WHGI Platform for Investment
Performance Monitoring for Action
Measuring Performance, Informing Policy, and Empowering Communities
Performance Monitoring for Action (PMA) uses innovative mobile technology to generate frequent, high-quality surveys that monitor key health and development indicators across nine countries in Africa and Asia.
Implemented by local universities and research organizations, the program deploys a cadre of female resident data collectors trained in mobile data collection—producing rapid-turnaround, open-source data that informs research, program planning, and evidence-based policies that better meet the needs of women and their families.
While having a core family planning focus, the data collection platform can be used for data collection that informs other health strategies.
To date, the platform has been used to collect data for guiding programs in abortion, COVID-19, maternal and child health, nutrition, water and sanitation, neglected tropical diseases, women’s and girls’ empowerment, schistosomiasis, and primary health care.
PMA is implemented in nine countries in Africa and Asia. In each country, the surveys are implemented by local universities and research organizations, simultaneously building capacity of country partners.
In Ethiopia however, the PMA project operates under a separate grant and has a different scope and set of program objectives. The PMA Ethiopia project is a survey project designed to generate data on a variety of reproductive, maternal, and newborn health (RMNH) indicators that can inform national and regional governments.
The project implements cross-sectional and cohort surveys to fill a data gap—collecting information not currently measured by other large-scale surveys with a focus on measuring RMNH comprehensiveness of care services, and the barriers and facilitators to such care.
Featured Resource: PMA Retrospective
As PMA marks its ten-year anniversary, the initiative reflects on the accomplishments the project has achieved and the impact it has had, as well as the incredible work of our female resident enumerators.
This retrospective looks back at PMA’s accomplishments, focusing on study design, measurement expertise, COVID-19 pivot, connections with policies and programs, considerable research portfolio, numerous innovations, and the incredible work of PMA Resident Enumerators.
Connected WHGI Global Program
WHGI’s Research, Measurement, and Data Monitoring Global Program demonstrates our leadership in filling critical gaps in science, while generating new evidence and utilizing research to inform practice and drive the global family planning agenda.
PMA’s high-quality data—collected frequently, turned around quickly, and locally owned—help decision makers understand what is working, and what is not, enabling decisions that are more sensitive and responsive to evolving needs.
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