Crown Agents, in partnership with the Research Triangle Institute (RTI), is proud to have helped dramatically reduce malaria deaths in Africa over the past three years using a combination of Indoor Residual Spraying (IRS), bednets and anti-malarial drugs in the first phase of the IRS project. Crown Agents has now been contracted by USAID to deliver the second phase of the project, IRS2. Crown Agents USA (CA-USA) will continue to implement this sub-contract in partnership with the RTI International from our regional office in Nairobi.
Under IRS2 CA-USA will continue to provide support for supply chain services, payroll and construction. The collaborative planning process started when CA-USA was invited to present an overview of the supply chain innovations developed for IRS at the first Pan African Vector Control Conference in Tanzania in October 2009. IRS Project Manager, Jean Benedict delivered a paper on the procurement and delivery innovations that have been developed for the IRS project and focused on the importance of partnerships with our donors, implementing partners, vendors and in-country clients.
The project team in Nairobi consists of three staff members who perform the project logistics management, payroll management and financial management functions. In addition, the project is being managed and supported by a Regional Project Manager and a Regional Procurement Manager who are both based in Nairobi.
CA-USA is working in close partnership with the Crown Agents' offices in Kenya, Ghana, Mozambique, and Ethiopia to provide logistical and engineering support to the IRS project. In each of these offices, the Crown Agents' country managers, procurement, and logistics staff are actively involved in providing technical input and project support in their countries.
In Ghana, CA-USA has procured and delivered pesticide, protective clothing, spray pumps and vehicles to the RTI IRS project offices. In Ethiopia, CA-USA and Crown Agents Ethiopia staff are supporting procurement activities and providing engineering expertise to design and build waste water evaporation tanks for the project, and also for the renovation of the Adama Malaria Reference and Training Centre. In Mozambique, Crown Agents Maputo staff are providing procurement support for project vehicles, payroll support for stipends delivery, and construction and engineering services for the erection of evaporation tanks and warehouses in the Zambezia District. The services provided are made possible by the expertise of our core office staff in each of these countries. Our African offices have a unique combination of skill sets and our engineers and supply chain experts are pivotal to the success of the IRS project.
IRS2 intends to broaden the coverage of this important preventative approach and to improve the speed, cost and efficiency of the project when it's being delivered in-country.