Background: Reliable and rigorously collected sexual, reproductive, maternal, newborn, child, and adolescent health (SRMNCAH) data in humanitarian settings are often sparse and variable in quality across different humanitarian settings, and there is a lack of consensus about a core set of indicators that humanitarian actors including national health systems should report on. To address this gap in quality data, the World Health Organization (WHO) developed a core set of indicators for monitoring and evaluating SRMNCAH services and outcomes and assessed their feasibility in four countries, including the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) with the goal of aggregating information from global consultations and field-level assessments to reach consensus on a set of core SRMNCAH indicators among WHO partners.
Methods: The feasibility assessment in the DRC focused on the following constructs: relevance/usefulness, feasibility of measurement, systems and resources, and ethical issues. The multi-methods assessment included five components; a desk review, key informant interviews, focus group discussions, facility assessments, and observational sessions.
Results: The findings suggest that there is widespread support among stakeholders for developing a standardized core list of SRMNCAH indicators to be collected among all humanitarian actors in the DRC. There are numerous resources and data collection systems that could be leveraged, built upon, and improved to ensure the feasibility of collecting this proposed set of indicators. However, the data collection load requested from donors, the national government, international and UN agencies, and coordination/cluster systems must be better harmonized, standardized, and less burdensome.
Conclusions: Despite stakeholder support in developing a core set of indicators, this would only be useful if it has the buy-in from the international community. Greater harmonization and coordination, alongside increased resource allocation, would improve data collection efforts and allow stakeholders to meet indicators' reporting requirements.
RéSUMé: CONTEXTE: Les données fiables et rigoureusement recueillies sur la santé sexuelle, reproductive, maternelle, néonatale, infantile et adolescente (SSRMNIA) dans les contextes humanitaires sont souvent rares et de qualité variable d'un contexte humanitaire à l'autre. Il n'y a pas de consensus sur un ensemble d'indicateurs de base sur lesquels les acteurs humanitaires, y compris les systèmes de santé nationaux, devraient se rapporter. Pour remédier à ce manque de données de qualité, l’Organisation mondiale de la santé (OMS) a établi un ensemble d’indicateurs de base pour le contrôle et l’évaluation des services et des résultats de la SSRMNIA et a évalué leur faisabilité dans quatre pays, y compris la République démocratique du Congo (RDC), dans le but d'agréger les informations provenant des consultations mondiales et des évaluations sur le terrain pour parvenir à un consensus sur un ensemble d'indicateurs de base de la SSRMNIA parmi les partenaires de l'OMS. MéTHODES: L'évaluation de la faisabilité en RDC a porté sur les concepts suivants : pertinence/utilité, faisabilité de la mesure, systèmes et ressources, et questions d'éthique. L'évaluation multiméthodes comprenait cinq composantes : une étude documentaire, des entretiens avec des informateurs clés, des discussions de groupe, des évaluations d'installations et des séances d'observation. RéSULTATS: Les résultats suggèrent qu'il y a un soutien généralisé parmi les acteurs concernés pour le développement d'une liste de base standardisée d'indicateurs pour la SSRMNIA à être recueilli parmi tous les acteurs humanitaires en RDC. Il existe de nombreuses ressources et plusieurs systèmes de collection de données qui pourraient être exploités, construits et améliorés afin d’assurer la faisabilité de la collection de l’ensemble des indicateurs proposés. Cependant, la charge de la collecte de données sollicitée auprès des donateurs, du gouvernement national, des agences internationales et de l'ONU, et les systèmes de coordination/clusters doivent être davantage harmonisés, standardisés, et moins fastidieux. CONCLUSIONS: Malgré le soutien des acteurs concernés à l'élaboration d'un ensemble d'indicateurs de base, celui-ci ne sera utile que s'il reçoit l’appui de la communauté internationale. Une harmonisation et une coordination accrue, ainsi qu'une meilleure allocation des ressources qui amélioreraient les efforts de collection de données et permettraient aux acteurs de satisfaire aux exigences de déclaration des indicateurs.
Bakgrunn: Pålitelige og strengt innsamlede data om seksuell, reproduktiv, mødre-, nyfødt-, barn- og ungdomshelse (SRMNCAH) i humanitære miljøer er ofte sparsomme og varierende i kvalitet på tvers av ulike humanitære miljøer, og det er mangel på konsensus om et kjernesett av indikatorer som humanitære aktører inkludert nasjonale helsesystemer bør rapportere om. For å løse dette gapet i kvalitetsdata utviklet Verdens helseorganisasjon (WHO) et kjernesett med indikatorer for overvåking og evaluering av SRMNCAH-tjenester og resultater og vurderte deres gjennomførbarhet i fire land, inkludert Den demokratiske republikken Kongo (DRC) med mål om samle informasjon fra globale konsultasjoner og feltnivåvurderinger for å oppnå konsensus om et sett med kjerne SRMNCAH-indikatorer blant WHO-partnere.
Metoder: Gjennomførbarhetsvurderingen i DRC fokuserte på følgende konstruksjoner: relevans/nytte, gjennomførbarhet av måling, systemer og ressurser, og etiske spørsmål. Fler metodevurderingen inkluderte fem komponenter; en skrivebords anmeldelse, nøkkelinformantintervjuer, fokusgruppediskusjoner, fasilitetsvurderinger og observasjonssesjoner.
Resultater: Funnene tyder på at det er bred støtte blant interessenter for å utvikle en standardisert kjerneliste over SRMNCAH-indikatorer som skal samles inn blant alle humanitære aktører i DRC. Det er mange ressurser og datainnsamlingssystemer som kan utnyttes, bygges på og forbedres for å sikre muligheten for å samle inn dette foreslåtte settet med indikatorer. Imidlertid må datainnsamlingsmengden som etterspørres fra givere, den nasjonale regjeringen, internasjonale og FN-byråer og koordinerings-/klyngesystemer være bedre harmonisert, standardisert og mindre tyngende.
Konklusjoner: Til tross for interessentstøtte i å utvikle et kjernesett med indikatorer, vil dette bare være nyttig hvis det har støtte fra det internasjonale samfunnet. Større harmonisering og koordinering, sammen med økt ressursallokering, vil forbedre datainnsamlingsinnsatsen og tillate interessenter å møte indikatorenes rapporteringskrav.
Keywords: Health information systems; Humanitarian data reporting; Maternal, child and adolescent health; Monitoring and evaluating; Refugee health; Refugees; Sexual and reproductive health; The Democratic Republic of Congo.
In humanitarian settings, data collection is often unreliable and not standardized—especially with regards to sexual, reproductive, maternal, newborn, child, and adolescent health (SRMNCAH). In order to address this gap in data quality, the World Health Organization proposed a list of core indicators to four countries, including the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The goal was to use the findings from the DRC context to contribute to the determination of a core set of indicators. This study had two components: a feasibility assessment and a multi-methods assessment. The feasibility assessment in the DRC focused on the relevance of the proposed indicators, the feasibility of measurement, the resources in place, and ethical issues. The multi-methods assessment included a desk review, interviews with key informants, and focus groups and facility assessments. The findings showed that partners in the DRC supported developing a standard set of SRMCAH indicators that can be used among all humanitarian partners in the country. There are many systems in place that could be used or strengthened to improve data collection. However, the findings also showed that there must be better collaboration and coordination between the different partners in the DRC, as well as increased resources, to alleviate burden on frontline staff. In conclusion, though there is a desire to harmonize indicators, more input and resources are needed from the international community to aid in the standardization of data collection in order to meet local reporting requirements and ease burden on local staff.
© 2022. The Author(s).