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Parent to child transmission is a major route of HIV infection among children. To turn the tide, the Government of India has committed to providing access to Prevention of Parent to Child Transmission (PPTCT) services to all pregnant women through the National AIDS Control Programme Phase-IV (2012-2017). Project AHANA focuses on increasing PPTCT service uptake among women in most marginalised communities in India at the public health facilities. In partnership with the national programme, project AHANA works in nine states: Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, Rajasthan, West Bengal, Assam, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. It covers 218 districts where HIV testing in the same cohort ranges from 12-43%.

The study commissioned by Plan India aimed at reviewing the AHANA Project strategy in each state where the program was being implemented. The study objective encompassed: a) review and assessment of different approaches adopted as per the prevailing situation in respective states and state health societies’ requirement, b) assessment of project strategy at the state level to comment on the performance against target and c) reviewing the project strategy to comment on improvements in access of PPTCT services among pregnant women.

BRIEF undertook a qualitative research covering all stakeholders of the program village, block, district and state levels, which included health officials from relevant departments(responsible for implementation of the scheme), periphery health workers and pregnant women (beneficiaries) among others across the 9 states. The research plan and methodology was developed by BRIEF along with specific research tools – IDI guidelines, FGD guidelines and questionnaires – for holding discussions with the stakeholders. Post analysis of primary data and mapping it with secondary data, state-wise reports as well as a comprehensive report on the effectiveness on the national program strategy was drafted.

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PwC has undertaken the project of assisting the Government of Assam in the third-party evaluation of the implementation of Swachh Bharat Mission (G) in all 33 districts of Assam.

In this evaluation programme, PwC engaged BRIEF as a survey agency for data collection. A survey for the evaluation study was carried out among the households, SBM officials (districts level), schools, Anganwadi, and hospitals.

For this study, BRIEF developed a software/application and dedicated server for data collection purposes. A total of approximately 70000 respondents were interviewed for the study. Data collected was cleaned for analysis.

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The overall objective of the project under evaluation was to create mass awareness about the consequences of female foeticide and thereby prevent the practice and more generally to promote gender justice/equity.

BRIEF conducted the survey in the eight districts of Bihar. An End line survey of 1440 Household was done initially in these villages based on which sampling exercises were done for the final Baseline survey. Pre-survey activities included Training, Questionnaire development and sample frame development. Activities in the study included Sensitization of media at block level, health service providers at GP level, members of the Panchayati raj institutions, religious leaders etc.; organizing rallies in schools; stakeholder meetings with School teachers, Auxiliary Nurse Midwives (ANMs), Anganwadi workers, Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHA) and other village elites/opinion leaders (on topics dealing with survival of girl child, PCPNDT act awareness, birth, death and marriage registration); organising and training  of Bahen Raksha Dal (BRD)— which comprises of a minimum of 10 members and includes ANM, Anganwadi workers, ASHA, and Self-help group leaders formed at the village level.

The study was conducted in 8 districts of Bihar– Vaishali, Patna, Saran, Muzzfarpur, Madhubani, Nalanda, Lakhisarai, Munger. The study targeted female member the household, Gram Panchayat officers, local NGOs, local administration, district officers and block level officers.

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• Identify developmental opportunities keeping in mind factor endowments and stakeholder perspectives.
• Identify specific developmental initiatives/projects which have an impact on employment generation.
• Articulate aspirations of the youth.
• Identify the current and future (2012 to 2021) skills and manpower requirements by industry and estimate the gap that exists.
• Study the existing vocational training infrastructure both in the private sector and the government domain.
• Identify current schemes and program relating to skill development and their achievements / challenges.
• Suggest suitable interventions/recommendations to address the skills gap.
• Create an action plan with indicative timelines.

The overall project team was sub-divided into five separate groups who undertook field visits to all districts and collected information through semi structured interviews and focus group discussions with different stakeholders including academic institutions, Government officials, NGOs and other institutions of relevance for the respective districts  – Rudraprayag, Bageshwar, Chamoli, Pithoragarh and Champawat.

This entailed identifying and collecting data on workforce requirement (demand), labor force projection (supply) and performing the skill gap analysis. The reporting of the data included –

• Socio-economic profile of district – provides a macroeconomic overview, economic sectors overview and infrastructure overview along with the key policies and initiatives taken by the State Government in the recent past
• Skill gap scenario for district – provides District wise human resource requirement (sector and skill category wise), District wise supply of human resource and analysis of gap
• Stakeholders Perspective – provides District wise overview of the key growth sectors shared by various stakeholders, key challenges, support required and aspiration of the youth
• Recommendations and Action Plan –  provides our recommendations and road map for the State Government, training providers, industry and NSDC

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BRIEF conducted the survey, with a sample of around 5,000 in 3 districts – Mirzapur (City block and Ramnagar block), Jaunpur (Rampur and Barsathi blocks) and in Sant Rabidas Nagar (Abholi and Gyanpur blocks) was envisaged.The project methodology incorporated face to face in-depth interviews and Focused Group Discussions among UNDP funded and Non-UNDP funded Self Help Group members in the sample districts.

The project’s immediate objective was to ensure, by 2013, women supported by the project in Jaunpur, Mirzapur and Sant Ravidas Nagar districts achieve a secure and enhanced income and, effectively participate and contribute to decision-making in domestic and public spheres. Overall, it is designed to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger; reduce the inequities in health and nutrition outcomes and their key determinants; and promotion of gender equality and empowering women.

The project has a strong linkage with the strategies and objectives of the following UNDP programmes with the Government of India: (a) Poverty Reduction– projects on State Level Support to Livelihood Promotion and Financial Inclusion and (b) Democratic Governance– projects on Capacity Building for Local Governance and Access to Justice.

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