The Tanzania Human Resource Capacity Project (THRP) is designed to address the current challenges that Tanzania faces in developing an adequate health and social welfare (SW) workforce within a complex system of public and private professional and paraprofessional cadres. Specific objectives are to assist the MOHSW and PMO-RALG to orchestrate the implementation of the HRH Strategy and the HR components of the HSSP III; strengthen the capacity of national and local government to predict, plan for, and recruit a workforce; improve its deployment, utilization, management, and retention; and increase its productivity.

Working through a local consortium, the THRP contributes to objectives two and three of the HRH goal of the PF; it also contributes to objective two of the first goal by developing a community-based para-social worker to provide essential psycho-social support and referral services for MVCs.

The program prioritizes capacity building of local partners, such as Mkapa Foundation and Christian Social Services Commission who co-lead the project, with particular focus on management systems and leadership. It will support the University of Dar es Salaam/Computer Sciences Department in establishing an open source LGHRIS resource center to produce more graduates with the technical skills and systems to understanding how to best sustain the national HRIS.

The THRP will lead an assessment of the SW workforce to provide essential information for the development of a national SW workforce strategy. Continuous data quality audits will be conducted to test and validate data in the public and private national HRIS. BMAF will assess work climate/productivity, including a gender discrimination module, in select districts to determine interventions and best practices.

Global Fund / Programmatic Engagement Questions

1. Is the Prime Partner of this mechanism also a Global Fund principal or sub-recipient, and/or does this mechanism support Global Fund grant implementation? Yes2. Is this partner also a Global Fund principal or sub-recipient? Neither3. What activities does this partner undertake to support global fund implementation or governance?

Budget Code Recipient(s) of Support Approximate Budget Brief Description of ActivitiesOHSS BMAF 1000000 --Strengthen BMAF ability to plan and manage organizational growth meeting multiple donor expectations; strengthening leadership and systems for planning, program impementation and reporting to meet project goals and reporting expectations of both USAID

The MOHSW Department of Social Welfare (DSW) is mandated to oversee the OVC and other vulnerable populations in Tanzania. As in other countries, the social welfare workforce (SWW) is weakened by unclear or overlapping mandates, little resource allocation, unclear or conflicting policy and programmatic mandates, little availability of quality training, education, and supporting systems. The THRP MVC program will address the acute shortage of social welfare staff in two ways. At the central level, the program will coordinate across several ministries and developing partners (including UNICEF) to conduct an assessment of the SWW, providing detail of the gap between expectations as stated in numerous key national policies (such as the Law of the Child Act, 2009) and the reality of SW services on the ground. It will use the information to guide development of a national human resource strategy for social welfare, while advocate for increasing the professionalism and the quality of education and training of the SWW.

The THRP is working in partnership with the Institute of Social Welfare to provide a medium-term solution to the gap in SW services at community levels. It will expand the geographic coverage of para-social workers (PSW) to provide psychosocial support services, family support and early intervention, and links to child protection services to address abuse, neglect, and increasingly documented violence against children. The THRP will train up to a 1,000 village-level para-social workers and PSW supervisors in Mtwara Region. The project will work with other USG-designated MVC implementing partners to roll out this training in select districts of Tabora, Mara, Singida, and Kilimanjaro regions. Updates of up to 900 PSWs and their supervisors in Iringa will follow the period of field practicum.

Concurrent with PSW training, the THRP aims to strengthen the existing local government infrastructure to connect village level need to ward and district level support for PSWs and MVCs, as evidenced by budget support in annual district plans, proactive supervision to the village, and routine collection and use of service data. The program is strengthening the government system to track SW services and referrals provided by PSWs and their supervisors, as well as increasing the commitment shown by local government authorities (LGAs) in the annual budget cycle and community initiatives in support of MVC. To further establish itself as a functioning civil society organization, the project will support the fledgling network of PSWs and PASONET. Understanding the challenges of motivating volunteer PSWs, the THRP will gauge commitment by selecting a number of LGAs to cost share bicycle distributions to PSWs in the district (most likely hard-to reach rural villages with enthusiastic PSWs).

Still considered a pilot program, the THRP/MVC program will disseminate findings, best practices, success stories, and lessons learned from routine monitoring and advocacy efforts by coordinating annual dissemination meetings to further enhance LGA ownership of the program and commitment to providing SW services to its vulnerable populations.

The THRP supports USG's efforts to address the human resource (HR) crisis of a 65% shortage in health positions across Tanzania. It also addresses the challenge of limited health worker data; data that is frequently out-of-date, inaccurate, and rarely used for health workforce planning or decisions. Program implementation is through a consortium of local partners that work through the existing government structures and systems to enhance country ownership and the potential for sustainability.

As program co-lead, the Mkapa Foundation (BMAF) leads advocacy and communications efforts with MOHSW. It will support the MOHSW in transforming the current HRH working group and strategic objective teams into a highly functioning Secretariat. BMAF will lead the planning for a technical review meeting dedicated to the national HRH agenda in conjunction with the JAHSR policy discussions. It will also assist final revisions of the national staffing norms with international technical assistance.

USG focus continues to be the implementation of a revised HRM district strengthening program through an intense period of coaching and mentoring, extending coverage from 20 districts to 54. BMAF will enhance the knowledge and use of HRH evidence to improve district HRH interventions, build the capacity of district officials, and integrate HRH interventions into the existing district guidelines and plans. The expected outcome from the implementation of these activities is improved district and regional HRM practices, which will in turn reduce vacancy rates. The approach, tools, and materials provide the basis for Global Funds health systems strengthening activities to cover the remainder of the districts. BMAF will bring central-level and district officials together to recommend policy change and highlight best practices in an effort to reduce the gap in HR planning, recruitment, deployment, and management between the two levels.

Good health worker data is essential for the effective planning, management, and retention of the health workforce, who are the most essential resource for health service delivery. This challenge can be addressed by effective deployment and use of a routinely updated human resource information system (HRIS). USG support will ensure that human resource information systems are in place in both the public and private sectors to manage and use HR data in the health sector effectively for recruitment, management, and retention of health workers, especially at the district level. Under the leadership of the Prime-Ministers Office for Regional Administration and Local Government, this program will implement a functional HRIS, linking at the central, regional, and district levels. The THRP will:

(1) Play a leadership role with inter-ministerial coordination to ensure interoperability across multiple information systems;(2) Plan for district functionality and use of data to inform planning, policy, and routine management decisions;(3) Provide the hardware and software to expand infrastructure; and(4) Train program managers in the use of the system for data-driven decision making and effective deployment of health workers.

Sixty districts will receive hardware, software, and training this program year. It will leverage financial and technical support provided by the Local Government Reform Program, which is a multi-donor European funding.