Our Projects
-
Year 2020-2025
Country Global
Client
Modeling and Simulation PROJECTS
Long Term Agreement for Open Source Frontier Technology Solutions
Information Management PROJECTS
The UNICEF Innovation Fund provides early stage funding and support to frontier technology solutions that benefit children and the world. UNICEF’s Innovation Fund issued Kimetrica a Long Term Agreement (LTA) to back the development and use of open source frontier technology solutions. The LTA will be used by UNICEF offices and other UN Agencies worldwide to solicit and issue contracts based on the needs of requesting offices. Kimetrica will provide UNICEF’s Innovation Fund with services to support the testing, piloting, deployment, customization and further development of frontier technology solutions in UNICEF’s programs. Kimetrica was selected based on its experience and expertise in advanced modeling, data management, information capture, and custom software development. This LTA follows Kimetrica’s previous UNICEF Innovation Fund grant to conduct proof of concept research for MERON.
-
Year 2019-2020
Country Ethiopia
Client
Building Self-Reliance for Refugees and Host Communities: Midline Study
Research and Evaluation PROJECTS
Building Self-Reliance for Refugees and Host Communities by Improved Sustainable Basic Social Service Delivery Programme (BSRP) is a UNICEF Ethiopia-led effort to improve service delivery in health, nutrition, WASH (water, sanitation and hygiene), education, and child protection. In 2019, Kimetrica and subcontractor Causal Design conducted a qualitative mid-term evaluation of the programme using 171 key informant interviews (KIIs) and 20 gender-disaggregated focus group discussions (FGDs) with program beneficiaries that covered the service delivery sectors across five regions of Ethiopia, including Afar, Benishangul Gumuz, Gambella, Somali, and Tigray. Work was carried out by gender-balanced teams fluent in the main languages of each region and focused on beneficiary perceptions of program performance. Kimetrica reported on the programme’s effectiveness, efficiency, and sustainability by conducting a comparative analysis, a context analysis, and high-level stakeholder mapping, which informed the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office’s (FCDO) decision on the proposed BSRP extension. This project is a continuation of the BSRP: Baseline Study which Kimetrica also conducted.
-
Year 2019-2021
Country Angola Botswana Burundi Ethiopia Kenya Lesotho Madagascar Malawi Mozambique Namibia Rwanda Somalia South Africa South Sudan Swaziland Tanzania Uganda Zambia Zimbabwe
Client
UNICEF Improved Level of Disaggregation and Quality of Nutrition Survey and Rapid Assessment of Data Through the use of Spatial Sampling Methods and Improved Data Analysis Long Term Agreement (LTA)
Research and Evaluation PROJECTS
Nutrition status across East and Southern Africa is typically monitored through a national level, representative population survey at most every four to five years, which means that, often, up-to-date information for many countries is lacking. The objective of this two-year Long Term Agreement (LTA) is to increase the uptake of innovative spatial survey methods for all 21 countries in the East and Southern African region to more closely monitor progress toward achieving national, regional and global nutrition targets. Specifically, the LTA facilitates the availability of technical expertise in spatial surveying methods, data analysis techniques, and mapping of results to facilitate provision of in-country technical support for surveys and assessments. Kimetrica offers area-based sampling methods to estimate and map nutritional status data at both regional and national levels.
-
Year 2018
Country Ethiopia
Client
Building Self-Reliance for Refugees and Host Communities: Baseline Study
Large-Scale Surveys PROJECTS
Building Self-Reliance for Refugees and Host Communities by Improved Sustainable Basic Social Service Delivery Program (BSRP) is a UNICEF Ethiopia-led effort to improve service delivery in health, nutrition, WASH (water, sanitation and hygiene), education and child protection. In 2018, Kimetrica carried out a baseline study for BSRP in one camp and the surrounding host community in each refugee-hosting region of Ethiopia -- Berhale (Afar), Tongo (Benishangul Gumuz), Pugnido I (Gambella), Kebrebeyah (Somali) and Adi-Harush (Tigray). The baseline study entailed a quantitative survey of 3,000 households; in-depth interviews with providers at 70 service facilities; key informant interviews with 75 implementers, experts and programme staff; and 40 focus group discussions with community members. UNICEF is using Kimetrica's findings to work externally with local providers and partners, and internally, within UNICEF, to maximize BSRP's effectiveness and efficiency.
-
Year 2017-2019
Country Kenya
Client
Methods for Extremely Rapid Observation of Nutritional Status (MERON)
Modeling and Simulation PROJECTS
Traditional methods for quantifying malnutrition in children involve physical handling of subjects, can be time-consuming and are susceptible to inaccuracy because they require enumerators to interpret the value. Kimetrica has developed an application called Methods for Extremely Rapid Observation of Nutritional Status (MERON) that allows for a non-invasive, time efficient, and tamper-proof approach to assessing the malnutrition status of an individual by using a facial recognition and processing algorithm.
Recently, through a United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) innovation grant, Kimetrica achieved proof of concept with MERON for children and a preliminary classification accuracy level of 60 percent, using 3,500 images of children under-five (6-59 months), collected alongside UNICEF's Standardized Monitoring and Assessment of Relief and Transitions (SMART) survey in Kenya.
MERON's next step for product development is a significant increase in its accuracy for malnutrition detection in children under-five from 60 percent to over 90 percent, which will be achieved through collecting additional image data. Doing so requires the collection of 5,000-15,000 more usable images in tandem with SMART surveys or other nutritional assessments for calibration.
Once MERON achieves high-quality classification ability, it will offer the following benefits:
1. An increase in the accuracy of collecting data on malnutrition.
2. A cost reduction related to the training of enumerators.
3. Use of inconspicuous measurement tools.
4. A less invasive method to measure malnutrition. (In some cultures parents are sensitive to physical handling of their children.)These benefits could, in turn, result in a number of important outcomes for the diagnosis and treatment of malnutrition in children under five. These include:
1. More appropriate distribution of funding and scarce resources based on accurate measurements.
2. Savings in resources (resources used for training enumerators to take accurate weight for height measurements; transportation of bulky equipment and opportunity cost for communities participating in surveys).
3. Easier data collection in hard to access, high risk or conflict areas, and areas where physical handling of children is culturally not acceptable.MERON was presented at the Artificial Intelligence for Good Global Summit held in Geneva in May 2018 (Watch the interview) and has been featured in the Smithsonian, New Scientist, Daily Mail and Deutsche Welle.
-
Year 2016-2018
Country Kenya
Client
Nutritional Improvements through Cash and Health Education (NICHE) Evaluation
Research and Evaluation PROJECTS
With technical support from UNICEF, the Kitui County Government in Kenya developed the Nutritional Improvements through Cash and Health Education (NICHE) Program, which targeted households with children under two years of age and/or pregnant women. Kimetrica was contracted to investigate the impact of the program on awareness and understanding of practices leading to improved nutritional status, and improved anthropometric indices. The method used was a randomized control trial (RCT) for a period of one year. Up to 1,000 households were assessed at four different times throughout the year. The study assessed whether combining nutrition counselling with cash assistance led households to choose more nutritious foods.
-
Year 2016-2017
Country Somalia
Client
Evaluation of the Social Mobilisation Network (SM Net)
Research and Evaluation PROJECTS
Polio is a highly infectious disease caused by a virus that invades the nervous system. Polio outbreaks between 2000 and 2015 affected hundreds in Somalia, with some cases reported in Kenya and Ethiopia. The Social Mobilisation Network (SM Net) was established in 2013 by UNICEF to raise awareness of polio and increase polio vaccination coverage in difficult to reach locations in Somalia. Kimetrica, in partnership with Forcier Consulting, was contracted to conduct an evaluation of SM Net activities, including impacts of polio immunization activities, and local perceptions of trust and community level support. The evaluation also explored SM Net’s ability to deliver on other child survival and development interventions. Using a mixed-methods approach, the team collected primary data through individual interviews and focus group discussions to examine key issues of relevance like efficiency, sustainability, effectiveness, and impact. The team also undertook an extensive analysis of secondary data on vaccination uptake over the duration of the program.
-
Year 2016
Country Kenya
Client
County Social Protection Coordination, Mapping and Capacity Assessment
Research and Evaluation PROJECTS
Kimetrica was commissioned by UNICEF Kenya to map Social Protection interventions and assess mechanisms for coordination of the same efforts at county and sub-county levels, identify capacity gaps, etc. This led to the preparation of best practice guidance and standards for the coordination, implementation and financing of social protection programmes by the Government, development partners, private sector and civil society organizations and a capacity building program for counties and sub-counties.
-
Year 2014-2015
Country Nigeria
Client
Social Protection Mapping in Boko Haram Impacted Regions
Research and Evaluation PROJECTS
Kimetrica was contracted to map existing social protection initiatives geared toward improving access to health services for populations, particularly women and children, in the two northern Nigerian states impacted by Boko Haram insurgents. After completing the mapping, Kimetrica analysed the impact of the existing programs and their effectiveness in improving maternal and child health in those states. Finally, Kimetrica assessed the relevance and feasibility of different forms of health related social protection initiatives, including cash transfers and community health insurance schemes. The work was used in the development of the United Nations Children's Fund's (UNICEF) social protection strategy for Nigeria.
-
Year 2013-2014
Country Kenya
Client
Evaluation of Emergency Cash Transfer Services
Research and Evaluation PROJECTS
The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) Emergency Cash Transfer program, designated to mitigate the devastating impacts of drought on the most vulnerable populations in the arid and semi-arid lands (ASALs) of Kenya, contracted Kimetrica to assess its overall effectiveness. Kimetrica collected and analysed both qualitative and quantitative data, providing lessons learned, along with highly-informed recommendations to help UNICEF strengthen future cash transfer activities and better align the program with the Kenya National Social Protection Policy.