Capacity strengthening

One of the four main objectives of the U.S. President's Malaria Initiative (PMI) Evolve Project is to "strengthen the capacity of host governments and local entities—including research institutions and community-based or for-profit organizations—to plan, design, implement, and monitor proven, life-saving malaria vector control interventions to foster resilience and sustainability, ultimately transitioning to local ownership." This is in line with PMI’s Vision Statement for Investing Locally. A key component of transferring local ownership includes assessing and strengthening existing capacity and setting expectations for progressively transferring and sustaining vector control responsibilities as well as preparing local entities for future direct funding, as PMI country teams implement PMI’s Vision Statement for Investing Locally.

Central to this approach will be collaborating with PMI and national malaria programs to identify and analyzevector control stakeholders' strengths, competency needs, and skill gaps in fulfilling their role. This information will inform country-specific “Local Vector Control Capacity Action Plans (LVCCAPs),” which will serve as a roadmap for achieving selected capacity strengthening objectives over the life of the PMI Evolve project. The LVCCAPs will lay out learning and systems strengthening opportunities to address the highest priority needs identified in the capacity assessment. These action plans will be tailored to each country's unique capacity strengthening priorities and are intended to serve as a baseline for measuring capacity strengthening achievements over the life of the project.

The sequence of this approach is shown in the flowchart below, which is an adaptation of USAID’s “CBLD-9 steps."

Through this approach, PMI Evolve aims to create awareness and holistically address the broad set of technical and organizational capabilities required to conduct a variety of vector control or monitoring activities. Elevating local voices from the first step is critical for ensuring local ownership from the beginning of this process rather than "transferring ownership” later.

Learn more about PMI’s commitment to investing locally in its partner countries.