Tufts Global Inc

A RELATED ORGANIZATION CONDUCTING, SUPPORTING AND FACILITATING EDUCATIONAL AND RESEARCH ACTIVITIES ABROAD FOR TRUSTEES OF TUFTS COLLEGE

TUFTS GLOBAL, INC. (TGI) FUNCTIONS TO SUPPORT AN INTERNATIONAL INFRASTRUCTURE FOR THE BENEFIT OF ITS PARENT ENTITY AND SUPPORTED ORGANIZATION, TRUSTEES OF TUFTS COLLEGE (TUFTS). OPERATIONALLY, TGI CONTINUES TO FUNCTION AS AN AFFILIATE TO TUFTS AND HAS EXECUTED ON ITS MISSION-RELATED SERVICES FOR TUFTS FOREIGN USAID GRANT ACTIVITIES. FROM A FINANCIAL PERSPECTIVE THE TGI FIELD LOCATIONS CONTINUE TO INCUR LOCAL, IN-COUNTRY GRANT-RELATED COSTS TO STAY OPERABLE IN THE COURSE OF THE SUPPORTIVE MISSION-RELATED ACTIVITIES. THIS RELATIONSHIP ALLOWS FOR INTERCOMPANY AFFILIATE CROSS-CHARGES FOR SUCH COSTS. DURING THE FISCAL YEAR ENDED 06/30/2021, THERE WERE ADMINISTRATIVE BILLINGS BY TGI FOR WHICH TUFTS CREATED REIMBURSEMENTS TO TGI FOR THESE LOCALLY INCURRED GRANT-RELATED COSTS. DURING FY21, FROM A LOCALITY AND FOOTPRINT PERSPECTIVE, TGI CONTINUED TO MAINTAIN TWO SEPARATE BUSINESS OFFICE REGISTRATIONS OUTSIDE OF THE UNITED STATES FOR THE BENEFIT OF TUFTS. THE FIRST OFFICE, WHICH CONTINUES TO BE LOCATED IN KAMPALA, UGANDA, OPERATES AS AN ACTIVE AND FULLY-FUNCTIONAL, ON-THE-GROUND OFFICE. A SECOND BUSINESS REGISTRATION IS CURRENTLY MAINTAINED AND RECOGNIZED WITHIN KENYA. UGANDA RESEARCH GRANT ACTIVITIES: THE KARAMOJA RESILIENCE SUPPORT UNIT II (KRSU II) EXTENDED INTO ITS SECOND YEAR IN FY21. THE PROJECT CONTINUED TO EMPHASIZE THE USE OF EXISTING AND NEW EVIDENCE TO GUIDE POLICY AND PROGRAMMING IN KARAMOJA AND WORKED CLOSELY WITH THE GOVERNMENT OF UGANDA (GOU) TO STRENGTHEN THEIR CAPACITY FOR COORDINATION. THE PROJECTS' ACHIEVEMENTS INCLUDED THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE FOLLOWING PLANS: THE ANNUAL IMPLEMENTATION PLAN, THE ACTIVITY MONITORING EVALUATION AND LEARNING PLAN, THE PROJECT MARKETING & BRANDING PLAN, AND THE COVID-19 CONTINGENCY PLAN. IN ADDITION, REGULAR UPDATES WERE PROVIDED ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE COVID-19 CONTINGENCY PLANS THROUGH THE MONTHLY ON-LINE SURVEY ADMINISTERED BY USAID/UGANDA. FOLLOWING A PARTIAL EASE OF COVID-19 RESTRICTIONS IN LATE SPRING, THE PROJECT TEAM RESUMED WORKING FROM THE FIELD OFFICE, CONDUCTING ASSESSMENTS, MEETINGS, INTERVIEWS AND ADMINISTERING ONLINE SURVEYS. HOWEVER, COORDINATION MEETINGS WITH DONORS AND OTHER PARTNERS AT SUB-REGIONAL LEVEL CONTINUED BY USING VIRTUAL PLATFORMS. KRSU II CONTINUED ITS COLLABORATION WITH SEVERAL STAKEHOLDERS INCLUDING: THE USAID/UGANDA LEARNING ACTIVITY, THE USAID/UGANDA DEVELOPMENT FOOD SECURITY ACTIVITIES IMPLEMENTED BY MERCY CORPS AND CRS, THE USAID/UGANDA REGIONAL COORDINATION INITIATIVE AND THE USAID/UGANDA CONFLICT MITIGATION AND MANAGEMENT PROJECT. AS PART OF THE COLLABORATION WITH USAID/UGANDA AND KDPG A LEARNING AGENDA WAS CO-DEVELOPED AS A WORKING DOCUMENT WITH SPECIFIC LEARNING TOPICS AND EVENTS SPECIFIED FROM YEAR ONE FOUR OTHER ACCOMPLISHMENTS AROUND THE KRSU II TEAMS MISSION RELATED POLICY AND PROGRAMMING GOALS WERE AS FOLLOWS: FIRST, THEY CREATED GOOD PRACTICE GUIDELINES WHERE STRATEGIES WERE ESTABLISHED WITH TWO KEY AREAS BEING IDENTIFIED, NAMELY: REVIEW SBCC APPROACHES FOR LIVELIHOOD INTERVENTIONS AND MANAGEMENT AND CONTROL OF FOOT AND MOUTH DISEASE. SECOND, THEY PUBLISHED A SYNTHESIS REPORT ON THE "PATHWAYS TO RESILIENCE RESEARCH CONFERENCE" WHERE EIGHT PEER REVIEWED PAPERS WERE SELECTED THEN PUBLISHED IN A SPECIAL EDITION OF THE PASTORALISM JOURNAL. THIRD, FOR THE "ECONOMICS OF LIVESTOCK" STUDY IN KARAMOJA, AN EVIDENCE BRIEF HIGHLIGHTING THE ECONOMIC VALUE OF LIVESTOCK IN KARAMOJA WAS DRAFTED AND SUBMITTED FOR REVIEW. FOURTH, A RAPID REVIEW OF CAPACITIES, PLANS AND FUNDS FOR DROUGHT MANAGEMENT IN KARAMOJA WAS PERFORMED. THE ACTIVITY WAS CARRIED FORWARD TO THE YEAR 2 PLAN. HOWEVER, THE REVIEW WILL COMMENCE AS SOON AS THE SITUATION NORMALIZES. SEPARATELY, AS PART OF ANOTHER UGANDAN GRANT, THE "APOLOU ACTIVITY", (IN ASSOCIATION WITH THE FEINSTEIN INTERNATIONAL CENTER (FIC) AT THE FRIEDMAN SCHOOL OF NUTRITION SCIENCE AND POLICY AT TUFTS UNIVERSITY), CONTINUES TO CARRY OUT MIXED-METHODS RESEARCH OVER FIVE YEARS IN FIVE SUB-DISTRICTS OF KARAMOJA. A KEY OBJECTIVE OF THIS STUDY HAS BEEN TO UNDERSTAND HOW THE MONETIZATION AND COMMODIFICATION OF THE ECONOMY IN KARAMOJA HAS IMPACTED THE LOCAL POPULATION. A SECOND OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY HAS BEEN TO UNDERSTAND HOW THE INTENSITY OF INTERVENTIONS IMPLEMENTED BY MERCY CORPS (A/K/A LAYERING) MAY INFLUENCE ASPECTS OF LIVELIHOODS AND ECONOMIC ENGAGEMENT OF BENEFICIARIES IN KARAMOJA. THE RESEARCH CONSISTS OF BASELINE, MID-LINE AND END-LINE QUANTITATIVE DATA COLLECTION, AS WELL AS A QUALITATIVE COHORT STUDY FOCUSED ON YOUTH EXPERIENCES. A GENDER ANALYTICAL LENS IS APPLIED TO ALL ASPECTS OF RESEARCH DESIGN AND ANALYSIS. ALSO, THROUGHOUT THE YEAR, THE FIC TEAM FINALIZED, PUBLISHED AND DISSEMINATED ONE QUANTITATIVE AND THREE QUALITATIVE REPORTS ARISING FROM DATA COLLECTION DURING Q3 & Q4 OF 2019; IDENTIFIED LESSONS LEARNED FOR FUTURE IMPLEMENTATION; BEGAN USING THE WRITING PROFILES FROM THE QUALITATIVE RESEARCH DATA COLLECTION FIELDWORK IN Q4 OF 2020, RENEWED PERMISSIONS FROM RELEVANT UGANDAN BODIES AS WELL AS THE TUFTS COVID-19 COMMITTEE AND INITIATED LOGISTICAL PREPARATIONS FOR FIELDWORK INCLUDING HIRING ENUMERATORS. IN ADDITION, OTHER ACHIEVEMENTS INCLUDED TRAINING NEW MEMBERS, USING ENUMERATORS WHOM CONDUCTED A TRACKING EXERCISE TO LOCATE RESPONDENTS FROM THE 2019 MID-LINE SURVEY AND IMPLEMENT A THIRD ROUND OF QUALITATIVE INTERVIEWS. THE FIC TEAM ALSO HIRED ADDITIONAL STAFF AT TUFTS TO SUPPORT ONGOING WORK SUCH AS, CONCLUDING THE QUALITATIVE AND QUANTITATIVE DATA COLLECTION (TRANSCRIPTION AND CLEANING) FOR THE THIRD ROUND OF RESEARCH THAT BEGAN IN Q4 OF 2020. THEREAFTER, FIC LATER CONDUCTED REFRESHER TRAINING ON DEDOOSE SOFTWARE FOR QUALITATIVE DATA CODING TO ALL RESEARCH TEAM MEMBERS. ALSO, USING THE COLLECTED INFORMATION, THE TEAM COLLABORATIVELY CONDUCTED ANALYSIS, IDENTIFIED KEY THEMES, BEGAN DRAFTING BRIEFING PAPERS FROM THE QUANTITATIVE DATA, SUBMITTED DRAFT BRIEFS TO MERCY CORPS FOR COMMENT AND FINALIZED THREE WRITTEN OUTPUT BRIEFS FROM THE THIRD ROUND OF SURVEY ANALYSIS. LASTLY, THE TEAM ENGAGED IN CONTINGENCY PLANNING BASED ON CORONAVIRUS SPREAD AND ASSOCIATED RESTRICTIONS TO TRAVEL AND UGANDAN NATIONAL POLICIES. KENYA RESEARCH GRANT ACTIVITIES: THE RESEARCH GRANT IN KENYA CONTINUED ITS MISSION WORK WITH THE OBJECTIVE OF PROVIDING SUPPORT TO NAWIRI PARTNERS IN VARIOUS FUNCTIONS BY ASSISTING WITH THE CONTINUATION OF THREE PILOT PROGRAMS. 1. INTEGRATED MANAGEMENT OF ACUTE MALNUTRITION (IMAM) SURGE, 2. GRADUATION PILOT, AND 3. TRIALS OF IMPROVED PRACTICES (TIPS) ON TRADITION PRESERVATION TECHNIQUES. INITIAL ACCOMPLISHMENTS INCLUDE, BOTH THE NUTRITION GENDER GAP ANALYSIS STUDY AND THE STUDY ON NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT AND NUTRITION BEING COMPLETED DURING THE REPORTING PERIOD. THE FINDINGS OF BOTH STUDIES WERE PRESENTED AT A VIRTUAL LEARNING EVENT, FOLLOWED BY A FINAL WRITTEN REPORTS. ALSO, DURING FY21, THE PARTICIPATORY EPIDEMIOLOGY (PE) STUDY WAS LAUNCHED EARLY IN THE REPORTING PERIOD AND COMPLETED IN MARCH OF 2021. DURING THE PLANNING PHASE, A TEAM LEADER WITH STAFF WERE RECRUITED AND STUDY SITES FOR THE EXERCISE WERE IDENTIFIED AND AGREED UPON IN CONSULTATION WITH THE COUNTY GOVERNMENTS. THE STUDY LAUNCHED IN THE SECOND QUARTER, IT INCLUDED TRAINING WORKSHOPS FOR (PE) FIELD RESEARCHERS IN ISIOLO COUNTY AND PRACTICAL FIELD TRAINING IN GARABATULA (ISIOLO) AND LAISAMIS (MARSABIT) SUB COUNTRIES. FIELD WORK WAS COMPLETED IN MARSABIT COUNTY EARLY. PRELIMINARY FINDINGS FROM MARSABIT WERE PRESENTED TO THE TWO COUNTY GOVERNMENTS DURING THE THEORY OF CHANGE REVISION WORKSHOP, FOLLOWED BY THE COMPLETION OF FIELD WORK WITH FULL ANALYSIS AND REPORT WRITING. LATER, A RECORDED SCREENCAST PRESENTATION WAS PREPARED ON THE PE APPROACH WHICH WAS THEN SHARED WITH THE COUNTRY GOVERNMENTS OF ISIOLO AND MARSABIT. THE PE APPROACH WAS ALSO PRESENTED AT A VIRTUAL STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT WORKSHOP WITH THE TWO COUNTIES. THE PROPOSED STUDY WILL BE USED TO BETTER UNDERSTAND THE SEASONALITY AND DRIVERS OF ACUTE MALNUTRITION FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF LOCAL COMMUNITIES IN THE PROJECT COUNTIES AND TO ALSO IDENTIFY DEMAND DRIVEN PILOTS AND INTERVENTIONS FOR PHASE 2 OF THE PROJECT. FINAL ACHIEVEMENTS DURING FY21 INCLUDED THE COMPLETION OF THE MALNUTRITION HOTSPOT ANALYSIS AND MAPPING THAT WAS LED BY TUFTS IN PARTNERSHIP WITH KENYATTA UNIVERSITY TO CARRY OUT A DATA ANALYSIS EXERCISE MAPPING OUT MALNUTRITION HOTSPOTS IN ISIOLO AND MARSABIT COUNTIES. THE FINDINGS WERE PRESENTED TO STAKEHOLDERS DURING TWO LEARNING EVENTS FOLLOWED BY FINALIZED REPORTS BASED ON FEEDBACK RECEIVED FROM TUFTS. LASTLY, IN AN ONGOING EFFORT, THE TEAM CONTINUES TO PARTICIPATE IN NAWIRI DONOR CALLS WHICH INCLUDE FIELD VISITS, TECHNICAL STEERING GROUP MEETINGS AND OTHER PROGRAM WORKSHOPS AND EVENTS. OVERALL, BETWEEN THE ONGOING UGANDA AND KENYA RESEARCH ACTIVITIES, FY21 WAS A VERY SUCCESSFUL YEAR.