The main objective of this Country Operational Plan (COP) for the National HIV/AIDS/STI/TB Council (NAC) will be to further develop, fully operationalize, and manage the national HIV/AIDS M&E system. Activities will focus on strategic information and systems strengthening in an effort to develop a sustainable and fully functional national HIV/AIDS M&E system which will enable NAC to meet its monitoring and evaluation mandate by providing information for evidence-based decision making.

Specific objectives of the program are to implement the NAC management information system (NACMIS) to the district levels. To facilitate rollout of the NACMIS, NAC will do the following:

1) Support trainers educated in FY 2009 to instruct District AIDS Task Force (DATF) members from targeted districts in database applications and electronic data management;

2) Implement a geographical information system (GIS) for key HIV/AIDS intervention areas (counseling and testing- CT; anti-retroviral therapy- ART; prevention of mother to child transmission- PMTCT; palliative care-PC);

3) Build capacity in NAC Activity Reporting Form (NARF) data management, and M&E at provincial, district, and community levels to improve monitoring of the response;

4) Provide routine technical support and mentoring to Provincial AIDS Coordination Advisors (PACA) and District AIDS Coordination Advisors (DACA);

5) Establish a mechanism to facilitate professional level M&E training at the University of Zambia for M&E Officers and Program Officers from coordinating/umbrella agencies from civil society, private sector, and public sector;

6) Create a mechanism for partnerships and collaboration with key stakeholders;

7) Assess the feasibility of interlinking NACMIS with key information systems (health management information systems, HMIS; PEPFAR partner reporting system, PRS; country response information system, CRIS) in order to strengthen partnerships and coordination of the multisectoral response; and

8) Optimize user access to HIV/AIDS information resources through the use of special websites and the establishment of linkages with other resource centers.

To improve monitoring of the national response, NAC will continue to coordinate all national M&E activities for HIV/AIDS interventions targeted at the general public for the entire country using national coordination structures of Provincial AIDS Task Force (PATF) and DATF in all the nine provinces and 72 districts. NAC will contribute to systems strengthening by enhancing monitoring capacity among all key stakeholders that provide information to the national HIV/AIDS M&E system, HMIS, and PEPFAR partner reporting systems. Key partners will benefit from these activities by being key PATF and DATF members. Harmonization and alignment efforts of various M&E systems will strengthen national systems for reporting and monitoring the HIV/AIDS response.

In addressing gender-related issues, the national HIV/AIDS M&E system will monitor access to HIV/AIDS prevention, care, and support services by both genders. NAC will work within existing government structures and decentralize activities to sub-national levels, with greater focus on district and community levels, in order to promote cost efficiency. In addition, support will be given to provincial level resource teams to undertake specific activities at the local level to minimize the cost of implementing certain activities. Through the SI Technical Working Group (TWG), NAC will work closely with key stakeholders to ensure joint planning on related activities to avoid duplication of efforts and redundancies in implementing interventions. Findings from the M&E assessment and mid-term review will guide NAC in prioritizing activities.

The national HIV/AIDS M&E plan, which includes core performance indicators, will guide monitoring of the national response and the implementation of these activities. NAC will facilitate development of annual multi-sectoral work plans to guide implementation of all HIV/AIDS activities, including national M&E activities this fiscal year, monitor implementation of activities on a quarterly and annual basis during joint annual program reviews (JAPR), and hold quarterly coordination meetings with the PACA to assess the performance of the national HIV/AIDS M&E system at provincial and district levels.

NAC will monitor the national HIV/AIDS response from provincial, district and community levels using the NAC activity reporting forms (NARF) as a routine program level data collection tool. For the 50 percent of districts where NAC will implement the NACMIS, the electronic NARF will be operationalized as a function within this national database. For districts were the NACMIS will not be operationalized, NAC will print and distribute NARF on a quarterly basis and follow-up on submission of data. NAC will also conduct quarterly supervisory and technical assistance (TA) visits to all nine provincial centers and approximately 30 percent of districts to carry out data audits, verification, and validation process to facilitate coordination, alignment, and harmonization of data system at all levels.

NAC will support professional level training in M&E and MIS for six staff in the M&E Directorate. During FY 2010, NAC will train groups of 30 M&E Officers from umbrella agencies of CS, PS, and public sector in NARF data management, advanced M&E and documentation of best practices. NAC will also facilitate professional level training for 20 M&E and Program Officers from key implementing agencies at the University of Zambia (UNZA). The M&E Directorate will train 600 CATF members in NARF data management to improve monitoring of the response at the community levels. NAC will also train 27 PATF members and 110 DATF members in NARF data management and M&E 101 by the end of this fiscal year. To facilitate rollout of NACMIS, NAC will train nine Provincial AIDS Coordinating Advisors (PACA) and 36 District AIDS Coordinating Advisors (DACA) in NACMIS applications and electronic data management. NAC will also review and update the M&E training curriculum in line with new and emerging issues in HIV/AIDS.

NAC will work to improve user access to HIV/AIDS information resources. Through the resource center (RC) unit NAC will provide HIV/AIDS IEC materials to nine provincial resource centers being managed in partnership with Zambia Library Services. NAC will train 30 provincial trainers of trainers in data use for decision making and on the use of various HIV/AIDS information resources from the NAC website and RC.