Increasing effectiveness of vulnerable children and adolescents programming: Four strategies to developing a Management Information System with the Zambian government

Evidence-driven approaches are invaluable to accelerate the impact of health and social services. Without quality data informing evidence-based models of service delivery, governments may struggle to provide targeted, effective, and equitable services that meet the needs of their populations. A robust national government Management Information System (MIS) can provide the data needed by programs and decision-makers if its design and deployment are properly planned, informed by business and user requirements, guided by stakeholders, and effectively governed.

In Zambia, the USAID-funded Adolescents and Children, HIV Incidence Reduction, Empowerment, and Viral Elimination (ACHIEVE) project has provided technical assistance to the Ministry of Community Development and Social Services (MCDSS) since 2020 to strengthen its capacity to improve health and social welfare outcomes among vulnerable children and adolescents (VCA) and their families. A key objective of ACHIEVE Zambia is to develop and roll out the VCA Community Case Management Information System (VCA CCMIS) to fill evidence gaps and promote informed decision-making at the MCDSS. This MIS aims to address programmatic challenges of record-keeping, duplicative data systems, availability of data on VCA services and needs, and data on program impact. ACHIEVE has undertaken a four-pillar strategy to engagement with the MCDSS to design, develop, test, and roll out the VCA CCMIS and plan for its sustained ownership.

Pillar I: Align System Design with Ministry Needs

The sustained use of government management information systems may be limited if MIS design does not give precedence to the government’s strategies and priorities. To ensure the VCA CCMIS met MCDSS priorities, ACHIEVE undertook a strategy of meticulously defining the ministry’s MIS needs through a consultative approach with ministry personnel. Leading in identifying their VCA priorities and requirements for the CCMIS were MCDSS directors, chief officers, and officers from the social welfare, child development, community development, and ICT departments. ACHIEVE also engaged MCDSS provincial and district personnel to ensure the CCMIS was aligned with the ministry’s governance structures and guideline for VCA. Further, ACHIEVE and the MCDSS sought input from other VCA stakeholders, such as UNICEF and USAID implementing partners, to define ways in which the CCMIS could interoperate with other VCA management information systems. Through these engagements, ACHIEVE built consensus among MCDSS departments and other stakeholders on system and user requirements that comprehensively reflected the needs and priorities of its users. As a result, ACHIEVE and the MCDSS are confident that the data and information produced by the system will be suitable for monitoring service delivery and informing programmatic decisions.

Pillar 2: Strengthen MIS Governance

Proper MIS governance structures and capabilities are key to transparent, accountable, and effective MIS deployment. Promoting governance as vital for the VCA CCMIS, ACHIEVE Zambia worked with the MCDSS to form the MIS Technical Committee (TC), a governing body which is responsible for providing strategic direction and oversight of the development, deployment, enhancement, utilization, and sustainability of the system. To effectively convene the TC and ensure it accomplishes its goals, ACHIEVE supported the MCDSS to develop a Terms of Reference (TOR) for the TC, define its secretariat functions and member roles and responsibilities, and strengthen their capacity to fulfill these obligations. As a result, the ministry’s MIS governance capabilities have improved: the MCDSS now convenes the TC meetings on a regular basis with CCMIS stakeholders. Further, the MCDSS ensures the TC leads on system oversight, including planning for MIS activities, providing expert input into the CCMIS design and deployment, and developing guidelines and standards. With ACHIEVE’s support, MCDSS is now positioned to sustain an effective governing structure for the VCA CCMIS.

Pillar 3: Leverage Existing Resources

Successful use and maintenance of a national MIS can be costly due to the material and human resources needed for system hosting, administration, user support, and upgrades. To ensure a cost-effective and sustainable approach to the VCA CCMIS development and implementation, ACHIEVE supported the MCDSS to identify and leverage its existing resources and capacities while planning for implementation. With ACHIEVE’s support, the MCDSS conducted a gap analysis of its information and communication technology (ICT) infrastructure, human resources, and skills/capacities in MIS maintenance and use. It identified servers, power backup systems, and human resources available for the VCA CCMIS but insufficient skills among the staff to administer the MIS and few tablets for remotely accessing the system. To address these gaps, ACHIEVE supported the ministry to design and roll out a capacity development intervention for MIS users, strengthening skills tailored to the user’s role among MCDSS ICT staff, program staff, and community cadres who interact with the system. ACHIEVE also assisted the MCDSS to procure tablets for system implementation. By following this process, the MCDSS achieved efficiencies in deployment of new resources for the system and laid the groundwork for sustainability through the capacity building approach for existing staff.

Pillar 4: Elevate Sustainability

Sustainability is a key to the long-term success of any system, which is often neglected in favor of short-term priorities. ACHIEVE Zambia elevated the importance of sustainability as early as the design process for the VCA CCMIS by supporting the ministry to develop a sustainability plan covering staff capacity, infrastructure (hardware), system dependencies (software), and financial resources to manage the system's functionality and maintain relevance over time. Further, ACHIEVE Zambia initiated efforts to gradually transition managerial and operational responsibilities to MCDSS, ensuring that the ministry could assume full control and accountability for the VCA CCMIS. These efforts have paved the way for use of the MIS by a ministry that has owned the development and deployment process with the appropriate capacity to maintain the system and plan for its future.

By implementing the four-pillar strategy, ACHIEVE Zambia and the MCDSS have developed an MIS system that is tailored to the ministry’s needs, strengthened MIS governance, leveraged existing resources and capacities, and recognized the importance of sustainability. Moreover, the strong collaboration between ACHIEVE Zambia and MCDSS has improved the ministry’s capacity to manage, monitor, and evaluate its VCA program, which lays the groundwork for effective service delivery for VCA and their families in Zambia.