Achievements in Maternal, Reproductive & Sexual Health

My extensive experience in Sexual and Reproductive Health developed from the pioneering contraceptive social marketing project in Sri Lanka. As shown below, my achievements include pioneering of contraceptive social marketing in Sri Lanka, creation and management of Pakistan’s first nationwide contraceptive social marketing project plus creation of a nonprofit social marketing company in Pakistan to carry on the social marketing of health products and services for poor mothers and children. (I lived in Pakistan for eleven years.) My work in Reproductive Health also includes development of a powerful planning and training tool – The Dangerous Reproductive Health Stairway, which you can download from my website and use in your work.

The Sri Lanka experience also stimulated me to strengthen my knowledge and skills in Sexual and Reproductive Health. My studies in social research methods, statistics, demography, epidemiology, and nutrition of mothers and children led to my Master of Public Health degree and Doctor of Public Health degree.

My work in sexual and reproductive health is summarized here:

Evaluation and Planning for next three years of Reproductive Health Project in Uganda. 2010 (5 wks). Employed by Futures Group. Funded by USAID. Assessed and recommended ways to strengthen distribution and sales activities for the AFFORD Project managed by Uganda Health Marketing Group. Made recommendations for creating and managing a new profit-making center.

Capacity-building for InterPersonal Health Communication in Zambia.  2009-10 (4 mo). Employed by Overseas Strategic Consulting, Ltd. Funded by USAID.  Assessed InterPersonal Communication (IPC) activities within the PRISM Project, including HIV/AIDS control. Suggested changes to IPC training and deployment of fieldworkers.

Social Marketing of Contraceptives for ITAP in India. 2009 (5 wks). Employed by Futures Group. Funded by USAID. Evaluated DKT International’s social marketing Project Management in rural Uttar Pradesh state.

National Health Programs in Pakistan.  2009 (1 mo) Employed by the World Bank. Assessed achievements, Management systems, Financing, Monitoring & Evaluation systems, for National Polio Eradication Program, National TB Control Program and National Lady Health Workers Program. Produced Recommendations.

Maternal and Neonatal Health Project Evaluation in Pakistan.  2009 (2 wks).  Employed by John Snow International (US). Funded by USAID. Evaluated contributions of Greenstar Social Marketing Company to the Pakistan Initiative for Maternal and Neonatal Health (PAIMAN) project.

Social Marketing Project for Maternal and Child Health in Afghanistan.  2008.  Employed by Checchi Consulting. Funded by USAID. Evaluated achievements of Constella-Futures Int., with emphasis on behavior change communication and training of health providers. Also drafted proposal for follow-on project.

Communication Strategy for Birth Spacing in Pakistan. 2008. Employed by Population Council. Worked with communication strategy team of the USAID-supported FALAH project to: (1) draft evidence-based papers on effective communication approaches, and on repositioning family planning toward birth spacing; and (2) develop FALAH’s communication, advocacy and mobilization strategy for birth spacing.

HIV/AIDS Risk Reduction Communication Strategy in Pakistan.  2008 (2 months). Employed by Agriteam Canada. Worked with the CIDA-supported HIV-AIDS Surveillance Project (HASP). Based on results of surveillance and other reports plus a planning workshop and interviews of Female Sex Workers, designed Communication Strategy to increase use of STI services, VCT and condoms. ecommendations included: AIDS Risk Reduction conceptual framework; “push & pull” management cycle; multimedia communication; education-entertainment; IPC training of health providers who counsel Female Sex Workers; six-month field-test of activities prior to scaling-up. 

Action Plan for the Social Marketing Company in Bangladesh. 2007. Employed by Coffey International Development. Worked with Eshna Consulting to lead planning workshops for the Five-Year Action Plan. Drafted key objectives and strategic approaches. Reviewed later draft.

Start-up of national Contraceptive Social Marketing and HIV/AIDS Prevention Project in Yemen. 2005-2006. Employed as Team Leader and Advisor by Marie Stopes International for nine months of the KfW-funded project. Worked with Ministry of Public Health and other stakeholders. Facilitated workshops, designed workplans, supply chains, marketing plan, budgets, test markets, baseline and impact evaluation. Hired and mentored staff. 

MCH project evaluation in India.  2005. Employed by Population Services International. Team Leader for external-internal evaluation of USAID-funded Social Marketing Strategies Project. Assessed management, implementation and effectiveness in three northern states. Recommended expansion of the model to other poor populations in India.

Safer sex for HIV/AIDS prevention in Bangladesh.  2005. Employed by UNFPA.  Worked with the National AIDS-STD Programme to produce the National Strategy for Safe Sex. Designed and facilitated workshops. 

HIV/AIDS prevention and care in India.  2004. Employed by CIDA as Team Leader for mid-term evaluation of the India-Canada HIV/AIDS Project (ICHAP). Assessed behavior change communications and gender equality progress. 

Social Marketing of HIV/AIDS prevention in Nepal.  2003. Employed by Family Health International. Reviewed USAID’s community-based social marketing test market for HIV/AIDS prevention among female sex workers and their clients.  Recommended specific technical and management changes required for expansion to nationwide scale.

Social Marketing of Reproductive Health in Albania.  2002-2003.  Employed by Marie Stopes Int. (UK). Funded by KfW.  Produced successful proposal for NESMARK, the NGO that assists the government’s Reproductive Health program, to expand contraceptive social marketing activities including training component. 

Capacity building for Social Marketing of HIV/AIDS prevention in Namibia.  2002.  Employed by Marie Stopes Int. (UK) for five months. Funded by KfW.  Worked as counterpart to managers of NaSoMa (National Social Marketing Programme) – to develop social marketing, advocacy and behavior change communications. Move toward registering NaSoMa as a business.  Wrote successful proposal for expansion of NaSoMa activities.

Social Marketing of HIV/AIDS prevention in Vietnam.  2001. Employed by JSI (UK).  Funded by DfID.  Examined achievements and recommended human resource development process prior to nationwide expansion. 

Infant and Child Survival in Rural India.  2001. Employed by Aga Khan Foundation, Canada for three months.  Worked with the Department of Community Medicine, Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences (MGIMS) and AKF/India, to create a Strategic Plan, develop resources, build capacity for advocacy campaigns, while drafting a proposal for a rural child survival project. The proposal was funded by USAID.

Reproductive Health Plan for Government of Pakistan. 2000. Employed by Options UK for five months. Funded by Asian Development Bank. As specialist in Reproductive Health, Training and Behavior Change Communications, worked with Technical Assistance Team, Ministry of Population Welfare, Ministry of Health, provincial governments, Multidonor Support Group, NGOs and social marketing organizations to:

• Develop in-depth situation analysis of public sector Reproductive Health services, training and IEC.
• Develop new planning concepts and workshop tools, including referral pyramid and power analysis.
• Facilitate planning workshops in four provinces: Balochistan, North West Frontier, Punjab and Sindh.
• Design plans for Reproductive Health services, training, advocacy and communications.

NGO capacity building in Azerbaijan. 2000. Employed by Save the Children with UNFPA support. Designed and led workshops for staff, donors and government officers to develop HIV/AIDS prevention and implement Reproductive Health activities. Completed Feasibility Study and Concept Paper. Introduced social marketing and BCC concepts. 

Social Marketing of HIV/AIDS prevention in Ethiopia. 1999. Employed by Royal Netherlands Embassy. Assessed achievements of DKT International and proposed sustainability initiatives. Proposal led to additional funding for development of products, supply chain, BCC, staff training and additional strategies for Reproductive Health.

NGO capacity building in Pakistan. 1999. Employed by Save the Children, Pakistan.  Produced Situation Analysis, Designed and led planning workshops. Produced Strategic Plan for Reproductive Health.

“The Deadly Stairway for Mothers and Children”. 1999.  Self-employed.  Created a powerful tool for health planners. It helps decision-makers – specially men – to visualize, understand and target lethal threats to mother & child health, then use a fast, step-by-step process to reduce those threats. The Stairway, which has been used in many developing countries, is particularly useful for introducing maledecision-makers to the reproductive risks faced by low-income women and girls. World Vision published the Stairway in 2002. Free downloads from www.johndavies.com.

Evaluated Social Action Programme in Pakistan. 1998-99. Employed by Cowater International with CIDA funding.  Worked with an evaluation team at the Social Policy and Development Centre to measure access of low-income women and children to the health, family planning & nutrition services provided by the government’s Social Action Programme.

Pakistani NGO evaluations. 1998. Employed by Pathfinder Int. Funded by UNFPA. Evaluated strengths, weaknesses and opportunities for six local NGOs working in community-based contraceptive delivery.  

Social Marketing in Pakistan. 1983-2003. Employed by USAID, PSI (four years) and Greenstar Social Marketing,

• 1983: Team Leader, USAID’s Contraceptive Social Marketing project planning team. 
• 1989-1993: PSI Resident Rep and Chief of Party, USAID’s Contraceptive Social Marketing project. 
• 1991: Founded Social Marketing Pakistan Ltd., a non-profit company, now named Greenstar.
• 2003: Developed Strategic Plan for Greenstar Training Institute. Greenstar is a major trainer of private health providers and Pakistan’s largest social marketing organization, serving over 12,000 private clinics and shops.

Social Marketing in Bangladesh.  1982, 1983, 2007. 

• 1982: employed by USAID to evaluate supply side, demand side, management issues and impact of the national Contraceptive Social Marketing Project. 
• 1983: employed by Population Services Int. to analyze roles of oral contraceptive providers, users and husbands. Study results were used by the Project, for fulfillment of my doctoral dissertation and publication in “Studies in Family Planning”
• 2007. Employed by Coffey International Development to work with Eshna Consulting to develop Five-Year Action Plan. Led planning workshops.  Drafted key objectives and strategic approaches.  Reviewed later draft.

Social Marketing Pioneer in Sri Lanka. 1972-1975. Employed by PSI. Funded by IPPF. 

• Created social marketing system for Preethi condoms and Mithuri contraceptive pills.
• Created medical education and consumer education campaigns for radio, press & mail. 
• Handed management (turn-key) to local IPPF affiliate, which developed sustainability & financial self-sufficiency.
• Journalists wrote articles in New York Times, Psychology Today and Geographic Magazine.

Do you need my assistance? More information?
Email John Davies: jdavies@alephx.com