Consulting 

Over the last few years, I provided short-term consulting services to organizations such as Population Services International (PSI), Bixal, and USAID, focusing on gender equity, social inclusion, and vulnerable and at-risk populations' access to health services and utilization.

Examples of deliverables: 

• Served as the Economic Growth Subject Matter Expert for a Gender Equity and Social Inclusion (GESI) analysis, gathering and analyzing data on gender dynamics, challenges, and opportunities within Myanmar's economic sectors, including private enterprises, small and medium-sized businesses, finance, agriculture, and human rights.

• Developed a learning brief on Respectful Maternal and Newborn Care (RMNC) for slum dwellers in Kampala, Uganda.

• Conducted a condom market health study in three regions of Mozambique (reporting on stock, price, sales, market value).

• Conducted an evidence base review of the Greater Mekong Subregion Elimination of Malaria through Surveillance (GEMS/GEMS+) project and delivered an evidence synthesis framework that identified key insights from the results of research and program initiative.

Public Health Research in Myanmar

From 2019 to 2021, I worked for HelpAge International as a Public Health Research Officer in Myanmar, working on various projects, including an EU-funded implementation-research consortium and an FCDO-funded multi-country project. I provided technical expertise in monitoring and evaluating project plans, data collection, and research capacity building. My work covered a range of topics, including social protection, community health services, nutrition, and food security.

Scaling-Up on Non-Communicable Diseases (SUNI-SEA) project

Project background

• The SUNI-SEA project aimed at implementing, evaluating and validating effective and cost-effective scaling-up strategies of evidence-based diabetes and hypertension prevention and management programs in three countries of Southeast Asia (Myanmar, Vietnam, and Indonesia).

Contribution to the project

• I oversaw implementation and research plans in Myanmar, and developed a community-level data collection system using DHIS2 for Vietnam and Myanmar, and led coordination efforts among local, national, and international stakeholders and donors. 

A few highlights

• In the midst of the pandemic, in 2021, I contributed an online sharing experience and building skills at the European Public Health Conference, where together with another researcher, we presented  a tool for measuring effectiveness of community health interventions. 

• On top of the pandemic, Myanmar was faced with a political and economic crisis following the February 2021 coup. Together with another colleague, I wrote about how we adapted the project by developing a self-care screening app to overcome barriers in reaching communities and responding to rising mental health needs. 

Other contributions as a Research Officer: from M&E to food security and nutrition

• Facilitated the development and revision of project monitoring plans of the "Better Health Project", a FCDO-funded project in collaboration with PwC. The work involved crafting reports at monthly, quarterly, and annual intervals for project donors and spearheading the technical writing of a scoping review to inform project adaptation amidst political upheaval.

• Functioned as a representative for nutrition and food security initiatives, providing technical input to UN and WHO-led task forces on nutrition-sensitive education and Food-Based Dietary Guideline development for Myanmar, respectively.

• Contributed to an EU-funded research project focusing on COVID-19 and political instability by coordinating capacity-building initiatives on evaluation and research methods. This involved developing questionnaires for in-depth interviews, particularly focusing on nutrition-related inquiries, and assisting in the collection, analysis, and reporting of qualitative data.

Contributions:

• Provided input for the multi-donor trust fund Farmers Fighting Poverty program report, by gathering results and impacts from farmer organizations' activities. 

• Supported the evaluation of a Savings and Credit Cooperative Organization (SACCO) in Uganda in the context of the Farmers Fighting Poverty program. The evaluation aimed at exploring to what extent the program enhanced the capacity of the farmers’ organization, namely in terms of improving service delivery to small-scale farmers and inclusion of women and youth. The evaluation was informed by qualitative interviews with a wide range of project stakeholders and secondary data.