Projects

URC works with partners to apply behavioral economics, marketing, and technical expertise to respond to urgent needs for behavior change communication in health programming worldwide. The project addresses critical health issues such as family planning; nutrition; maternal and child health; HIV/AIDS prevention, testing, treatment, and reduction; and the treatment and prevention of malaria, TB, and other tropical diseases. Ongoing monitoring, capacity building, and mentoring at the local and national levels are providing critical input into the design of communications strategies to affect positive behavior change in these urgent health areas.

URC does not have any current task orders (as of 01FEB2018).

URC and its partners are working to provide feedback and pre-testing of a collection of social and behavior change communication (SBCC) capacity-strengthening tools and resources in Guatemala. These activities are designed to coordinate with the country’s SBCC activities and complement and support each partner’s current projects, including the USAID Nutri-Salud: Community Nutrition and Health Project, managed...

Provided technical assistance to prime contractor Terre des hommes. Trained project staff and key MOH staff in quality improvement, coaching, and mentoring. Formed quality improvement teams to develop change packages that produce results defined in the collaborative improvement goals. In Burkina Faso, URC trained project staff and key Ministry of Health staff in improvement, coaching...

Building on the legacy of the Better Health Services project by developing systems for ensuring high-quality maternal and child health services in eight provinces in Cambodia.

The Challenge Reading proficiency establishes a solid foundation for learning and understanding core areas of knowledge, while literacy is a driver for the reduction of poverty and accelerates economic growth. According to the World Bank, an estimated 53 percent of children in low- and middle-income countries cannot read and understand a simple story by the...

URC partnered with CH2M HILL to strengthen Iraq’s and Afghanistan’s biosecurity capacity to identify and respond to biological and chemical threats. We provided support to the local project teams to assess and enhance capacity to increase detection and diagnosis and report on infectious disease outbreaks. Objectives were: Identify and address gaps in human and animal public...

Overview and Objectives Conducted operations research in five high-volume Ugandan hospitals/ maternities to identify the baseline use, and best methods to increase evidence-based use of antenatal corticosteroids to improve outcomes for premature newborns in Uganda. According to the World Health Organization, the administration of certain corticosteroids to women at risk of preterm birth causes a...

The Challenge MCC is making extensive use of a focused health and education mechanism to acquire services needed to accomplish its mission of helping the world’s poorest countries reduce poverty through economic growth. Overview and Objectives URC conducted a detailed assessment of Guatemala’s education sector to share recommendations for targeted education policy reforms with MCC, the...

Managed the health, nutrition, and WASH components of this project to increase the resilience of chronically vulnerable people, households, communities, and systems in targeted agricultural areas in Niger and Burkina Faso. Resilience was achieved through increased and sustainable well-being, strengthened institutions and governance, and improved health, nutrition, and WASH. Achievements

Provided guidance and technical assistance in applying collaborative learning approaches and quality improvement principles and practices to reduce infant mortality and improve birth outcomes with a focus on reducing health disparities in the United States.