For additional information, please view our PowerPoint presentation, “Ethiopian Diaspora Volunteer Program: Strengthening the Ties with the Ethiopian Diaspora to Fight HIV/AIDS”. Also refer to NEPID.org for additional information.

In-country placement site: I-TECH [Bahir Dar (50-75%), Addis Ababa (25-50%)]

Volunteer assignment: The volunteer will serve primarily as monitoring and evaluation advisor for the regional data manager at the Amhara Regional Health Bureau (RHB) and the data manager and data analyst at Felege Hiwot Referral Hospital. The volunteer will also serve as a part-time member of a field-based clinical mentoring team serving the nearby hospitals of Debre Tabor, Motta, Finote Selam, and Debre Markos. The role of the M&E Advisor will be to ensure efficient collection, entry, analysis, and dissemination of HIV-related data at the regional level, and at the four other hospitals mentioned. The M&E Advisor will support I-TECH staff, who have much less experience with health data management and could benefit from informal teaching and onsite support at these institutions. The M&E Advisor will also advise the Addis Ababa-based M&E director regarding potential improvements in the support of the RHB’s HIV data management. The RHB currently has just one data manager who supports 17 hospitals and more than 20 health centers that provide ART. The nature of the support the volunteer will provide might include offering suggestions regarding more efficient electronic data management, structure, and design of reports, analytic processes, etc.

Length of the assignment: three to six months (full time)

Name and title of supervisor: Colin Shepard, MD – Director, Monitoring and Evaluation, I-TECH-Ethiopia

Name and title of counterpart: Alemkere Mekonnen, data manager, Amhara Regional Health Bureau

Volunteer Qualifications:
Required:

• Appropriate advanced degree in a research-oriented area (psychology, public health, education, anthropology, etc.)
• Skills and experience in designing, programming, and manipulating electronic databases, especially MS Access and Epi Info
• Experience managing data for large health programs within a governmental public health institution
• At least 3 years experience working with monitoring and evaluation systems
• Familiarity with qualitative and quantitative data collection and analysis and experience working at various levels of data collection
• Ability to provide training to staff members on basic monitoring skills
• Excellent interpersonal skills and the ability to work with staff at all levels
• Experience in research, including the production of publications
• Strong written and oral communication skills in fluent English
• Willingness to live and work in Bahir Dar for at least 2 months, and travel occasionally

• Knowledge of the host country’s health system and culture
• Ability to work independently with strong leadership skills
• Previous experience working in a low-resource setting
• Working knowledge of Amharic
• Previous experience in working with diverse professionals or working in a developing country
• Knowledge of HIV/AIDS prevention, care, and treatment, including ART and treatment adherence
• Excellent interpersonal skills and demonstrated ability to develop cooperative working relationships with diverse professionals
• Ability to collaborate and work effectively with various program/project implementation partners and officials of governmental and nongovernmental organizations

The M&E Advisor will support the Amhara regional data manager in collecting, analyzing, and disseminating HIV-related data from all HIV facilities in Amhara Region. The volunteer will assist the regional data manager in efficiently generating reports needed by I-TECH-Ethiopia, the Amhara RHB, the national HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control Organization (HAPCO), and I-TECH field-based clinical mentoring teams. The M&E Advisor will mentor data staff at hospitals close to Bahir Dar receiving assistance from I-TECH as a part-time member of field-based clinical mentoring teams.

1. Learn about the Ethiopian health system’s HIV M&E system by working closely with the I-TECH-Ethiopia M&E director and data supervisor
2. Work alongside the Amhara RHB data manager, assist him in routine duties, advise him and the staff at the I-TECH-Ethiopia head office regarding methods to improve efficiency, and resources necessary to improve performance
3. Assist data staff at hospitals in nearby Bahir Dar, particularly in managing data related to the HIV laboratory and TB/HIV activities