December 2024 Session

Agenda

KOFISI 9, Nairobi | 03rd December, 2024
Time	Duration	Agenda	Event Detail
09:00am - 09:05am	5 mins	Opening	Speaker - Jojo
09:05am - 09:20am	15 mins	DPAC Recap	Session by Abhishek
09:20am - 11:40am	2 hours 20 mins	Partner Presentations	Partners present the top 3 (max 5) challenges that they are facing in campaigns and/or digitalisation of campaigns. Each partner org gets 15 mins to present (5 mins presentation + 10 mins Q&A)
11:40am - 12:00pm	20 mins	Tea/Coffee Break
12:00pm - 01:00pm	1 hour	Breakout Sessions	Break out and collate a shared understanding of the most important issues
01:00pm - 02:00pm	1 hour	Lunch
02:00pm - 03:00pm	1 hour	Fun Session	Fun session by Jojo
03:00pm - 04:00pm	1 hour	Priority Alignment for HCM	Align on the priorities in HCM for the next 12 months
04:00pm - 04:15pm	15 mins	Tea/Coffee Break
04:15pm - 04:45pm	30 mins	5 Thread	Session by Jojo
04:45pm - 05:15pm	30 mins	Support & Capacity Build	What support/capacity building do you expect from eGov?
05:15pm - 05:20pm	5 mins	Closing

Attendees

Name	Organisation	Bio
Brad Didier	CHAI - Clinton Health Access Initiative	With over 15 years working in global public health, primarily in Africa, he serves as the Associate Director for Malaria & NTD Data to Action at the Clinton Health Access Initiative and is based in Nairobi. He helps lead CHAI’s portfolio of support to Ministries of Health in improving data use for improved malaria programming, including support to building sustainable, integrated, end-to-end campaign digitization systems that improve the coverage, quality, and efficiency of health campaigns.
Sonia Maria Enosse	MC - Malaria Consortium	A Ph.D. in Molecular Epidemiology from the University of Copenhagen, she joined Mozambique’s National Institute of Health in 1999, contributing to malaria epidemiology, drug resistance, and HIV research. From 2001–2006, she worked at the Manhiça Health Research Center (CISM) on malaria drug resistance and vaccine trials. As Malaria Consortium’s Country Technical Coordinator since 2022, she leads projects in Mozambique on seasonal malaria chemoprevention, digital health platforms, and strengthening surveillance, data quality, and community health initiatives.
Abdul Razak Mussa	MC - Malaria Consortium	A Mozambican digital health specialist with 10+ years of experience in data management, M&E, and digital health systems, he works with Malaria Consortium in Maputo, leading digital health platforms for community health workers and supporting the National Malaria Control Program. Formerly with the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation and ICAP, he implemented electronic health systems for pediatric HIV treatment. Pursuing an MPH at Eduardo Mondlane University, he is dedicated to advancing scalable digital health solutions in Mozambique.
Liberty Bunce	MC - Malaria Consortium	As a Senior Digital Health Specialist at Malaria Consortium, she leads the global digital health strategy, focusing on campaign digitalisation, community-based healthcare, and malaria surveillance across Africa and Asia. Based in the UK, she provides technical support for designing and implementing digital health programmes. With 12 years of experience in project design, programme management, and business development in digital health and international development, Liberty holds an MPhil in Modern South Asian Studies from the University of Cambridge.
Louise Cook	MC - Malaria Consortium	With a Master's in International Development, she has worked at Malaria Consortium for five years, transitioning from girls' education in India to health-focused programme management. As East and Southern Africa Risk and Regional Programmes Manager, she supports Mozambique, Uganda, South Sudan, and Ethiopia in ensuring programme compliance, performance, and impact. She also collaborates on country strategies and business development, driving efforts to achieve sustainable growth and positive outcomes in the region.
Dr Marcy Erskine	AMP - Alliance for Malaria Prevention	She leads Malaria Programs at the IFRC and the Alliance for Malaria Prevention (AMP), focusing on expanding access to insecticide-treated nets (ITNs) through campaigns and continuous distribution. She has supported national malaria programs across sub-Saharan Africa to ensure high-quality, efficient ITN distribution. Marcy oversees a team of experts working in strategy, logistics, supply chain management, social behavior change, monitoring and evaluation, and digitalization, advancing impactful and sustainable malaria prevention efforts globally.
Robert Opoku	AMP - Alliance for Malaria Prevention	A public health expert with over 10 years of experience in malaria control, digital health, and project management. At AMP/IFRC, he develops tools and guidance for health campaign digitalization, supports national malaria programs, and coordinates the annual multi-stakeholder campaign digitalization meeting. He holds an MPH, an MSc in Development Management, and a PMP certification. Robert is passionate about leveraging technology and data to improve the efficiency and impact of health interventions.
Samuel Omara	WHO GISC - World Health Organization Geographic Information Systems Centre for Health	With 13+ years of experience in humanitarian emergencies across Africa, the Middle East, and Asia, he is now a GIS and Information Management specialist. Having worked with WHO, UNOCHA, IMMAP, and Danish Refugee Council, he integrates GIS and innovative technologies into public health systems during emergencies, including climate crises, refugee responses, and disease outbreaks. Currently with WHO GISC, he leads climate and health in emergencies, focusing on geospatial products and data visualization to address climate impacts on health.
Jon Carver	WHO GISC - World Health Organization Geographic Information Systems Centre for Health	In his total 30 years of experience, 24 years he has worked in humanitarian and development organizations. He specializes in conceptualizing and implementing response operations, recovery programs, and readiness projects in complex environments. Jon has worked with organizations like the UN, WFP, WHO, and IFRC in countries including Thailand, Sudan, Afghanistan, and Africa. Currently, he serves as Senior Advisor at the WHO GIS Centre for Health, developing teams, partnerships, and scaling resources in emergency and development settings.
Elijah Egwu	CRS - Catholic Relief Services	A Senior Technical Advisor for Digital Health at CRS, leading efforts to integrate digital public goods (DPGs) into health projects across Africa and the Middle East. He has pioneered digital health campaigns in over 15 countries, enabling the distribution of over 50 million malaria commodities. Elijah helps CRS transition to DPGs, partners with organizations like the eGovernment Foundation, and co-leads the development of digital health products. He also oversees ICT4D initiatives, digital health pilots, and capacity-building efforts.
Satish Choudhury	BMGF - Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation	With over 15 years of experience in digital health and supply chain management, he focuses on using technology to improve health outcomes in underserved communities. As a Malaria Program Officer at BMGF, he builds coalitions to scale solutions beyond pilots, strengthens local capacity, and promotes data-driven decision-making. Satish aims to shift global malaria efforts toward a data-driven, country-led approach, integrating cross-disease strategies to maximize health impact and build evidence for sustainable outcomes.
Idil Hussein	WHO AFRO - World Health Organization, African Region	Being a Digital Finance Officer with the World Health Organization’s Regional Office for Africa, she works in support of Ministries of Health and WHO country offices in the African Region to establish and strengthen digital payment systems, ensuring that frontline health workers are paid rapidly and reliably during polio outbreak responses. Prior to joining WHO, Idil held various finance roles with the Royal Bank of Canada and The Bank of Nova Scotia based in Toronto, Canada.
Srikant Mohan	CHAI - Clinton Health Access Initiative	He is a Senior Technical Advisor, Digital Health and Health System Strengthening with Clinton Health Access Initiative. He is leading Public Finance Management at CHAI. His work has spanned different verticals such as global public health, technology for development, reproductive maternal and child health and outbreak disease modelling, and has managed significant partnerships with national governments, global funders and presented at conferences globally.

Meeting Notes

The event was hosted at the Kofisi coworking space in Nairobi and began with Jojo (Chief Product Officer) welcoming all the partners followed by Abhishek (Product Manager) providing a recap of the previous DPAC event held in Quarter 2. The session then transitioned to a detailed walkthrough of the HCM roadmap, highlighting its evolution over the past few months and offering a preview of planned developments for the next two quarters. Updates on key discussion points from the previous session were also shared, reflecting feedback from the DPAC committees, which had been incorporated into the updated roadmap. The presentation deck used during the session is below:

Abhishek Suresh Product Manager - eGov Foundation “The partner feedback from each DPAC session is continuously enriching the HCM roadmap ”

Afterward, each partner shared a presentation in the prescribed format highlighting the key issues they believe need attention in the health campaigns.

Elijah Egwu, Senior Technical Advisor for Digital Health at CRS, focused on the challenges of suboptimal data use, making it difficult for users to know the next steps intuitively. He also brought up the issue of inconsistencies in user records during payments, which sparked a lot of discussion. You can find the full presentation deck is below:

Elijah Egwu Senior Technical Advisor - Digital Health, Catholic Relief Services “Authentication of users is most critical for payments to campaign workers”

Robert from AMP highlighted the importance of digitizing microplanning, pointing out how the lack of it leads to significant challenges, such as lost manpower days and wasted resources due to incorrect allocations. He also emphasized the need for better payment integration, as delays in processing payments negatively impact team morale and contribute to attrition. You can access the full presentation below.

Robert Opoku Senior Project Officer - IFRC “Campaign coverage decreases due to inaccurate targeting and misallocation of resources increases logistical cost”

Brad Didier, Associate Director for Malaria & NTD at CHAI, highlighted the need for increased customization options in the dashboard UI. The eGov team was excited to announce that this will be possible with the upcoming release of HCM version 1.6, which will allow programs to create custom dashboards alongside the standard out-of-the-box options. He also emphasized the importance of configuring and tailoring the HCM to meet region-specific needs—a feature planned for inclusion in the HCM console next quarter. Brad covered several other critical topics, including payments, attendance tracking, multiple registries, and issues with beneficiary ID duplication. You can find his full presentation attached below:

Brad Didier Associate Director for Malaria & NTD - CHAI "Having configurability in the HCM console and training in-country technical teams will reduce dependency and boost ministry confidence for sustained product adoption across campaigns"

Idil Hussein, Digital Finance Officer at the World Health Organization’s Regional Office for Africa, provided valuable insights into how the WHO Afro Digital Finance Team manages payments for health campaigns using the CommCare tool developed by Dimagi. She walked through the end-to-end payment process, highlighting the challenges faced and the solutions implemented, focusing on the integration with mobile money operators. Idil also shared key strategies and lessons learned from their experiences. The full presentation is available below:

Idil Hussein Digital Finance Officer - WHO Regional Office for Africa “Clear communication on payment timelines, amounts, and composition can help set vaccinators' expectations and enhance their payment experience”

Jon Carver, Senior Advisor at the WHO GIS Centre for Health, emphasized the underutilization of geospatial data and tools in health campaigns and highlighted the critical need for accurate population data in campaign planning. He underscored the importance of GIS-enabled microplanning to improve efficiency and resource allocation. You can access the full presentation below:

Jon Carver Senior Advisor, WHO GIS Centre for Health "Without precise population estimates and clear health boundaries, we risk inefficiently distributing resources and missing the very communities we aim to serve."

Liberty Bunce, Senior Digital Health Specialist at Malaria Consortium, highlighted challenges related to verifying and authenticating user identities during payments, as well as the lack of data visibility for field supervisors. The team was pleased to announce that these issues are being addressed with the mobile dashboards introduced in HCM version 1.5, enabling team leads to monitor on-ground field performance more effectively. The full presentation can be accessed below:

Liberty Bunce Senior Digital Health Specialist, Malaria Consortium “Payment delays, though not uncommon, can harm implementers’ morale and willingness to participate, leading to potential dropout and the need for mid-campaign replacements”

The team gathered and consolidated all the key points raised during the discussions and presentations. These insights were organized using post-it notes, which were then grouped into key categories for better clarity and analysis. Through this collaborative exercise, four major themes emerged as the primary focus areas across all the presentations.

Key Themes Emerged

The afternoon session was a fun and interactive session led by Jojo, that got everyone to take a ‘’stand’’ on a diverse range of topics that are quite debatable. For eg: Where does everyone stand (literally) for a topic such as campaigns needing more money or more innovation. It was fascinating to see opposing views on most topics and hear everyone’s unique perspectives—it really got the room buzzing!

An image from the exercise captures the team expressing a range of perspectives on a topic, with Marcy from AMP boldly taking a stance at one extreme, standing apart from the rest. Her reasoning persuaded several team members to reconsider their positions.

This image shows the room's opinion on a specific issue split almost 50:50. Marcy from AMP can be seen right in the center of the room, offering a balanced perspective.

Later in the session, the participants were divided into smaller groups and assigned to different tables for focused discussions. Each group tackled one of the key themes that had emerged earlier, delving into the specific questions and challenges associated with their topic. The teams engaged in lively brainstorming sessions to propose possible solutions and share their insights. The day concluded with thoughtful closing remarks from Chandar Muthukrishnan (CEO, Equidhi), summarizing the key takeaways and setting the stage for the next steps.

An image of the group discussions on the presentations by the participants

An image of the group discussions on the presentations by the participants

Chandar Muthukrishnan - Chief Executive Officer, Equidhi delivering closing statement

The participants shared several valuable ideas and suggestions during the discussions, including:

Other Discussion Points

• SMS Reminders:

- Provide an option for the population to opt out of receiving reminders.

- Assess the practicality of using one phone per family for communication.

- Population should have the ability to opt out of these reminders

• Data Protection:

- Ensure strict adherence to local data protection laws to safeguard privacy and compliance.

• CHW Engagement:

Utilise Community Health Workers (CHWs) across multiple campaigns through a unified user registry, promoting job continuity and consistency.

• Government Ownership:

- Advocate for government management of base datasets to ensure standardized and consistent data across campaigns.

• Beneficiary IDs:

- Begin implementing IDs for campaign workers first as a pilot before scaling the system to include beneficiaries.