AR-NAFAKA Project Maize Based Systems Component: 2016-2017 Progress

United States Agency for International Developmen

Toward an Open-Access Global Database for Mapping, Control, and Surveillance of Neglected Tropical Diseases

There is growing interest in the scientific community, health ministries, and other organizations to control and eventually eliminate neglected tropical diseases (NTDs). Control efforts require reliable maps of NTD distribution estimated from appropriate models and survey data on the number of infected people among those examined at a given location. This kind of data is often available in the literature as part of epidemiological studies. However, an open-access database compiling location-specific survey data does not yet exist. We address this problem through a systematic literature review, along with contacting ministries of health, and research institutions to obtain disease data, including details on diagnostic techniques, demographic characteristics of the surveyed individuals, and geographical coordinates. All data were entered into a database which is freely accessible via the Internet (http://www.gntd.org). In contrast to similar efforts of the Global Atlas of Helminth Infections (GAHI) project, the survey data are not only displayed in form of maps but all information can be browsed, based on different search criteria, and downloaded as Excel files for further analyses. At the beginning of 2011, the database included over 12,000 survey locations for schistosomiasis across Africa, and it is continuously updated to cover other NTDs globally

PROCEEDINGS OF THE 12TH EUROPEAN CONFERENCE ON MANAGEMENT, LEADERSHIP AND GOVERNANCE (ECMLG 2016)

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the integrated financial management information system (IFMIS) in Tanzania's Local Authorities. In the 1990s, Sub-Saharan African governments and other developing countries embarked on plans to automate their business processes. Public financial management is one of the areas that were automated. The first author has been involved in the evaluation of IFMIS in the governments of Lesotho and Malawi. He has also provided IFMIS support to the Tanzania's Local Authorities and Namibia Tender Board. During these assignments, different data related to IFMIS success and challenges were collected. The methods used for data collection were; desk review i.e. reviewing documents related to business processes analysis, functional requirements, user acceptance tests, government-vendor contracts, reports produced from systems, project charter, and other documents related to IFMIS. We also conducted interviews with different users confirming their involvement and the use of IFMIS. Vendors were also interviewed to find out the approaches used in system design and implementation. System access was adopted to see the actual settings such as payments, budget rules, user matrix, and chart of accounts, budget planning and management. IFMIS has been implemented for more than 18 years in Tanzania; however, some important objectives are yet to be realized. This study uses data collected in 2012 from Tanzania's Local Authorities; the first author worked with Local Authorities as an ICT consultant. The main challenges of IFMIS that were identified are related to interoperability, systems proliferation, running manual and automated systems in parallel, a lack of IFMIS policies, a lack of standards and principles. Among the main objectives of IFMIS are timely and accurate reports for making decisions related to finance management. Furthermore, IFMIS reports are supposed to support the process of building transparency, accountability, and the reduction of corruption within governments. The current challenges facing IFMIS hinder the achievement of its core objectives. The study adopted System Development Life Cycle (SDLC) as a tool for evaluating the IFMIS used by Tanzania's Local Authorities