EnCompass is responsible for guiding and monitoring the Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) program’s global capacity-strengthening efforts, in partnership with ICF International. Since 1984, the DHS program has provided technical assistance for more than 400 demographic and health surveys in 90 countries. The program has a longstanding reputation for technical leadership in data collection, analysis, dissemination, and capacity building. The DHS program partners with country counterparts to build capacity all along the survey continuum.
The latest DHS program contracts, DHS-7 and DHS-8, focus on capacity strengthening. In DHS-7, EnCompass collaborated with the program to design and implement state-of-the-art interventions to increase country accountability and ownership of survey data and the process for data collection, analysis, dissemination, and use. Through this partnership, EnCompass helped transform DHS training programs into blended learning programs and evaluate changes in capacity. EnCompass and ICF International also help build the capacity of journalists, ministries of health and finance officials, local NGO staff, and faith-based organizations to use DHS data in support of their work.
Selected EnCompass Achievements under DHS-7
- A Global Capacity-Strengthening Strategy to meet the needs of countries with varying capacity
- The DHS Capacity Assessment Tool to assist DHS implementing agencies in assessing their own capacity
- The first DHS online learning platform, enabling country counterparts to learn complex technical concepts from virtually anywhere, incrementally and at their own pace
- Virtual instructor-led training sessions
- More than 15 national and regional capacity-strengthening workshops annually
- Adult learning curricula, online training tools, and how-to resources
Photo c/o USAID via Creative Commons