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CERHI AFRICA CENTRE OF EXCELLENCE IN REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH INNOVATION UNIVERSITY OF BENIN, BENIN CITY, NIGERIA - Supported by the World Bank and the Association of African Universities (AAU) Implementation Plan: 2014 – 2018 Address for Correspondence: Professor Friday E. Okonofua Centre Leader, Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology College of Medical Sciences University of Benin, Benin City. Nigeria Email: [email protected] [email protected] Tel: +234 802 3347 828 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS TITLE PAGE 1 List of content and abbreviations as applicable 3 2 Brief Narrative Summary 4 3 Implementation Arrangements 5 4 Governance Structure Of CERHI (CERHI’s Organogram) 7 5 Incentive structures 11 6 Roles and responsibilities 13 7 Overview Of Planned Outputs, Activities And Cost For First Year 16 8 CERHI Project Timeline (Gantt carts ) 24 9 Environment safeguards (attached) 26 10 Performance Monitoring 26 11 Results Framework 29 12 Detailed Budget 35 13 Detailed Activity Sheets 37-98 2 [List of Content and Abbreviations as Applicable] IAB International Advisory Board CERHI Center of Excellence in Reproductive Health and Innovations EMP Environmental Management Plan MDGs Millennium Development Goals PMC Project Management Committee EPMC Expanded Project Management Committee CCO CERHI Coordinating Office UNIBEN University of Benin M. Sc. Masters of Science Degree MPH Masters in Public Health Degree PhD Doctor of Philosophy Degree 3 1. BRIEF NARRATIVE SUMMARY Background: Reproductive health (RH) has been defined as: “a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of diseases or infirmity of the reproductive system”. RH addresses the reproductive processes, functions and systems at all stages of life, and includes fertility regulation, safe motherhood, infant and child survival, sexually transmitted disease including HIV/AIDS, and the prevention of unsafe abortion. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that RH accounts for about 20% of the global burden of disease. As a result of its effects on population dynamics, its practice is a central consideration in global development. It was therefore not surprising that five of the eight Millennium Development Goals agreed to by world leaders for promoting global development at the turn of the new Millennium were founded on the principles of RH. A major development challenge in West Africa is the poor state of reproductive health as evidenced by high rates of fertility, maternal mortality, and unsafe abortion in the region. All of the 15 countries in West Africa have some of the lowest contraceptive prevalence rates and high population growth rates in the World, a situation which presents huge economic and social burden with adverse consequences for the region’s growth and development. Nigeria as an example currently has the second highest number of maternal deaths, the highest number of infants’ deaths and the second highest burden of HIV/AIDs in the world. The country also has the highest number of under-aged marriages, gender-based violence, and sex trafficking in Africa. Despite this high burden of reproductive ill-health, Nigeria has yet to integrate RH into its health and educational system due to a deficit of qualified human resource to address this developmental challenge. There are currently limited educational programs that build the capacity of undergraduate and post-graduate students to undertake service delivery and research for the purpose of improving key indicators of RH in the region. There is a need to raise adequate number of human resource to develop and implement appropriate policies and programs for reducing rapid population growth and advancing growth and development in the region. It is only through such efforts that the region will witness genuine growth and planned comprehensive development anytime soon. Program Goal: The goal of the Centre of Excellence in Reproductive Health Innovation (CERHI) is to build capacity within West Africa’s tertiary educational system for implementing high quality policies and programs for reducing the region’s high burden of fertility, unsafe abortion, maternal mortality and HIV/AIDS. The specific objectives of the Centre include the training of students and technical experts/policymakers in short term courses, Masters and PhDs in disciplines relevant for reducing the high rates of fertility, maternal mortality and HIV/AIDS in the region. Partnerships: In developing the Centre, the University of Benin (UNIBEN) will seek partnerships with the University of Ibadan, University of Ghana, Ahmadu Bello University, Nigerian Institute for Medical Research and Training (NIMR), University of Benin, Republic of Benin, Harvard University and the Universities of Aberdeen, Toronto, Ottawa, and Alabama at Birmingham. The collaborating Departments at UNIBEN include Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Nursing, Public Health, Economics, Sociology and Anthropology, Social Work, and Reproductive Health Law. Specific courses include: reproductive health, public health, nursing, sociology and anthropology, social work, health economics and reproductive health law. Relevant course curricular will be developed, reviewed and taught on a multi-disciplinary basis by regional and international partner institutions. This will include curricular review, training of trainers, exchange of teachers and trainers, joint theses supervision, joint research and publications, and periodic program review and assessments. UNIBEN will feature programs in the above listed courses. By contrast, the partner institutions will collaborate with CERHI in the courses where they have comparative advantages in terms of technical delivery, so that we can leverage resources and technical skills across national and international boundaries for generating high quality graduates and post-graduates in the field of RH. Specifically, the University of Ibadan will collaborate in short courses and graduate training in Nursing, Sociology 4 and anthropology, health economics and reproductive health law, while the University of Ghana will partner in similar ways in public health and RH courses. The University of Benin (Republic of Benin) will partner with CERHI in training graduates in public health (with concentration on neonatal, perinatal and child health), while the NIMR will partner in Medical Laboratory Sciences and HIV/AIDS research. Ahmadu Bello University will partner in public health, social work and sociology/anthropology. All regional partner institutions will share revised curricular in relevant courses, but degrees will be awarded individually by different institutions. All activities of regional partners will jointly count towards the Disbursement Linked Indicators (DLIs) to be reported by CERHI. The international partner institutions will similarly be paired with CERHI supported Departments to provide specific technical support and collaboration as well as staff and students exchange. These include: University of Aberdeen (Nursing and public health), Harvard School of Public Health (Reproductive health), University of Toronto (Reproductive health law), and University of Alabama at Birmingham (sociology and anthropology). Methodology: Under CERHI, short term, Bachelors, Masters and PhD courses in RH, public health, nursing, sociology/anthropology, social work, health economics, and reproductive health law will be re-designed and reviewed at 3 levels: first by the individual departments, followed by a curriculum review workshop involving regional, selected international partners and industry stakeholders and sector planners. Finally, the Departments will team up with identified international partner institutions to finalize the curricular. The idea is to ensure that the curricular meet specific regional development needs, and that they are relevant globally and can be accredited by international accreditation bodies. This is the only way that regional and international students and faculties will be attracted to work or study in CERHI, making it a true Centre of excellence in the discipline. New research protocols will also be developed and staff will be trained to use both the curricular as well as the research protocols. Additionally, staff and students will be recruited from the West African region to boost the international outlook of the program. Some of the milestones and targets being anticipated as a result of CERHI’s activities include the following: 1) New Masters and PhDs in all disciplines in RH – with target of 50 enrolled Masters/PhDs enrolled annually for a total of 634 by 2018, out of which 151 (24%) will be non-nationals; 2) Staff and students working as interns outside the Universities for short periods – up to ten per year, for a total of 46 (15 staff, 31 students) by 2018; 3) Fifty annual participants in short courses in reproductive health, for a total of 250 participants by 2017; 4) Increased uptake of international students by 5% each year, for a total of at least 15% international enrolled students by year 2018; 5) Additional funds sourced for research and innovation in RH amounting to $800,000 by 2018; and 6) Increased output of scientific papers on RH published in leading international journals. The University of Benin strongly believes that CERHI will make significant contributions to improving the quality of training of reproductive health professionals in West Africa. By improving the management of teaching and RH research infrastructure and pooling resources from neighboring institutions, it will engender