Transferring Technical Assistance and Policy Research Skills to drive Capacity Building of India Institutions

The USAID-funded MCH Sustainable Technical Assistance and Research (MCH-STAR) project improves MCH whereby building capacity of Indian Research Institutions (IRI) focusing on identifying innovative maternal, neonatal, child health and nutrition (MNCHN) public health approaches. Specifically MCH-STAR strengthens India's MNCHN research infrastructure by working with stakeholders in both the public and private sector in Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh. This initiative is built on the visionary concept that in order to sustainably achieve the MDGs in India it is imperative to build the capacity of IRIs by providing technical assistance that specializes in addressing the health disparity in marginalized populations. MCH-STAR provides TA to select IRIs and national government initiatives such as the National Rural Health Mission, the Integrated Child Development Services Scheme, the Reproductive and Child Health Program, and the emerging National Urban Health Mission. Additionally, these select IRIs focus their research studies on major causes of morbidity, mortality and malnutrition among women and children. Subsequently, these research efforts promote evidence-based programs and policies to address MNCHN needs. Within 12 months of strengthening critical research specific systems and addressing core MNCHN capacity research gaps through providing a wide range of workshops and Technical Assistance MCH-STAR has led to the improved performance of these abovementioned IRIs by building management, leadership, and organizational capacity. Furthermore, preliminary results have shown that IRIs have the potential to perform at ‘global standards' and also conduct policy analysis and advocacy, research and evaluation, and provide sustainable technical leadership in the MNCHN research arena.