ForeignAID Ratings

In 2006, PROCOSI participated in a study of 11 NGO (non-governmental organization) networks that work in Latin America. The principal objective of the study was to identify the factors that contribute to the development of effective, transparent, and sustainable organizational networks.

The study was conducted by the specialized company ForeignAID Ratings, based in New Jersey, and was commissioned by the central USAID office in Washington. It included the certification of participating organizations under a scale developed by the business itself.

PROCOSI received a grade of AA (8.1 points out of 10), which reflects “exceptional institutional development and an elevated socio-economic value per unit of financing channeled through the network.” This grade places PROCOSI with in the three top-scoring networks in the study.

The dimensions evaluated during the certification process were:

• Socio-economic impact of the network
• Institutional development
• Financial efficiency and stability
• Accountability and transparency
• External relations

Partnering to Improve Health in Bolivia

PROCOSI formed a sister organization in the United States to help improve the health of people throughout Bolivia. The new organization, Friends of PROCOSI, is a nonprofit corporation in Virginia and is in the process of obtaining tax exempt status under federal law in the United States. The new nonprofit will work to make PROCOSI and its member organizations more sustainable and to collaborate with others working on similar issues around the globe.

"Our hope is to improve the lives of families in the Bolivia by increasing access to quality health services and empowering Bolivians to create healthier living conditions in their communities," said PROCOSI Executive Director Wendy McFarren. "Friends of PROCOSI holds the promise of forging a strong partnership between Bolivian communities and Bolivian immigrants to the United States."

"The new nonprofit will provide individuals and foundations a safe, secure and transparent way to improve the health of Bolivians," according the Friends of PROCOSI’s incoming Board Chair Debbie Caro.

Friends of PROCOSI will also let Bolivians share their expertise in improving health through housing and maternal and child nutrition and health care programs. "There are many experiences in Bolivia that could prove valuable if replicated elsewhere," said Caro.

Friends of PROCOSI will begin holding informational sessions on its work this summer and plans a public kick off later in the year. Friends of PROCOSI will be forming a regional and national network of advisors.

Foto: Timara Ingram/FHI

About PROCOSI

PROCOSI, the Coordination Program for Integral Health (Programa de Coordinación en Salud Foto: Fidel Navarro/PROCOSI Integral), is Bolivia’s largest network of national and international NGOs (non-governmental organizations). For nearly two decades, it has developed projects and programs oriented toward improving living circumstances, in an holistic manner, for a great majority of Bolivians. PROCOSI’s main functions to its member NGOs are to:

· Share and spread innovative practices,
· promote quality, and
· encourage sustainability

All of the member NGOs of PROCOCI work to develop synergies that permit them to integrate their best practices and complement each others’ areas of expertise, achieving favorable impacts for the beneficiaries by means of programs and projects that work in key areas in the field of health. PROCOSI facilitates this exchange, as well as administrating funds and defining indicators. The network is particularly able to make an impact because of its:

· Nation-wide presence
· Focus on learning, visible and strong results, and standardization
· Economies of scale

PROCOSI has extensive experience in programs and projects that have resulted, for example, in:

· Children under the age of 5 overcoming infectious diseases through the application of childhood health strategies;
· Populations that were confronting infectious diseases like tuberculosis, malaria, and Chagas disease living healthy lives after having successful treatments;
· Various rural zones in Bolivia securing healthy and quality housing that eliminates the presence of disease carriers like the Vinchuca, the insect which spread Chagas disease;
· The number of women increasing who as a product of training in reproductive and sexual health and gender-related topics now decide freely about the care that is implied by being a woman and mother.
· The number of women who die while giving birth being reduced, through programs using information, education, and training for the prevention of maternal mortality.

33 INSTITUTIONS WORKING TOGETHER TO IMPROVE HEALTH IN BOLIVIA

PROCOSI as a network is constituted of NGOs that come together to form a transparent institution, trustworthy in its administration of resources. It is due to this quality and transparency in its actions that PROCOSI can and does develop projects at a national, regional, and community level, through agreements with the Bolivian State (through the Ministry of Health and Sports, Ministry of Education, Vice-ministries of Housing and Basic Services), as well as the state prefectures, municipal governments, and communities on the whole.

Bolivia and Integrated Health

Our country has nearly 10 million inhabitants and displays incredible diversity. With tracts of both the Andes and the Amazon, as well as the world’s largest salt flat, it is a geographically astonishing country. The population is multiethnic and diverse. Together with the exquisite scenery, this diversity makes Bolivia a jewel of South America.

Unfortunately, it is also among the poorest countries in the Americas. Many individuals and communities face health-related challenges, above all those Bolivians in vulnerable populations like children, women, and the elderly. Due to lack of awareness and information, and to barriers in access to quality health services, they often must take a passive role when faced with illness and even with death.

Additionally, basic health problems in the most indigent communities cannot be addressed without also addressing the context of those problems, ranging from access to safe water and sanitation, to women’s health and rights, to income generation.

For this reason, the approach to health in Bolivia must be integral, a challenge to which PROCOSI is rising.

One success story: Healthy Homes to Prevent Chagas

Between the years 2000 and 2005, eight member organizations of PROCOSI collaborated to eradicate Chagas disease, a chronic parasitic illness that attacks the heart and digestive system, and which is especially rampant in poor rural areas. This particular project attacked the issue through housing, striving to improve the physical state of people’s homes in order to make them less habitable to the vinchuca, the insect that carries the disease. Because the program focused on living conditions, other illnesses such as respiratory infections and diarrheal disease were addressed as well.

The program revolved primarily around tangible housing improvement projects and education on disease prevention. Improvements included renovations of kitchens and bathrooms, the addition of floors, and the installation of adobe stoves to mitigate the risks of open-fire cooking. Education included disease recognition, hygiene, and maintenance of healthy homes. Like in other projects coordinated by PROCOSI, the community participated on many levels. Beneficiaries not only enacted change in their own homes through construction and healthy living practices, but also worked as trainers, monitors, and managers in their neighborhoods. This involvement promoted the collective responsibility for and communal ownership of every project.

As a result of the cooperative housing project, 213,384 people in the departments of Cochabamba and Chuquisaca received information, education, and training on disease prevention. Nearly 50,000 men, women, and children accessed direct services that helped them improve their living conditions, and thus their health. These numbers were made possible through the coordination efforts, funding administration, and knowledge exchange provided by PROCOSI, as well as through the government partnership and NGO strength that is unique to this network. PROCOSI strives to produce results that are greater than the sum of its parts; its continued work will improve the health of the Bolivian people.