Hammad, Majd, Foster, Angel M., Aissaoui, Anya, Clark, Emily, Elamurugan, Kaeshan, Rajendra, Kanya Lakshmi, El Mowafi, Ieman Mona, and Kobeissi, Loulou
Background: Reliable and rigorously collected sexual, reproductive, maternal, newborn, child, and adolescent health (SRMNCAH) data in humanitarian settings is often sparse and variable in quality across different humanitarian settings. To address this gap in data quality, the World Health Organization (WHO) developed a core set of indicators for monitoring and evaluating SRMNCAH services and outcomes in humanitarian settings, and assessed their feasibility in the field in Jordan, in addition to three other countries; with the goal of aggregating information from global consultations and field-level assessments to reach consensus on a set of core SRMNCAH indicators for services and outcome evaluation in humanitarian settings among WHO global partners. Methods: The feasibility assessment in Jordan focused on the following constructs: relevance/usefulness, feasibility of measurement, systems and resources, and ethical issues. The multi-methods assessment included five components; a desk review, key informant interviews, focus group discussions, facility assessments, and observational sessions. Results: Findings suggest that there is widespread support among regional, national, as well as global stakeholders for developing a core list of SRMNCAH indicators for monitoring and evaluation of services and outcomes in humanitarian settings in Jordan. There are numerous resources and data collection systems that could be leveraged, built upon, and improved to ensure the feasibility of collecting this proposed set of indicators. However, the data collection load requested from donors, the national government, international and UN agencies, coordination/cluster systems must be better harmonized, standardized, and less burdensome. Conclusions: Despite stakeholder support in developing a core set of indicators, this would only be useful if it has the buy-in from the international community. Greater harmonization and coordination, alongside increased resource allocation, would improve data collection efforts and allow stakeholders to meet indicators' reporting requirements. Plain English summary: In humanitarian settings, data collection is often unreliable and not standardized – especially with regards to sexual, reproductive, maternal, newborn, child, and adolescent health (SRMNCAH). In order to address this gap in data quality, the World Health Organization proposed a list of core indicators to four countries, including Jordan. The goal was to use the findings from the Jordanian context to contribute to the determination of a core set of indicators, and accumulate a list of necessary policy, funding, infrastructure, capacity and training that will be required. This study had two components: a feasibility assessment and a multi-methods assessment. The feasibility assessment in Jordan focused on the relevance of the proposed indicators, the feasibility of measurement, the resources in place, and ethical issues. The multi-methods assessment included a desk review, interviews with key informants and focus groups, and facility assessments (including observational sessions). The findings showed that partners in Jordan supported developing a standard set of SRMCAH indicators that can be used among all humanitarian partners in the country. There are a number of systems in place that could be used or strengthened to improve data collection. However, the findings also showed that there must be better collaboration and coordination between the different partners in Jordan, as well as increased resources, to alleviate burden on front-line staff, starting with standardizing and strengthening Jordan's health information system (HIS). In conclusion, though there is a desire to harmonize indicators, more input and resources are needed from the international community to aid in the standardization of data collection in order to meet local reporting requirements and ease burden on local staff. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]