Recovery with Integrity: Promoting Integrity in the Purchase and Distribution of COVID-19 Vaccines.
In partnership with Poder Ciudadano, PTF has launched the newest phase of a monitoring project designed to ensure transparency in the distribution of COVID-19 vaccines in Argentina. This project, entitled Recovery with Integrity: Promoting Integrity in the Purchase and Distribution of COVID-19 Vaccines, is the first of what is expected to be a major global program of civil society monitoring of COVID-19 vaccine deployment and distribution. PTF approved a grant of $10,000 for the second phase of the project on March 18, 2021.
This project builds on the successful completion of a recent COVID-19 monitoring project run in Argentina, and funded by PTF. Under the auspices of the project, Poder Ciudadano, the Argentine chapter of Transparency International, built a national Observatory to record the procurement and distribution of medical supplies and equipment. Poder Ciudadano created a seven-step methodology for civil society organization (CSO) monitoring of the supply chain from procurement to the local clinic, and produced a risk map of health system operations in emergencies such as the COVID-19 pandemic.
The new project will apply the methodology to the purchase, storage, distribution, delivery, and application of vaccines. It seeks to promote greater transparency and integrity in the vaccination program, ensure equity in the deployment of vaccines—with special attention paid to high-risk and vulnerable populations, promote efficiency and effectiveness in service delivery (wastage, disposal, misuse), and help overcome vaccine hesitancy. It will also establish new partnerships with CSOs in a dozen Latin American countries to promote independent third-party monitoring of vaccination programs.
The project has four components:
Component 1: Strengthen Transparency and Accountability in Argentina’s National Response. Work will involve monitoring and reporting on the supply chain processes from procurement through delivery of vaccines to medical facilities. Poder Ciudadano will apply the CSO monitoring methodology to vaccine distribution.
Component 2: Build CSO networks to monitor the storage, distribution, and delivery of vaccines. Poder Ciudadano will identify local CSOs to implement third-party monitoring. They will then provide training, tools, technical support. This will be followed by the establishment of a network of CSOs to exchange experiences and share advocacy strategies.
Component 3: Implement and report on monitoring experience at the local level. A monitoring and reporting system will be established to aggregate results and inform duty-bearers.
Component 4: Implement a Latin American-wide consultation process with Transparency International chapters in twelve countries. This will involve promoting the Observatory and CSO monitoring methodology for vaccines and assisting interested chapters as they apply the methodology and build their capacity to monitor the vaccination process.
The project includes processes for monitoring, measuring results, and assessing impact. It will be implemented over nine months.
PTF Project Team:
Daniel Ritchie, Project Adviser
Simon Gray, Project Adviser
Donal O’Leary, Procurement Specialist
Rachel Ansley, Communications Specialist
Partners at Poder Ciudadano:
Pablo Secchi, Executive Director
German Emanuele, Director, Transparency and Anti-Corruption
Jose Bisillac, Project Officer
Sabrina Battaliana, Communications Specialist
You can follow updates on the project on Twitter: @PTFund / @poderciudadano and on Facebook: Partnership for Transparency – PTF / Poder Ciudadano.
