Supporting Statement A -- COVID-19 Performance Monitoring

SUPPORTING STATEMENT – A

REQUEST FOR APPROVAL UNDER

THE PAPERWORK REDUCTION ACT AND 5 CFR 1320

Collection Title: COVID-19 Performance Monitoring

PART A. JUSTIFICATION

1. Explain the circumstances that make the collection of information necessary.

The COVID-19 pandemic required an extraordinary response from USAID and its implementing partners. To date, USAID has relied on its implementing partners to voluntarily report performance data on their USAID-funded COVID-19 global activities. While this voluntary system has yielded rich data, to date, partners have reported results on programming that accounts for less than 70 percent of total USAID global health funding. This low rate makes it difficult for USAID to use this data to track the progress of its COVID-19 portfolio; measure its contribution to Administration goals, as outlined in the U.S. COVID-19 Global Response and Recovery Framework (GRRF); understand the relationship between program funding and results; and undertake data-driven adaptive management and strategic planning. Moreover, in February, 2022, USAID assumed the lead reporting and analysis role for the Administration’s Initiative for Global Vaccine Access (Global VAX) – making it all the more critical that the Agency collect data on all of its own COVID-19 programming, which it will integrate with data from interagency partners.

A number of policy and statutory authorities provide the basis for this information collection. Among them, the USAID Program Cycle Operational Policy (See ADS Chapter 201 available at https://www.usaid.gov/​ads/​policy/​200/​201) provides agency policy on how to plan for monitoring, evaluation, and learning when developing Country Development Cooperation Strategies, projects, and activities. This chapter also requires development activities to have an approved activity monitoring, evaluation, and learning plan (AMELP). A development “activity” generally refers to an implementing mechanism that carries out an intervention or set of interventions to advance identified development result(s). Activities range from contracts or cooperative agreements with international or local organizations to direct agreements with partner governments, among other options.

At the award level, the foundation for monitoring, evaluation, and learning is a well-documented plan describing how program progress and results will be measured and assessed and how the contractor will work with USAID and others to support learning and adaptive management. Per Sec.3(c)(2)(B) of the Foreign Aid Transparency and Accountability Act of 2016 and OMB M-18-04, monitoring and evaluation plans should be developed for programs, projects, and activities. In recent years, Congress has also appended requirements to Appropriations Acts that seek to ensure that contractors that receive development assistance funds regularly and systematically collect and respond to feedback obtained directly from beneficiaries to enhance the relevance and quality of such assistance.

2. Indicate how, by whom, and for what purpose the information is to be used. Except for a new collection, indicate the actual use the agency has made of the information received from the current collection.

COVID-19 performance monitoring data will be used by a number of stakeholders involved in the pandemic response. The Bureau for Global Health (GH), the Agency’s lead technical office for the COVID-19 health response will use performance data to engage in strategic decision-making related to the allocation of critical resources, make course corrections as needed through evidence-based adaptive management, and ensure the overall COVID response is progressing as expected. GH will also use this data to coordinate the U.S. Government’s pandemic response within the interagency, including with other Agencies engaged in the Initiative for Global Access to Vaccines (Global VAX) responsible for progress toward the goals and objectives outlined in the GRRF.

Washington-based Operating Units (OUs), including Regional and Technical Bureaus, will utilize performance management data for strategic planning, real-time evidence-based decision-making, and to promote accountability. Field-based OUs, with analytical support from Regional and Technical Bureaus, will also use performance data to track activity progress and rapidly make adjustments as needed in their respective substantive and geographic programming areas.

In addition, Washington-based OUs, including the Bureau for Policy, Planning, and Learning (PPL), will utilize performance monitoring data to support Agency-wide learning, cross-cutting analyses, and knowledge management around key COVID topics.

3. Describe whether, and to what extent, the collection of information involves the use of automated, electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or other forms of information technology.

USAID Implementing Partners (IPs) will submit their performance monitoring data electronically into USAID’s Development Information Solution (DIS). The DIS reduces the burden on Mission staff and provides streamlined reporting for IPs. The DIS also offers the potential for future functional improvements, such as bulk data upload, streamlined data quality checks, and cross-country analyses. USAID has developed a COVID-19 module in the DIS with standard COVID-19 global indicators that cover the breadth of the Agency’s COVID-19 response and has made it available for partners to use voluntarily.

4. Describe efforts to identify duplication. Show specifically why any similar information already available cannot be used or modified for use for the purposes described in item 2 above.

Many USAID IPs are currently collecting and reporting on the COVID-19 global health performance indicators on a voluntary basis. This information will be used as described in item 2, above, and does not entail any duplication. However, a significant number of USAID IPs currently are not reporting on COVID-19 global health performance indicators. For these IPs, no data is being reported that could be modified to serve the purposes specified in item 2, and no duplication is implicated. Overall, the voluntary data is rich; however, it is incomplete and impedes USAID’s efforts to use data for adaptive management, strategic decision-making, and accountability.

The U.S. Government's Global COVID-19 response plan in the aforementioned GRRF and Implementation Plan requires that a distinct set of indicators be tracked and reported on at regular intervals, including quarterly reporting for key adaptive management outputs. USAID initially asked IPs to voluntarily report those indicators and has made significant efforts to encourage submission. However, reporting rates to date demonstrate that reaching reporting levels sufficient for adaptive management, strategic decision-making, and accountability requires the mandatory reporting requested in this ICR.

USAID is also tracking context indicators that provide country-level data on COVID’s epidemiological burden, second-order impacts (economic, essential health services), and other situational factors relevant to the pandemic. The data requested herein will supplement this contextual information with data on USAID’s activities and direct contribution to the COVID-response effort.

5. If the collection of information impacts small businesses or other small entities, describe any methods used to minimize burden.

Most of the IPs that would be involved in the information collection are not small businesses or entities. To minimize the burden of the proposed information collection activities, all USAID Implementing Partners will receive guidance and support from Mission and Agreement/Contractor Officer Representatives to meet the reporting requirements. This includes summary guidance from Technical Bureaus on the frequency, level of disaggregation, and reporting schedule for required indicators. USAID will also provide training for IP staff on using the DIS.

6. Describe the consequence to Federal program or policy activities if the collection is not conducted or is conducted less frequently, as well as any technical or legal obstacles to reducing the burden.

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to evolve as the virus mutates, population immunity changes, and countries change their mitigation efforts. Similarly, context-specific challenges to widespread vaccination are also constantly shifting, as are the opportunities presented by advancements in available therapeutics and treatment methods. This ongoing evolution means that, for USAID’s response to remain responsive and effective, it must be informed by comprehensive performance data on a regular basis. If reporting continues to be collected outside of the DIS and/or on a voluntary basis, field-based Missions and Washington OU’s would not have the data necessary to adequately assess the progress of COVID activities or make necessary course corrections or plan adequately for the integration of COVID programming into health systems in the future. USAID’s ability to make timely, evidence-based decisions and implement effective adaptive management would be compromised. If the performance data were not collected at all, it would hobble the Agency’s ability to engage in accountable programming; provide proper oversight for significant resources; and would wholly undermine efforts to facilitate operational tracking, evaluation and continuous learning.

7. Explain any special circumstances that would cause an information collection to be conducted in a manner:

Performance data considered critical for adaptive management will be reported into the DIS by Implementing Partners on their current, individual reporting schedules. No other special circumstances are anticipated.

8. If applicable, provide a copy and identify the date and page number of publication in the Federal Register of the agency's notice, required by 5 CFR 1320.8(d), soliciting comments on the information collection prior to submission to OMB.

On [indicate month, day, and year], a 60-Day Federal Register Notice was published at 73 FR 12746 [indicate volume and page number]. No comments were received.

Due to the urgent nature of this request and the need for immediate data collection to manage the COVID-19 response, we are pursuing emergency processing under the PRA. The anticipated publication of the Federal Register notice is November 23, 2022.

9. Explain any decision to provide any payment or gift to respondents, other than remuneration of contractors or grantees.

N/A

10. Describe any assurance of confidentiality provided to respondents and the basis for the assurance in statute, regulation, or agency policy.

The monitoring data to be collected are a set of performance indicators which are reported in aggregate by USAID implementing partners. The data will include basic dissgregates, such as number of respondents by sex. No personally identifiable information will be included in the reported data.

11. Provide additional justification for any questions of a sensitive nature, such as sexual behavior and attitudes, religious beliefs, and other matters that are commonly considered private.

N/A

¹ See OMB Directive 15, Race and Ethnic Standards for Federal Statistics and Administrative Reporting.

12. Provide estimates of the hour burden of the collection of information.

The hour burden is estimated to be 83 hours per quarterly response, totalling 332 hours per award per year, or 13,612 hours total per year. Implementing partners will be asked to enter data they already collect on their existing reporting schedule into the DIS. Most implementing partners involved in this request have quarterly reporting schedules; thus, we estimate the burden based on the assumption of quarterly reporting. The hour burden given below reflects the participation time associated with data entry into the Development Information System.

Information Collection	# Respondents	# Responses/Year	Participation Time	Annual Burden Hours
GH COVID-19 Standard Indicators	41	4	83 hrs	13,612

13. Provide an estimate for the total annual cost burden to respondents or record-keepers resulting from the collection of information.

The burden estimate includes only the hour burden of information collection as specified in (12) above. No capital/start-up costs are anticipated for respondents or record-keepers, nor are operation and maintenance costs or purchase of services expected.

14. Provide estimates of annualized costs to the Federal Government.

There are no staffing or budgetary implications associated with this action beyond normal operations of USAID’s ongoing data management and processing of implementing partner data.

15. Explain the reasons for any program changes or adjustments reported on the burden worksheet.

This is a new program.

16. For collections of information whose results will be published, outline plans for tabulation and publication. Address any complex analytical techniques that will be used. Provide the time schedule for the entire project, including beginning and ending dates of the collection of information, completion of report, publication dates, and other actions.

The collected information will primarily be used for internal USAID decision-making and to coordinate efforts with Interagency Global VAX partners. Portions of the performance data may be aggregated and reported through public communications to update the Interagency and the public on the Agency’s progress against its primary COVID-19 response objectives. Data will be collected for a period of six months beginning on or about November 1, 2022.

17. If you are seeking approval to not display the expiration date for OMB approval of the information collection, explain the reasons that display would be inappropriate.

N/A

18. Explain each exception to the topics of the certification statement identified in Certification for Paperwork Reduction Act Submissions.

The collection of information encompassed by this request complies with 5 CFR 1320.9.

The request does not meet the criteria (i) It uses effective and efficient statistical survey methodology, as the collection instrument is not a survey and this is not applicable.