Africa AHEAD has been responsible for developing a monitoring system for programmes which are using community health clubs which will provide an institutional memory and knowledge platform for all stakeholders running CHCs. This week the website is being launched at the Water Institute’s, Water and Health Conference at the University of North Carolina.
Africa AHEAD was responsible for developing a monitoring tool for the intervention and this has been refined over the past three years, over four collections of data, starting with a paper based survey, which was then transferred to a digital platform. The Household Inventory is now available as an Application which can be downloaded on all android devices to provide an instant upload onto the ODK (Open Data Kit) website. From the ODK website the data is linked to the CHC AHEAD website where it can be viewed in graphs and charts and easily dis-aggregated into each CHC for further analysis.
The website (www.chcahead.com) enables presentation of data stories for evaluation of the different programmes or areas. Users of the website are formed into groups with particular levels of permission either to view, create or edit data in particular countries or districts. Whilst some of the general data is open source, all privacy is protected within the group.
We are encouraging all those who have a CHC programme to register their clubs in the interest of creating a shared resource which enables more coordination of partners within a given area. Organisations wishing to use this tool they may apply online for user permissions. This webiste promises to be a powerful planning tools for government to enable better overview of activities in the WASH sector and the harmonisation of all implementing partners efforts to improve health and hygiene.