Tobacco Control in Africa - TCA

Bloomberg's Initiative strategy in Africa in 2012?

While staff changes at CTFK occured in 2012, the level of the grants awarded (as of today) has been fairly low: $152.724 for projects in 3 countries: Ghana to promote pictorial warnings, Cameroon and Togo to support the enactment of strict regulations. Compared to the previous levels of funding this is very small. The same probably goes for the American Cancer Society that manages the millions provided by the Gates Foundation but does not provide any detailed budget.

CTFK is looking for an innovative and strategic Associate Director of International Social Media

Just after posting my somehow pessimistic post about social media I find this announcement (pdf) on the CTFK site about the search for an "Innovative and strategic Associate Director of International Social Media", with a special focus on Africa and China. The perfect job for me (at least regarding Africa).
Feel free to recommend me by contacting [email protected]
Thank you in advance.
The new Associate Director will provide strategic leadership to the development and implementation of an international 30-month social media project in support of tobacco control policy advocacy. This new and innovative initiative seeks to enhance and expand the Campaign’s communications capacity and the advocacy efforts of organizations in China and Africa through the strategic use of social media tools and targeted grantmaking in priority countries.
I don't think it's a good idea to try to find one person to work on both Africa and China. They are far too different and it would be better to have one person for each. Speaking (and writing) French should not be a plus it should be a must (like chinese for a chinese position). Unsolicited advice.

CTCA performance review

One more supermeeting involving plenty of dignitaries (30 "global tobacco control advocates") coming to Kampala from far away: at what cost and with what impact? Beyond the announcement (below) we have found zero substantial information about this meeting. The CTCA's site does not contain any (yet) nor the others. After this comment was posted we received a pdf document that provides a little more information, but not much. For instance, no detailed financial data are provided. Not that any of the other group is very transparent about their finances, but that would be a step in the right direction as far as transparency and public accountability are concerned.

$17,930 for the Cameroonian Coalition for Tobacco Control

Visiting the Bloomberg Initiative site, I found this grant allocated from February to August 2012 to "support adoption of the Cameroonian National Tobacco Control Bill and increase awareness of the FCTC among government officials, civil society organizations and the general public".

Bloomberg Initiative: $39,709 to support tobacco control regulations in Ghana

The Bloomberg Initative has awarded $39.709 to Vision for Alternative Development to support a "consolidated campaign for the Implementation of the FCTC Article 11 (Pictorial Health Warnings) and implementation of Ghana's Public Health ACT.
According to the BI site, the 6 months project aims to strengthen tobacco control in Ghana by creating the supportive environment necessary for the Implementation of Article 11 of the FCTC.

Bloomberg Initiative: $54,994 to support the enactment of tobacco control regulations in Togo

The Alliance Nationale des Consommateurs et de l’Environnement du Togo was awarded $54,994 in January 2012 by the Bloomberg Initaitive to support the development, adoption and enactment of strong regulations under the Togolese Tobacco Control Law N°2010-017 of 31/12/10. The Executive Director of ANCE is Mr Ebeh Kodjo.
According to the BI site, the project aims to promote the drafting and effective enactment of strong regulations under the Togolese Tobacco Control law.

Funding tobacco control in Africa: How much? What impact will the new $220 million grant have (or not)?

The Bloomberg Initiative received $375 million from Michael Bloomberg (in 2006 and 2008) and an additional $30 million from the Gates Foundation (as of July 2009). That's a total of (about) $405 million from 2007 to 2011 (5 years). That's about $81 million per year, divided between 5 entities (CTFK, The Union, The World Lung Foundation, the CDC Foundation and The Johns Hopkins School of Public Health).

The new 4 year grant of $220 million represent $55 million per year (without -for now- any additional funding from the Gates Foundation since the $18 million grant that had been mentioned in July 2011 has not been confirmed)

Bloomberg Philanthropies Announces an additional $220 million grant to fund global tobacco control for the next 4 years

Here is the link to the press-release from Bloomberg Philantrhopies and here is one to the article on Bloomberg News. Below I reproduced form the press release the part that explains what organizations will be in charge of managing the $220 million (the same a before) and what they'll do with it (essentailly the same). At the very bottom of the document I just found a link to a tumblr site that contains several videos relevant to this announcement, including the speech delivered by Mike Bloomberg at the 15th World Conference in Singapore.

Honest Feedback, Advocating for transparency, 2007-2011

This is an updated version of the first two editions, with a slightly different subtitle and new cover pictures. Available via Blurb.com and as an e-book via Amazon-Kindle. It focuses on the need for public transparency (and accountability) as a condition to get real feedback and to improve the overall performance in the management of the grants awarded by the Gates Foundation and the Bloomberg Initiative to promote tobacco control in Africa.

Looking back at 2011

A subjective selection of significant posts among the 160 published in 2011 (+ 40 in French on Vers une Afrique Sans Tabac). Sorry but no systematic links (too long to do).

Message of Ebeh Kodjo about 2011 and 2012: what is the real financial situation for ATCA and the African Consortium?

In a short email message dated December 19, Ebeh Kodjo states that "2012 will not be easy. It will be challenging, annoying, with less money and more demands." Unfortunately he does not provide any hard numbers about ATCA or the Consortium's finances for 2011 or 2012. His apparent pessimism about money seems inconsistent with the information available that seems to point toward increased resources.

CTFK's search for a "Director of Africa" continues with a slightly new version of the job ad

Below is the new job description. If you want to compare with the previous ones. This new version has more details. It mentions a lot of traveling: 30 to 40% of the time. Is it really the best way to operate in our digital age? This text raises other issues (at least for me) but I'll keep them private for now. If you want a hint, read Honest Feedback, Questions to the Gates Foundation as it contains a frank assessment of the performance of the various past and existing programs from which a new more effective strategy can be defined. After revisiting the site of the organization in charge of the search I see the job description is now the same to this new version they probably created.

CTFK: Announcing Round 11 of the Bloomberg Initiative Grants Program

CTFK announces Round 11 of the Bloomberg Initiative Grants program. The deadline is January 23, 2012. Read below for details.

Relevé chronologique des subventions accordées depuis 2007 dans les pays francophones

Avec l'arrivée de la fin de l'année 2011, nous avons effectué un relevé des principaux financements accordés depuis 2007 à la lutte contre le tabagisme en Afrique francophone par l'Initiative Bloomberg ($1.437.146) et la Fondation Gates ($907.158) pour un total de $2.344.304
Il conviendrait d'ajouter à ces sommes les crédits obtenus pas l'OTAF, les "petites" subventions de la FCA et de l'ACS (avant la création du Consortium), les subventions de la Norwegian Cancer Society.

Bloomberg Philanthropies Report 2007-2011: Accelerating the worldwide movement to reduce tobacco use

CTFK blog announces the publication of a 'report' about the Bloomberg Initiative since its start in 2007: it's only a few pages long more like a very small brochure (pdf), titled Accelerating the worldwide movement to reduce tobacco use. What's next? How much of the $500 million funding has been spent? What about the sustainability of the initiative? As for Africa, what perspectives, what strategy, what funding, what governance, what evaluation, what detailed communication? What about the July 2011 grant from the Gates Foundation that is now MIA?

Mike Bloomberg: taking action today against tobacco... How does that apply to Africa

Mike Bloomberg affirms again his conviction against tobacco and describes what can/should be done. He gives the example of New York City. Can the same strategy be successfully implemented in Africa? What are the roadblocks? How best to organize? How best to use the millions he and Bill Gates generously give? How best to communicate about what is achieved?

CTFK awards a $300K grant to the Association pour la Défense des Droits des Consommateurs (ADC) to promote tobacco control in 5 French speaking countries

The $300K grant is awarded to the Association pour la Défense des Droits des Consommateurs (ADC) based in Ndjamena (Chad). The countries involved are Chad, Niger, Burkina, Guinea and Mauritania. It looks like a continuation of a previous grant awarded in 2009 (until July 2011) to the same group to work in Chad, Niger, Burkina and Ivory Coast. As far as we know no report has been made public about what was achieved with the previous grant and how it was managed. Not much is available online about ADC. We found this article and the cyber-interview of Daouda ElDadj Adam by Pascal Bogui, published in 2007 on Pascal's blog (both documents in French).

Honest Feedback, Questions to the Gates Foundation

Honest Feedback, Questions to the Gates Foundation is a small book (80 pages) by Philippe Boucher, now available in paperback via the internet print on demand publisher Blurb.com and also as an e-book via Amazon-Kindle. Just click on Blurb or Kindle and get a copy.
Philippe Boucher -who also manages the blogs Tobacco Control in Africa and Vers une Afrique Sans Tabac- shares his thoughts about the promotion of tobacco control in Africa and the role played by the Bloomberg Initiative and the Gates Foundation. A rare independent point of view, as 'not many speak their mind to the Gates Foundation'. The book is dedicated to the Foundation's CEO, Jeff Raikes who calls regularly for honest feedback. See also this interview of Boucher.

 

The Gates Foundation gives $18 million to the Bloomberg Family Foundation with a special emphasis on tobacco control in Africa

Visiting the site of the Gates Foundation for tobacco control projects (scroll on the right to recent grants), I found this information, without any additional detail (for now).

 Grantee: Bloomberg Family Foundation

Date: July 2011

Purpose: to reduce tobacco use in low and middle-income countries with priority focus on Africa

Amount: $18,000,000

Term: 2 years and 9 months

Topic: Tobacco

Region Served: Global

Program: Global Health

Grantee Location: New York, New York

Grantee Web site: Not available

Looking for a site I could not find any (yet). Here is the link to Bloomberg.org. I did leave them a message asking for more details.

 

Ghana: a $15K grant for VISA from the Bloomberg Initiative

Tobacco Taxation Situational Report in Ghana

Vision for Alternative Development

To develop a tax report in Ghana with appropriate, FCTC-compliant tax policy recommendations that assist the Government of Ghana to follow through on its commitments to institute tax measures that reduce smoking.

Country: Ghana
Amount: $15,000
Start Date: Apr 2011
End Date: Jul 2011

 

Bill Gates in China: 'Say No to Involuntary Smoking"

Bill Gates participated to a press conference where he put on a green T-Shirt with the slogan: Say No to involuntary smoking. That was the first time he got involved with the issue since the launch of his $125 million gift with Mike Bloomberg on July 23 2008. As of today there is no post on his personal site.

Small grants are beautiful, but are there any?

This post is about the effectiveness of "small" grants ($5.000/$10.000 and under). What happened to small grants in the strategy of the present programs? 

Madagascar: A grant to promote legislation, including graphic warnings

Visiting the site of the Bloomberg Initiative I discover this information about the grant awarded in October 2010 (until September 2012) to the National AntiTobacco Office in Madagascar for $96,669.

Tanzania: what future for tobacco control advocates?

This recent portrait of leading advocate Lutgard Kagaruki in the Tanzania Daily News raises the question of the future of local tobacco control advocacy when their international funding disappears (in this case funding from the Bloomberg Initiative). The article provides no answer.

Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids: Director for Africa

CTFK is looking for a Director for Africa (pdf).

Grants allocated by the Bloomberg Initiative to Ghana and Mozambique

Visiting the site where the Bloomberg Initiative lists the grants it has awarded, we find two grants we had not heard about: one for Ghana and one for Mozambique. Details below.

Indicators for a transparent management scorecard

Following up on the need for more transparency (and accountability) that has been at the core of this blog, I have listed 10 indicators that I believe would be helpful to assess how organizations are performing. Here they are:

1. Names, bios of the staff and contact email (program, project managers, all staff involved)
2. Detailed annual report explaining the activities
3. Detailed annual operational budget (easy to find and providing key info, see below)
4. Budget for staff and consultants (staff administrative costs)
5. Budget for travel and hospitality (including monthly update and yearly detailed list)
6. Transparency blog providing regular detailed information about the progress of each program/project/grant
7. Open selection process for grant applications (all applications available)
8. Transparency requirement for grantees and sub-grantees (including the 7 first items of this scorecard)
9. Establishment of a benchmark scorecard (baseline) for the project, updated yearly to allow evaluation
10. Willingness to answer questions and provide information (for big institutions, Access to Information person and procedure)

What do you think the score is for each organization involved in promoting tobacco control in Africa?

 

Scorecards and the importance of counting for transparency, accountability, fairness and effectiveness: tools for the Gates Foundation?

The governance and development blog of the Worldbank refers in this post to this very interesting document  (pdf) about the importance of counting and budget transparency, something that does not apply to tobacco control grants to Sub-Sahara Africa.

What makes an effective campaign?

Each campaign needs to have a focus in four areas throughout the campaign. The campaign needs effective management, it needs the right policy, it needs an effective communication strategy and it needs the right network. These elements interplay with each other.

From the Network Advocacy blog.

Tobaccocontrollaws.org

Tobaccocontrollaws.org is a new site created by TFK's International Legal Consortium to help share information about tobacco control laws. Presently it offers information about 4 African countries: Kenya, South Africa, Mauritius and Seychelles.

Senegal: Methodological workshop on tobacco taxation in West Africa

The CRES has hosted in Dakar a three day workshop (February 22-24) on tobacco taxation in West Africa. Among the participants, Evan Blecher (ACS), Sylviane Ratte (Union), Ebeh Kodjo (ATCA), Noureiny Tcha Kondor (African Consortium), Greg Hallen (IDRC).

Day 1 of the ATSA meeting in Johannesburg - on Cancerblogs

The blog of the ACS has this post of the first day of the ATSA meeting. 

Fraud at the Global Health Fund to fight Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria

Cases of fraud are being investigated at the Global Health Fund to fight Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria. Several African countries appear implicated. There is criticism about the overreliance on grant recipients to assess their own performance. The audits are conducted by John Parsons the Global Fund's Inspector General.

Gates Foundation: Guide to Actionable Measurement. How to evaluate progress?

The Guide to Actionable Measurement (pdf) is a document published by the Gates Foundation about how they try to evalate their grantee's work. Does it apply to the tobacco control program for Africa?

Video: The Bloomberg initiative to reduce tobacco use

This short video is on the part of the site of Mike Bloomberg devoted to his philanthropic activities. Still no detailed website for the Bloomberg Foundation.

South Africa: National Council Against Smoking awarded two grants by the Bloomberg Initiative

The National Council Against Smoking in South Africa has been awarded in May 2010 two 2 year grants (May 2010 to April 2012) by the Bloomberg Initiative for total of $495.722. They aim to promote "policy advocacy for effective tobacco tax and regulatory regimes".

Source: Bloomberg Initiative/What we fund

The controversy over the Social Innovation grants brings more transparency

Read the story in the Chronicle of Philanthropy and also this opinion piece. What lessons (if any) for the ways tobacco control grants are managed? In this case all the applications and their reviews are going to be made public. One wishes the same could be true as far as the tobacco control grants are concerned.

Ways to engage more people (suggested by Thinkpublic)

Thinkpublic listed in this post a few interesting proposals to develop public participation. What about applying them to grants management?

Via InterActu (Hubert Guillaud) in French, merci.

Compiling the data about the grants awarded by the Bloomberg Initiative and the Gates Foundation (via IDRC-ATSA)

While the process for applying to the the round 8 of the Bloomberg Initiative and the round 1 of the Consortium is starting TCA thought interesting to compile the grants awarded by the Bloomberg Initiative and the Gates Foundation (via IDRC-ATSA). 

Bloomberg + Gates (ATSA) distributed to African organizations $5.130.746: BI allocated $3.457.863 (67,3%) and IDRC-ATSA allocated $1.672.884 (32,6%). 

3 countries collected 51.6% of the total (Nigeria, Kenya, Burkina) and the countries/groups funded both by BI and IDRC collected 86%.

Pablo Eisenberg about big philanthropists

An interesting opinion by Pablo Eisenberg. Any relevance to the way grants have been/are allocated and managed to promote tobacco control in Africa?

Peter Eigen and global transparency

From this blog a post about a presentation by Peter Eigen about global transparency. It also concerns civil society. For instance, in relation to the international conference that will take place in September in Niamey, transparency would require the donors to publish their budget.

Conférence Internationale Francophone Contre le Tabac (CIFCOT III) à Niamey au Niger du 25 au 28 Septembre 2010.

Inoussa Saouna nous fait part de l'information suivante au sujet de la conférence CIFCOT III (sans -pour le moment- le programme préliminaire).

Le programme est maintenant disponible ici.

A look at how the Bloomberg Initiative allocated its funding in Africa since 2007

The Bloomberg Initiative has opened its 8th round of grants. How did they allocate their funding since 2007? TCA has compiled the data. 13 countries have been supported, 2 received 51.6% of the funding: Nigeria (37) and Kenya (14.6). If you add Tanzania, Burkina and Niger you reach 75.4% with those 5 countries. The global amount invested is $3.457.862, around 1 million per year ($508.645 for 2010 at midyear). 

It looks like IDRC funded  in 2009 a project by an ACS intern to update a database started in 2006 of all the grants allocated by the main donors. An interesting tool.

Appel à projets pour l'Initiative Bloomberg: seules les propositions rédigées en anglais seront acceptées

L'annonce en français est ici mais seules les propositions rédigées en anglais seront acceptées (bas page 2). Date limite de dépôt: 13 août. Liste de projets financés en Afrique (en anglais).

Announcing Round 8 of the Bloomberg Initiative grants program

This information announcing that the Round 8 was now open (deadline August 13) was distributed via various listservers but strangely it is not posted on the site of the Initiative. Apparently the only way to be informed is to register. Why not post this announcement on the site itself?

For a recap of the grants awarded in Africa see here or this map.

Transparency Officers to promote and implement transparency (and communication)

Because transparency needs to be a proactive process and will not happen without people in charge of making it happen. 

Source: opengov/ideascale via googling for transparency officer. 

Evaluations are useless if groups ignore the results

The Chronicle of philanthropy points to a post about the tendency to ignore the results of an evaluation when it is not positive and one about the ways to better engage the grantees and the key stakeholders. 

Women Champions on the International Resource Center of the Bloomberg Initiative

Two African women are among the Women Champions persented on the International Resource Center of the Bloomberg Initiative: Dorcas Kiptui and Kaluki Ngilu, both from Kenya.

Update about the Bloomberg Initiative grants in Africa

Source: Google Doc May 20, 2010 from the information posted under the Bloomberg Initiative Google Map

See a Google spreadsheet presentation

The Association pour la défense de Droits des Consommateurs (Chad) awarded $475,000 for a 4 countries project

This information was found while visiting at random the google map where the grants awarded by the Bloomberg Initiative are posted. 

The project aims to secure adoption and full enforcement of tobacco control legislation and/or regulations in line with FCTC COP guidelines and international best practice in Burkina Faso, Chad and Niger, and to support FCTC ratification by Côte d’Ivoire. It aims to share experiences on FCTC implementation between francophone African countries, improve preparation for COP-4 and illicit trade protocol negotiations, and develop strategies for improving tobacco control resources.

ADC is managed by Daouda Elhadj Adam

Country: Chad
Focus: Tobacco Control Policy (general)
Amount: $475,000
Start Date: Dec 2009
End Date: May 2011