Collaborating with the Core Group and USAID’s Momentum 3b project in the adaptation of community engagement and partnership approaches to improve COVID-19 vaccination uptake across Africa. Developing program recommendations and a report outlining promising community approaches for improving COVID-19 immunization, in the context of lessons learned from development and humanitarian emergencies.  

Partnership with ADRA International who leads USAID’s Food for Peace FIOVANA (“Change”) Project, to adapt the Baby Friendly Community Initiative (BFCI) from the Kenya to the Madagascar  context, and from a cultural, health system, and programming context.  This includes an adaptation of the Training of Trainers (ToT) and Participant manuals for community health providers and delivery of the ToT in French, as part of initial BFCI implementation. 

Partnership with Vitamin Angels to build capacity of  health providers (i.e. physicians, nurses) on maternal nutrition within African, Asian and Latin American country contexts. Kavle Consulting is collaborating with Vitamin Angels in the development of a global maternal nutrition online course, using an evidence to implementation lens, which will include country case studies in collaboration with in-country nutritionists and experts.

• Contributed to the development of District Health Information Software-2 (DHIS-2) Nutrition Module in close collaboration with UNICEF – which included: the creation of background documents, development of indicators and definitions, data visualizations, and working with technical working group experts/stakeholders and University of Oslo (UiO) in the finalization process. This module will harmonize routine collection of nutrition data within health systems of low and middle-income countries. 

• The DHIS-2 standard nutrition module can be found here:  https://dhis2.org/metadata-package-downloads/

• Developed first iteration of DHIS-2 training materials to be delivered in tandem with roll out of nutrition modules with UNICEF headquarters and relevant country counterparts

• Collaborated in the development of background information to inform on maternal nutrition strategy and counseling efforts, and provided input on strategy for piloting maternal nutrition interventions

• Kavle Consulting, LLC is working in partnership with UNICEF Kenya and the Government of Kenya to examine the impact of COVID-19 on the diets and health-seeking behaviors of women (i.e. pregnant and lactating women with children under two years of age), and adolescent boys and girls in Kenya. This implementation science study will also explore the effects of COVID-19 on key aspects of the food system, including food vendors, markets, food availability,and food prices.
• The data generated from this study will be used to generate approaches to “build back better” from the COVID-19 pandemic. From a health and food systems perspective, key actions will be generated for use at the national and subnational levels in the areas hardest hit by COVID-19 (Nairobi and Uasin Gishu counties).

• In partnership with Catholic Relief Services, Kavle Consulting, LLC led an implementation-oriented study examining traditional food preservation methods, in relation to complementary feeding practices for children 6-24 months of age, using Trials of Improved Practices (TIPs) in Isiolo and Marsabit counties, Kenya.  This information was triangulated with child dietary data and qualitative data from elder women, fathers and key informants,  collected during both dry and rainy seasons.
• Study results culminated into a report, brief, and PowerPoint presentation and provided program recommendations.  Importantly, study findings  informed on the design of programmatic approaches to improve complementary feeding practices and food preservation processes, which will be rolled out during the USAID-BHA-funded Nawiri project.

– Conducted landscape analyses of facilitating factors and barriers to young children’s diets, 6-23 months of age, in 6 countries in Eastern Europe and Central Asia (EECA). This work was through the lens of food systems, health systems, social protection, and WASH, per recent UNICEF guidance.  The landscape work consisted of DHS descriptive analyses, literature review for peer-reviewed and grey literature from the past 10 years, key informant stakeholder interviews with countries, and a desk review of country policies, strategies and programs. 

– Developed nutrition messages for a EECA regional cell phone application that was deployed during COVID-19, and included content on COVID-19 and breastfeeding, complementary feeding, and child growth, tailored to the cultural context of the region and based on latest global guidance and evidence. This work culminated into:

• 1 technical report published with UNICEF ECARO, 1 regional policy brief and 6 country policy briefs
• A webinar on  “Mitigating the Impact of COVID-19 on Child Nutrition” https://www.jhsph.edu/alumni/attend-an-event/spotlight-series/spotlight-series-with-justine-kavle  with Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, that featured the development of a cell phone application for parents for rapid deployment of information to dispel misperceptions around infant and young child nutrition (IYCN) due to COVID-19.  Global recommendations on IYCN and COVID-19 were translated to the unique context of the region

In collaboration with the Ministry of Health, Kenya, we documented  infant formula industry tactics targeting health providers during the COVID-19 pandemic, and key actions taken by the Government of Kenya to protect and support breastfeeding practices. This culminated in a Healthy Newborn Network (HNN) blog published during World Breastfeeding Week 2020.:

How Kenya is fighting back to protect breastfeeding: Addressing infant formula industry tactics during COVID-19

In partnership with Save the Children, Core Group, and Medair, Kavle Consulting LLC developed two tools, two case studies, three briefs and a report for an Office of Foreign and Disaster Assistance (OFDA) funded “Addressing Gaps in the Evidence for Health and Nutrition in the Humanitarian-Development Nexus” to guide planning and implementation of  the transition from emergencies to routine health services and the adaptation of community-based approaches for humanitarian emergency contexts.

• Report: Increasing Global Capacity for Coordinating, Integrating and Transitioning Community Health and Nutrition in Response to Protracted Crisis and in Transition to Recovery: Experience and Lessons Learned
• Case Study: Improving Health Service Delivery Transitions in Public Health Emergencies Utilizing a Health Service Delivery Exit Matrix Tool
• Brief: Improving Health Service Delivery Transitions in Public Health Emergencies: A Health Service Delivery Exit Matrix Tool
• Case Study: Improving Health Service Delivery Transitions in Public Health Emergencies: Development and Use of a Community Health Service Delivery Tool
• Brief: Improving Health Service Delivery Transitions in Public Health Emergencies: Development and Use of a Community Health Service Delivery Tool
• Brief: Strengthening Health Systems in the Humanitarian-Development Nexus Experience and Lessons Learned from Pakistan and Sudan

Contributed to 5.2 million children reached with nutrition interventions in 11 sub-Saharan African and 2 Latin America & Caribbean countries

Led teams to develop:

• 14 country guidelines, strategies, and policies for nutrition
• 12 peer-reviewed publications
• 14 technical briefers and reports
• 10 materials for social behavior change
• 6 global guidance materials

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