For 20 years, Dimagi has digitally enabled Frontline Workers in low- and middle-income countries, mostly through the open-source CommCare platform. In 2022 we launched Connect, supported by a $25 million investment from the Steele Foundation for Hope. Connect is built on four pillars: learn, deliver, verify, and pay.
Working directly with local organizations
A key pathway for Connect is the Direct-to-Frontline-Organization model, working with locally led organizations to deliver essential services to vulnerable populations. The most widespread program so far is the Connect Child Health Campaign, which provides Vitamin A and deworming, mid-upper arm circumference screening and referrals, and basic infant vaccine checks. Recent pilots in Nigeria have also delivered oral rehydration solution and zinc to children under five.
After an initial pilot in Rajasthan, India, Dimagi ran three pilots of 5,000 children each in Kenya, Tanzania, and Zambia, with partners Cohesu, Sujukwa, and LiveWell. A Request for Proposals then selected two partners, the Center for Wellbeing and Integrated Nutrition Solutions in Nigeria and Sanmat in Jharkhand, India, each running a major campaign for 40,000 children in Katsina and Dumka. Vitamin Angels India supplied doses of Vitamin A and deworming for the campaigns in India and Zambia.
Key achievements
Cohesu in Kenya and LiveWell in Zambia presented their findings to their national governments. LiveWell will use the Child Health Campaign app to deliver Vitamin A and deworming during Zambia’s child health weeks in May and November 2024. In March 2024, Dimagi added oral rehydration solution and zinc treatment to a program for 5,000 children in Nigeria.
More than 100,000 children reached across seven countries.
Dimagi reached over 100,000 children across Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia, Nigeria, and India for the Child Health Campaign, and Uganda and Ethiopia for mental health and Kangaroo Mother Care pilots. Local officials in several countries said the campaigns helped supplement their own efforts to provide Vitamin A and deworming.
What we learned
County and local governments often welcomed support to saturate their areas, given supply shortages, overburdened staff, and a lack of verification mechanisms. In the larger pilots in Nigeria and India, Dimagi worked to improve verification and check whether service deliveries were real and high quality. Most Frontline Workers delivered quality services, and the pilots showed where verification standards still need to improve. This foundation is shaping Connect’s technology, its verification mechanisms, and its approach to digital learning.
Scaling the Child Health Campaign
In 2024, Dimagi is focused on pathways to scale, working with more locally led organizations in Nigeria and potentially targeting a million verified service deliveries this year, on the way to a planned 10 million verified visits per year. For years, service delivery campaigns have struggled to estimate and verify coverage in hard-to-reach areas. Connect aims to solve that while strengthening local ecosystems and creating opportunities for trained Frontline Workers.