The Monitoring and Evaluation of the Emergency Plan Progress (MEEPP) was launched in January 2005.

The purpose of this program is to design, implement and maintain a comprehensive PEPFAR performance

management, monitoring and reporting system. The MEEPP program is similarly charged with supporting

the USG PEPFAR team and its implementing partners (IPs), using performance improvement processes

and targeted technical assistance, to report high quality data in a timely and efficient manner in accordance

with OGAC's strategic information requirements. The programme is also required to establish strong

linkages with host country institutions that are involved in the monitoring of HIV / AIDS activities in the

context of the national response. This activity is a continuation from FY 2007 and has been updated for FY

2008.

MEEPP has now fully institutionalized a web-based database that has facilitated PEPFAR data aggregation,

analysis and use through five reporting cycles. The database is fully operational and is continuously

upgraded to respond to changes in PEPFAR requirements and to increase the user friendliness for both

Emergency Plan (EP) implementing partners and the USG PEPFAR team. MEEPP staff has been busy

working with the EP strategic information team to improve existing data gathering tools and to train

PEPFAR implementing partners in the use of these tools and the new database to standardize data

reporting across all 70 or so Emergency Plan partners in accordance with OGAC guidance. MEEPP has

also established effective communication and networking channels between partners facilitating the sharing

of best practices and lessons learned in M&E. In this way, MEEPP has played a critical role in the

preparation of the EP Semi-Annual and Annual Reports as well as validating the reported data. As of 30th

March 2007, MEEPP had conducted participatory Data Quality Assessment and Validation with 31 Prime

Partners at a total of 269 service outlets. The outcome of this exercise has been an improvement in the

quality of data as manifested in the subsequent reporting cycles. During the SAPR 2007, the 31 Prime

Partners contributed 97 % of the HCT, 93 % of the ART , 98 % of the PMTCT, 95 % of the Palliative Care

and 95 % of the OVC data.

MEEPP has worked closely with the EP strategic information team to use the results of these assessments

and validations to target MEEPP technical assistance to particular implementing partners facing M&E

challenges and improving/upgrading their information management systems and thus the quality and

timeliness of data reported. In addition to the special studies that had been undertaken to support

improved ART programming including a mapping of all USG ART sites in Uganda and a comprehensive

ART program review, MEEPP has been integrally involved in five Special Studies that focused on

assessing the factors underlying discrepant reporting by IPs at the same service outlet; assessing the level

of overlap of clientele across ART and Palliative Care service outlets; validating the USG indirect OVC

support for SAPR 07; validating ART indirect USG support for APR 06 and SAPR 07 and validating HCT

and PMTCT indirect USG support for APR 06 and SAPR 07. The preliminary results from these studies are

already pointing at specific action points that need to be taken to register further improvement in the quality

of both direct and indirect EP data at the aggregate level as well as the national host country level.

In support of FY 2006 and FY 2007 planning meetings, MEEPP prepared - and subsequently updated - a

series of data analyses providing important insights regarding progress against set targets and coverage of

PEPFAR supported interventions identifying opportunities for improved collaboration among partners.

These documents included HIV burden by districts worksheets and comparative analyses of reported

achievements against FY 2004, FY 2005, FY 2006 and, FY 2007 targets across all implementing partners in

all 14 PEPFAR program areas. These documents are the main tools for the target setting refresher

trainings organized by MEEPP and engaging all USG PEPFAR Technical Working Groups and training

program managers in the use of detailed data trend tools to better support their IPs in target

setting/estimation. An updated set of these tools was prepared and utilized for the FY 2008 Country

Operational Planning exercise. The main objective of these data trend orientation and "how-to' target

setting sessions is to introduce MEEPP generated Country Operational Planning resource materials, jointly

analyze performance data trends, raise awareness on key findings related to HIV burden and important

results of the Uganda HIV/AIDS sero-behavioral survey, identify "windows of opportunity" to adjust

programs to maximize data driven programming and encourage constructive dialogue between Cognizant

Technical Officers (CTOs) / Project Officers and their respective implementing partners on areas of

programmatic and/or target setting concerns.

In response to increasing demand for MEEPP services from the USG PEPFAR team to support the M&E

needs of the growing PEPFAR/Uganda portfolio and its numerous continuing and new implementing

partners, MEEPP was facilitated to hire additional staff. In FY 2006, the USG PEPFAR team was supported

by OGAC to increase funding to MEEPP in order to hire an additional M&E specialist, a data

manager/analyst and a program assistant. This increase in staff has been instrumental in enabling MEEPP

to further the implementation of its comprehensive performance management, monitoring and reporting

system and to maintain - and upgrade as necessary - the functionality of the online database. This human

resource strength will be further utilized to strengthen the Emergency Plan M&E capacity and also the

capacity of the relevant host country institutions during FY 2008.

In FY 2008, MEEPP will continue to work with all PEPFAR implementing partners to build capacity in

monitoring and evaluation, especially so for those that have suffered marked attrition of M&E personnel,

and to ensure that quality data collection and reporting systems are in place. All key M&E staff within

implementing partner organizations will be trained or retrained in data quality assessment, reporting

readiness and in the use of data for performance improvement. MEEPP will conduct Data Quality

Assessments and data validations in collaboration with ten additional prime partners and will place

particular attention on validating reported training data in order to maintain high quality and timely reporting

for PEPFAR. A total of five Special Studies will be conducted in response to the programmatic and

performance improvement questions identified by the USG PEPFAR strategic information team and the

Technical Working Groups. MEEPP will take advantage of the growing volume of Emergency Plan data for

a series of in-depth trend analyses to inform the individual IPs and the PEPFAR team in strategic

information management and overall planning and performance monitoring. Accordingly, MEEPP will

continue to support the target setting and analytical agenda of each of the USG PEPFAR technical working

groups in order to ensure timely attainment of Uganda's PEPFAR targets and increasingly fine tune

PEPFAR programming to effectively and efficiently address key drivers of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in

Uganda. As importantly, MEEPP will continue to support the analytical agenda of the EPT for gender

related issues. MEEPP's on-line data collection and reporting system facilitates examination of gender

issues across prevention, care and treatment programming within the USG EP response in Uganda.

Activity Narrative:

In response to the findings of the recently conducted special studies on validation of the USG Indirect

support, MEEPP , in close consultation with AIDS Capacity Enhancement program (ACE, will work closely

with the Monitoring and Evaluation teams of the Ministries of Health ( AIDS Control Programme ) and

Gender and Social Development ( OVC Secretariat ) to strengthen Data Quality Assessment ( DQA ) and

Validation for the Indirect outputs in HCT, PMTCT, ART, PC ( Including TB/HIV ) and OVC. The expected

output will be strengthened HIV / AIDS and OVC M & E systems in the respective ministries. MEEPP will

also assist in the dissemination of the best practices amongst implementing partners, host country

counterparts and development partners through a variety of dissemination modalities including technical

meetings, seminars, trainings and a series of communication products including contributions to a quarterly

newsletter by the Uganda AIDS Commission, as appropriate. In addition, MEEPP will continue to work

closely with the PEPFAR supported implementing partner, AIDS Capacity Enhancement program (ACE) in

its work with the Uganda AIDS Commission to advance HIV/AIDS stakeholders toward the application of

and adherence to "One Monitoring and Evaluation System" through the operationalization of Uganda's HIV /

AIDS National Strategic Plan 2007 /2008 -2011 / 2012 ( NSP ). MEEPP will also coordinate closely with the

CDC informatics Team and ACE in their work to support the MOH/Resource Center's strengthening /

expansion of the HMIS and ensure that all USG PEPFAR implementing partners upgrade and/or build

HIV/AIDS information management systems that can easily link to the HMIS and provide the GOU with key

HIV/AIDS information. The emphasis on closer participatory involvement in strategic information activities

between MEEPP and the host country institutions responsible for monitoring the national HIV / AIDS

response is yet another step in strengthening the sustainability of this vital component of portfolio

management at the national level.