve as part of the research team.

“Notre Dame is most grateful to be able to partner with the Millennium Challenge Corp. on this potentially transformative project in Ghana,” said University of Notre Dame Provost . “Splendid faculty from several different disciplines, working through Notre Dame’s Initiative for Global Development, will contribute to several applied research projects that will benefit not only communities in Ghana but also many others worldwide.”

A United States foreign aid agency created by Congress in January 2004, the Millennium Challenge Corp. is committed to providing smart U.S. foreign assistance by focusing on good policies, country ownership and proven results.

Contact: Michael Sweikar, NDIGD managing director, msweikar@nd.edu

The University of Notre Dame (NDIGD) was recently awarded a blanket purchase agreement to partner with the (MCC) to provide impact evaluation research for MCC projects.

MCC is a U.S. foreign aid agency created by the U.S. Congress in January 2004 that is committed to providing U.S. foreign assistance by focusing on policies, country ownership and proven results. MCC is working toward improving the lives of people in developing countries by creating the markets of the future, with whom global companies can do business and trade.

NDIGD will draw from multidisciplinary resources at Notre Dame that align with MCC objectives to help foster demand-driven, interdisciplinary approaches to major development challenges.

NDIGD will work to support MCC goals by providing monitoring and evaluation services that will measure the impact of programming on institutions and the impact of reforms on desired outcomes, and by conducting project design and policy analysis for the implementation of global development projects. In addition, the new partnership will support training and capacity building through the integration of multidisciplinary teams and proven approaches to developing training and education programs.

NDIGD embraces a holistic approach in areas that include commerce and economic development, security and peacebuilding, rule of law, global health, infrastructure, human development, energy and the environment, and education. Notre Dame’s strengths will help advance MCC goals via an evidence-based, multidisciplinary approach that will combine stringent project monitoring and evaluation, development policy and cooperation, and policy improvement.

“We are very pleased to leverage our University-wide expertise across multiple disciplines to support MCC in monitoring and evaluation, as well as the design of development projects that are well-matched to the University’s expertise, capacity and mission,” said , Notre Dame vice president for research.

The new partnership between NDIGD and MCC will help provide a strong framework for the rigorous evaluation of the impact of integrated global development projects that assist in the development of peaceful nations and assist people suffering from extreme poverty.

Contact: Michael Sweikar, NDIGD managing director, msweikar@nd.edu