ACHEST undergoes systems strengthening

 Patrick Kadama Elsie Kiguli-Malwadde Peter Eriki Ben Omollo Francis Omaswa Vincent Ojoome John Oguntomiladde and Cheryl Nesbit

The good book in Proverbs 22:6 says, “Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it.”
This speaks to setting a proper and solid foundation, not only for children but for anything, even an organization, which intends to be around for the long haul and impact people and society.

Since ACHEST’s mission is to ensure equitable health for Africa, its foundations have to be firm and constantly reinforced in order to match any changes and improve its competitiveness in the world.

In a bid to improve its performance and operations, ACHEST underwent a Health Resources and Systems Administration (HRSA)-led baseline assessment in 2013 called CIASS (Clinical Assessment of Systems Strengthening).

CIASS is a tool that is used to evaluate the strength of an organization’s financial, governance and administrative systems.
The purpose of this evaluation is to identify any loopholes and advise the organization on how to improve but also to point out the strong points and encourage the organization to become even stronger.

A team that comprised of HRSA’s John Oguntomiladde and Cheryl Nesbit as well as Ben Omollo an independent consultant, visited ACHEST for a 3-day post-2013 assessment.
Oguntomiladde, the team-lead said, “CIASS is not a grading system but an assessment. In the areas of financial management, governance and administration, ACHEST has improved and we can confidently say that your systems are functioning well.”

Prof. Francis Omaswa, the ACHEST CEO thanked HRSA and the team for this partnership that has resulted in strengthened systems. The assessment involved all ACHEST staff members.