MERQ Consultancy has been entrusted with conducting the baseline assessment for the USAID Empowered Communities for Health Activity (USAID-ECA), a four-year project led by Project HOPE in collaboration with a consortium of international and local organizations. This project is focused on enhancing Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn, Child, and Adolescent Health and Nutrition (RMNCAH-N) outcomes by empowering communities and strengthening local health systems across Ethiopia.

MERQ’s role in this initiative is pivotal. As the selected research institution, MERQ will lead the effort to establish baseline values for key RMNCAH-N and community empowerment indicators. This assessment will provide the USAID-ECA consortium with a clear understanding of the current context and the level of community engagement and empowerment in the 40 woredas across five regional states in Ethiopia—Oromia, Amhara, Afar, South Ethiopia, and Central Ethiopia—where the project will be implemented.

Employing a quasi-experimental evaluation design, MERQ will conduct a thorough analysis that not only generates baseline values but also sets the stage for future impact assessments of the activity. The baseline study will cover 15 intervention woredas and 15 matched comparison woredas from the same zones, ensuring a comprehensive understanding of the project’s potential impact.

MERQ will execute a robust data collection strategy, incorporating both quantitative and qualitative methods. The baseline assessment will encompass six major data collection activities: a household survey, community structures mapping and assessment, non-state actors mapping and assessment, NSA-managed health facility assessment, qualitative data collection, and a capacity assessment of local implementing partners.

Through this rigorous approach, MERQ aims to deliver high-quality evidence that will inform the design and implementation of USAID-ECA’s interventions, ensuring that they are tailored to the unique needs of the communities involved. MERQ’s involvement highlights its capability to support large-scale health programs by providing crucial insights and fostering sustainable community-driven health outcomes across diverse regions of Ethiopia. This assignment is a highlight of MERQ’s long standing commitment to enhance community health systems through evidence generation and insight.