Iodine Global Network (IGN) - December 2014 Version

We discontinued the "standout charity" designation

Iodine Global Network (IGN) was designated a GiveWell standout charity, but we stopped publishing a list of standout charities in October 2021. More information is available in this blog post.

Standout charities were organizations that did not meet all of our criteria to be GiveWell top charities, but stood out from the vast majority of organizations we considered. However, we prioritized directing funding to our top charities. More information about standout charities is linked here.

We are no longer maintaining the review of IGN below.

A note on this page's publication date, from December 2014

The review we wrote of IGN in 2014 appears below. This content is likely to no longer be fully up-to-date. Since publishing this review, we have published a 2015 update on IGN and notes from conversations in 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2020. Updated information is also available in IGN's 2019 annual report, quarterly newsletters, and blog.

Published: December 2014

Summary

What do they do? The Iodine Global Network (IGN, ign.org) aims to reduce iodine deficiency globally by advocating for national salt iodization programs, tracking progress on iodization, and providing global and country-specific guidance on related programmatic and scientific issues.

Does it work? We believe there is strong evidence that salt iodization increases cognitive development in children with mild to moderate iodine deficiency (see our full report on salt iodization). Organizations that work with and partially fund IGN (such as the United Nations Children’s Fund, UNICEF, and the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition, GAIN) have told us that IGN’s work is often important to salt iodization programs in which they are involved. However, we have not yet been able to find direct evidence of IGN making a critical difference in the iodine health of specific populations.

What do you get for your dollar? Salt iodization programs appear to be within the range of cost-effectiveness of our other priority programs. Estimating the cost-effectiveness of IGN’s funds specifically is much more difficult, but if IGN is succeeding in having an impact on the scope and quality of salt iodization programs it is likely highly cost-effective.

Is there room for more funding? IGN has told us it has a funding gap of about $2.2 million in 2015, most of which would be used to expand the capacity of existing part-time staff. IGN’s current budget for 2015 is significantly lower than in recent years because it recently lost a significant funding source.

IGN is a standout because:

  • It supports salt iodization programs. There is strong evidence that salt iodization programs have a significant, positive effect on children’s cognitive development and do so cost-effectively. (More in our full report on salt iodization.)
  • It has been very transparent, sharing significant, detailed information about its programs with us.

Major unresolved issues include:

  • We have thus far been unable to document a demonstrable track record of impact; we believe IGN may have had significant impacts, but based on our current information we are not confident in this conclusion.

Table of Contents

Our review process

To date, our review process has consisted of:

  • Conversations with IGN headquarters staff: Michael Zimmerman (Executive Director), Maria Andersson (Secretary), and Jonathan Gorstein (Senior Advisor).1
  • Conversations with IGN regional and national coordinators: Gregory Gerasimov (Regional Coordinator for Eastern Europe and Central Asia), Izzeldin Hussein (Regional Coordinator for North Africa and the Middle East), Pieter Jooste (Regional Coordinator for southern Africa), Sangsom Sinawat (National Coordinator for Thailand), Chandra Pandav (Regional Coordinator for South Asia).2
  • Conversations with IGN board members: Venkatesh Mannar (former President, Micronutrient Initiative), Greg Garrett (Large-Scale Food Fortification, Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition - GAIN), and Arnold Timmer (Senior Adviser, Micronutrients Unit, UNICEF Nutrition Section).3
  • In spring 2014, we visited the IGN Secretariat in Zurich, Switzerland, where we spent four days in the above conversations.
  • Reviewing documents IGN sent us after these conversations.

Note that in IGN changed its name from the International Council for the Control of Iodine Deficiency Disorders (ICCIDD) in December 2014, after this review was published, so source documents and quotes may refer to the organization as ICCIDD.

Our 2014 interim review of IGN is available here. Our 2009 review of IGN is available here.

What do they do?

IGN aims to reduce iodine deficiency globally by advocating for national-level support for salt iodization programs, tracking progress on salt iodization and iodine status, and providing global and country-specific guidance on related programmatic and scientific issues.4

IGN’s activities include:

  • Advocating for universal salt iodization in specific countries, including meeting with government officials, educating policy-makers about programmatically-relevant iodine science, and creating and facilitating national stakeholder coalitions, which may include government agencies, aid agencies, other non-profit implementers, and salt producers.5
  • Monitoring progress in salt iodization and iodine status.
  • Seeking targeted support from implementing agencies for specific countries when needed.6
  • Serving as a liaison between the scientific community and the global health community for iodine issues.7 For example, IGN helps the World Health Organization (WHO) maintain a database of iodine status for all countries,8 publishes a quarterly newsletter on universal salt iodization programs and related research findings, and summarizes scientific research on questions that are relevant to salt iodization programs.9

Organizational structure

The IGN Secretariat is located in Switzerland at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH). Secretariat staff are part-time and include four scientists (the Executive Director, Secretary, and two Senior Advisors), and an Administrative Assistant.10

More than half of IGN's budget is spent on supporting a network of part-time Regional Coordinators (RCs); one in each of 10 regions around the world.11 The RCs are responsible for monitoring the countries in their regions and finding the best opportunities to improve and maintain the iodine status of the populations in their regions, including recruiting and managing volunteer National Coordinators (NCs) within countries to assist in that effort where possible.12 IGN asks each RC to spend at least 10% of the time a full-time staff member would on their IGN role, although some choose to work much more than that.13 In compensation, each RC receives an annual $10,000 stipend. RCs also receive an operational budget for their work in the tens of thousands of dollars. All NCs, RCs, and Secretariat staff, along with the Treasurers and Board members, are voting members at the annual IGN meeting.14

Role within broader iodine community

While IGN is the only global organization that focuses exclusively on iodine issues, there are several "implementing agencies" that help countries or salt producers build, operate, and monitor salt iodization equipment as part of a broader portfolio of activities.15 IGN rarely does this implementation work itself.

Three implementing agencies in particular are most frequently involved in salt iodization in the countries in which IGN works: the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN), the Micronutrient Initiative (MI), and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF).16 GAIN and MI both work on implementing a variety of nutrition programs.17 UNICEF also does some iodine program implementation, as well as national level advocacy, in addition to its other nutrition and health work in many countries.18 For each implementing agency and for IGN, the precise role and level of involvement varies from country to country.

GAIN began working on salt iodization in 2005 and requested funding for this work from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF). BMGF awarded $40 million to the GAIN-UNICEF Universal Salt Iodization Partnership Project to improve iodine status in 16 countries between 2008 and 2015.19 UNICEF, GAIN, and MI all have representatives that sit on IGN's board, and each organization contributed between $50k and $100k to IGN's 2014 budget.20

Expenses

IGN's estimated cash expenses in 2012 and 2013:21

Expense Category 2012 Expenses % of total 2013 Expenses % of total
Regional Coordinators22 $680,541 81% $458,000 67%
Secretariat $2,191 0% $53,000 8%
Treasurer's office23 $51,469 6% $53,000 8%
Newsletter $50,087 6% $50,000 7%
Organizational Meetings $44,776 5% $50,000 7%
Audit/Other $13,130 2% $19,800 3%
Total $842,194 100% $683,800 100%

The estimated value of IGN's cash expenses and major in-kind contributions in 2012 and 2013:24

Expense Category 2012 Expenses % of total 2013 Expenses % of total
Regional Coordinators25 $730,541 62% $508,000 50%
Secretariat $227,191 19% $278,000 27%
Treasurer's office26 $86,469 7% $88,000 9%
Newsletter $70,087 6% $70,000 7%
Organizational Meetings $44,776 4% $50,000 5%
Audit/Other $13,130 1% $19,800 2%
Total $1,172,194 100% $1,013,800 100%

Examples of IGN’s activities

The below examples provide more concrete illustrations of IGN’s work. We relied on IGN for the information in these cases. We did not seek to vet them with independent sources.

Sudan

According to IGN, Sudan has a history of poor iodine status and unsuccessful attempts to iodize the country’s salt supply.27 The most recent household survey, completed in 2005, found that about 10% of households were using iodized salt.28 In 2007, the GAIN-UNICEF Universal Salt Iodization Partnership Project selected initial target countries for salt iodization campaigns.29 Political instability was a key factor in the decision not to include Sudan on this list (Sudan's Second Civil War officially ended in 2005).30

In 2010, IGN's Regional Coordinator for the Eastern Mediterranean and Gulf, Dr. Izzeldin Hussein, made his first visit to Sudan.31 He met with government officials to advocate for iodization legislation. Iodization legislation was enacted shortly after, but because salt producers did not have the equipment, the training, or the incentive to follow the new law, there was no immediate major increase in the quantity of iodized salt.32

In 2011, UNICEF re-allocated $400,000 from within its GAIN-UNICEF Universal Salt Iodization Partnership Project grant to work on salt iodization in Sudan.33 IGN believes UNICEF’s decision to focus on Sudan was informed in part by the knowledge that Dr. Hussein would be available to engage the government of Sudan in any changes to law that would be necessary as part of the renewed campaign for universal salt iodization in the country.34

In early 2012, CIDA provided IGN with a $377,000 grant of which IGN used about a fifth to support and scale up Dr. Hussein’s work in Sudan.35

The IGN funds supported (a) workshops and meetings with government officials and salt producers to advocate for the project and advise on implementation,36 (b) a consultant to train salt producers on iodization techniques through two workshops for laboratory personnel from the salt industry, government, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs),37 and (c) laboratory equipment that IGN supplied to producers to test their salt.38

IGN believes that the renewed effort from UNICEF and IGN was successful at building the momentum necessary in the government and salt industry to improve salt iodization rates and that they improved from the campaign.39 However, Dr. Hussein believes that in 2014, the salt producers are no longer getting the same attention and funding from UNICEF, and as a result he expects they are iodizing salt at similar rates to 2011.40

Dr. Hussein has continued his work in Sudan; he is currently translating iodization quality control guidelines for Sudan from English to Arabic.41 Although IGN scaled down its efforts there in 2013-14, it plans to re-prioritize Sudan in its work plan for 2015.42

Ethiopia

According to IGN, in the 1990s, Ethiopia imported iodized salt from Eritrea and didn't produce significant quantities of domestically.43 At the time, household coverage with adequately iodized salt was close to 80%. In 1998, war broke out between Eritrea and Ethiopia, halting the iodized salt imports, and Ethiopia began importing salt from other countries such as Djibouti and India, much of which was not iodized.44 A survey 3-4 years later revealed that coverage of adequately iodized salt had fallen to 5% of households.45

In the mid-2000s, Micronutrient Initiative (MI) led a push to improve salt iodization in Ethiopia, with support from UNICEF and Vincent Assey, IGN’s East Africa RC.46 This work focused on stopping importation of non-iodized salt. In the late 2000s, the Ethiopian government enlisted UNICEF and others to help establish its own salt industry.47

By 2010, Ethiopia was producing much of its own salt.48 UNICEF and MI had donated salt iodization equipment, but this equipment was largely unused and began to quickly degrade in the harsh climate.49 Around that time, the Ethiopian Ambassador to Senegal became impressed with the importance of iodization.50 He brought the salt producers and health minister together to discuss iodization.51 UNICEF hired Vincent Assey and paid for him and several representatives of the Ethiopian government to go to Senegal to learn about its iodization program.52 In 2011, Ethiopia passed legislation requiring salt producers to iodize their salt.53 In January 2012, it began to enforce the new rules.54 Since that time the coverage of adequately iodized salt has gradually increased to over 80% of households, according to IGN.55

India

According to IGN, regulation of the salt industry in India is a highly sensitive issue because of the role salt played in India's independence movement.56 A federal ban on non-iodized salt was implemented in 1997, revoked in 2001, reinstated in 2006, and challenged in the Supreme Court in 2011.57

IGN credits its regional coordinator in South Asia, Dr. Chandrakant Pandav, with leading the successful efforts to reinstate the ban and defeat the legal challenge to it.58 He set up a meeting between the Director of UNICEF and the Prime Minister of India to discuss the ban before the 2006 reinstatement.59

Dr. Pandav was a founding member of IGN and is a doctor and academic at the All India Institute of Medical Services.60 Each year he submits a draft budget for $70,000-$80,000 and only receives $20,000-$30,000 due to IGN’s funding constraints.61

With more funding for his South Asia region, Dr. Pandav says he would invest in:

  • National coordinators. As the Regional Coordinator for South Asia, Dr. Pandav would invest some additional funds in National Coordinators in his region. He believes national coordinators would be more impactful with a stipend, funding for running their offices, and travel budgets. That funding would allow current national coordinators to spend more time on monitoring activities, and would also be useful in recruiting new national coordinators.62
  • Iodization monitoring. Monitoring salt iodization quality and quantity at production facilities has not occurred as often since a reduction in spending by GAIN in early 2014, but is essential for ensuring that progress in iodine nutrition continues. IGN can provide a standard operation procedure for salt producers in addition to checking for inadequately iodized salt.63
  • Travel budget for the Regional Coordinator. More travel would allow Dr. Pandav to conduct more monitoring visits outside of India and to attend more conferences. When Dr. Pandav travels to other South Asian countries, he organizes a national workshop which brings stakeholders together to discuss iodine issues. Dr. Pandav believes that the presence of an external consultant catalyzes progress in iodine nutrition programs.64
  • Enhanced communication with salt producers, government, and advocates of salt iodization. Dr. Pandav believes that regular conferences and dialogues among key players could help shift momentum on salt iodization issues in South Asia. For example, iodine levels in salt may need to be adjusted in reaction to salt consumption reduction. State-level conferences would provide a venue for sharing measures of progress in iodine nutrition on a regular basis. An increased budget could also be used for printed materials at these conferences, as well as translating the regional newsletter into other languages.65
  • Laboratories are necessary for quality assurance for iodine programs, both for testing urinary iodine concentrations and for testing iodization levels in salt. More funding is necessary for training technicians. Recently developed techniques, like screening for iodine deficiency disorders in specific areas, should also be funded and continued. Funding for Dr. Pandav’s two labs comes from IGN and the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS).66

For more information about IGN’s campaigns, see the notes from our conversations with national and regional coordinators:

Does it work?

We believe that there is strong evidence that salt iodization improves the cognitive development of iodine deficient children, but we have not yet been able to identify a demonstrable impact that IGN has had in increasing or improving salt iodization programs.

Is there independent evidence that salt iodization is effective?

There is a strong case that fortifying salt with iodine improves the mental function of iodine deficient children with greater improvements the more severe the deficiency. We discuss the evidence for salt iodization extensively here.

Does IGN’s work lead to more countries establishing successful iodine programs, or improving established ones?

At this point, we have a relatively limited understanding of the role IGN has played in each country it has worked in and the likelihood that its activities were a crucial factor in the establishment of new universal salt iodization (USI) programs or improvement of existing ones.

We have spoken directly with five IGN part-time staff that have been involved with one or more salt iodization campaigns as an IGN representative over the last few years.67 We chose to focus on these regions because we believed they would have the best chance of demonstrating a clear impact of IGN’s involvement.

We were not able to discern a clear impact of IGN’s involvement from these conversations. We plan to continue our investigation to understand the impact of IGN’s involvement more clearly.

Impact of global coordination work

We spoke with two members of IGN's board who work for implementing agencies (GAIN and UNICEF) and one who is the former President of another (Micronutrient Initiative). Each noted that IGN's global coordinating role (described here) is a key piece of the IGN’s value added.68

We have chosen not to focus more on IGN’s role at the global level because we don't believe it will make a critical difference in our decision about recommending IGN.

Negative/offsetting impacts

We plan to discuss the potential negative or offsetting effects of salt iodization in our forthcoming report on salt iodization.

What do you get for your dollar?

Cost-effectiveness of salt iodization implementation

The cost-effectiveness of a salt iodization program depends on salt intake, the iodine content in salt once it reaches consumers (poor storage, for instance, can result in iodine loss), and the prevalence of iodine deficiency before implementation of the program. We have limited data on the costs of iodization, but estimates range from $0.05-$0.10 per person per year. Salt iodization appears to be within the range of cost-effectiveness of our priority programs.

For more, see our full report on salt iodization.

Cost-effectiveness of IGN’s work

Understanding the cost-effectiveness of IGN’s work is complex because of the role IGN plays in the countries in which it works. Key questions include:

  • How critical is IGN’s work to the existence and quality of salt iodization programs?
  • How much has IGN spent in the past to achieve these results?
  • To what extent do IGN funds leverage other sources of funding, from implementing partners, governments, and others?
  • Are future projects likely to be more, less, or similarly cost-effective as past projects?

Is there room for more funding?

IGN told us that its ideal annual budget for 2015 would be about $2.7 million, up from a historical level of about $0.6 million.69 Historically, the majority of the cash funding for IGN came from AusAID (now the Australian Government Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade). AusAID’s funding for IGN ended in 2012.70 As a result, IGN has been scaling down its activities and drawing down its funding reserves in 2013 and 2014.71 If it does not secure any new sources of funding, IGN expects to raise and spend about $433,500 in 2015.72

IGN told us that Regional Coordinators consistently submit work plans to IGN requesting more funding than it is able to provide. (One example of this dynamic, discussed above, was Dr. Hussein’s request for additional funds to increase activity in Sudan from 2010-2012.) IGN has offered to share IGN Regional Coordinator workplans with us. We expect to include an analysis of these workplans in our full review.

A significant input into our view of the value of additional funding would depend on the opportunities IGN sees for iodization in specific countries and the way in which additional funding would enable it to take advantage of these opportunities. We have not yet asked IGN about this and plan to do so as part of our ongoing analysis.

IGN expects to use additional funding that it receives by the beginning of 2015 roughly as follows:73

  1. First $1.76 million to increase operational budgets and salaries of RCs and NCs ($1.41 million)...
    • Increase regional operational budgets (~$692k)
    • Create two more regions from largest regions (~$160k)
    • Pay RCs for 20-60% of full time, rather than 10% (~$360k)
    • Give NCs in 10 countries a $10k budget and $10k stipend (~$200k)
  2. ...and to increase salaries, positions, and operations budget at global headquarters ($349k)
    • Pay half-time Executive Director (~$75k)74
    • Hire full-time Program Manager (~$80k)75
    • Hire full-time Administrative Assistant (~$80k)76
    • Hire half-time Communications Manager (~$50k)
    • Pay second Senior Advisor for 20% of full-time (~$20k)77
    • Global staff meetings (~$30k)78
    • Consolidate Treasurer’s office with Secretariat (~$14k)79
  3. Next $325k to sustain and expand regional workshops
    • Sub-regional workshops for the iodine community every six to eight years in each sub-region (~$300k)80
    • Satellite meetings attached to global health meetings (~$25k)81
  4. Next $144k to start supplemental projects
    • Conduct programmatically relevant scientific studies (~$120k)82
    • Translate the newsletter into other languages and add other media projects to increase the reach of IGN's message (~$24k)83
  5. Additional funds to replenish reserves
    • Since IGN has been drawing down its reserves since 2012, we believe that funding beyond about $2.2 million per year would go toward rebuilding these reserves.

The budget above would represent a significant expansion of IGN’s budget. IGN might encounter challenges to scaling up this broadly and quickly. This concern is somewhat mitigated by the fact that the majority of the additional funding would go towards larger operational budgets for existing staff, more paid time for existing part time staff, and replacing in-kind staff time donations with salaries, rather than primarily hiring additional staff or changing the organizational structure or breadth (though some hiring and adjustment of the structure would be necessary).

Major questions for further investigation

  • What is IGN’s value added?
    • How often has IGN contributed to significant program improvements in the past? What were the nature of these improvements?
    • What is IGN’s track record of advocating for new USI programs?
  • How effective are IGN-supported iodization programs?
    • Is salt iodized to appropriate levels?
    • How much better off are people in target countries once USI programs are established?
    • How common is over-consumption of iodine?
  • Given salt iodization’s cost-effectiveness and track record, why haven’t others closed the funding gap?
  • Will IGN’s future activities be as cost-effective as past attempts to increase iodization rates?

IGN as an organization

We believe that IGN is a strong organization:

  • Track record: IGN has been involved in iodization campaigns in numerous countries over many years, and has been recognized as a helpful ally by several implementing agencies (the representatives we spoke with are also board members of IGN). We are not sure of the extent to which IGN has made an impact on those campaigns.
  • Self-evaluation: We have not seen strong methods by which IGN evaluates the impact it is having.
  • Communication: IGN has communicated clearly and directly with us and given thoughtful answers to our critical questions. We believe the difficulty we have had in understanding IGN’s impact comes more from a lack of available information than from poor communication.
  • Transparency: IGN has consistently been strong in its commitment to transparency. We have not seen it hesitate to share information publicly (unless it had what we felt was a good reason).

More on how we think about evaluating organizations at our 2012 blog post.

Sources

Document Source
BBC News South Sudan independence 2011 Source (archive)
Caulfield et al 2006 Source (archive)
Gaffar 2012 Source (archive)
GiveWell non-verbatim summary of a conversation with Chandra Pandav on September 2nd, 2014 Source
GiveWell non-verbatim summary of a conversation with Gregory Gerasimov on September 3rd, 2014 Source
GiveWell non-verbatim summary of a conversation with Izzeldin Hussein on September 5th, 2014 Source
GiveWell non-verbatim summary of a conversation with Pieter Jooste on August 25th, 2014 Unpublished
GiveWell non-verbatim summary of a conversation with Sangsom Sinawat on August 22nd, 2014 Unpublished
GiveWell's non-verbatim summary of a conversation with Arnold Timmer on May 1st, 2014 Source
GiveWell's non-verbatim summary of a conversation with Greg Garrett on April 30th, 2014 Source
GiveWell's non-verbatim summary of a conversation with Greg Garrett on March 11th, 2014 Source
GiveWell's non-verbatim summary of a conversation with Greg Garrett on May 19th, 2014 Source
GiveWell's non-verbatim summary of a conversation with Michael Zimmerman on February 11th, 2014 Source
GiveWell's non-verbatim summary of a conversation with Michael Zimmerman on January 21st, 2014 Source
GiveWell's non-verbatim summary of a conversation with Michael Zimmerman on January 9th, 2014 Source
GiveWell's non-verbatim summary of a conversation with Venkatesh Mannar on April 30th, 2014 Source
GiveWell's summary of ICCIDD's 2015 funding gap 2014 Source
ICCIDD CIDA grant final report 2013 Source
ICCIDD CIDA grant financial report 2013 Source
ICCIDD conversations with GiveWell in Zurich, April/May 2014 Unpublished
ICCIDD core-plus funding scenario 2014 Source
ICCIDD estimated cashflow 2012 - 2013 Source
ICCIDD estimated cashflow 2013 - 2015 Source
ICCIDD iodine excess slides 2014 Source
ICCIDD Newsletter Belarus February 2014 Source
ICCIDD Newsletter DR Congo November 2007 Source
ICCIDD Newsletter DR Congo November 2008 Source
ICCIDD Newsletter Ethiopia November 2013 Source (archive)
ICCIDD Newsletter India August 2013 Source
ICCIDD Newsletter Nigeria November 2013 Source
ICCIDD Newsletter Senegal May 2012 Source
ICCIDD Newsletter Sudan IDD August 2006 Source
ICCIDD Newsletter Sudan May 2007 Source
ICCIDD Newsletter Sudan progress November 2007 Source
ICCIDD Newsletter Sudan USI launch August 2012 Source
ICCIDD Newsletter Thailand November 2008 Source
ICCIDD organizational structure 2014 Source
ICCIDD slides Belarus Russia 2014 Source
ICCIDD slides Ethiopia 2014 Source
ICCIDD slides India 2014 Source
ICCIDD slides Nigeria Senegal 2014 Source
ICCIDD slides on partnership with WHO 2014 Source
ICCIDD slides Sudan 2014 Source
ICCIDD slides Thailand 2014 Source
ICCIDD slides Vietnam 2014 Source
ICCIDD Sudan USI launch video July 13th, 2012 Source (archive)
UNICEF webpage on 2006 Sudan Household Health Survey, accessed June 23rd, 2014 Source (archive)
Zimmerman et al 2013 Source (archive)
  • 1

  • 2

  • 3

  • 4

    ICCIDD conversations with GiveWell in Zurich, April/May 2014

  • 5

    ICCIDD conversations with GiveWell in Zurich, April/May 2014.

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    ICCIDD conversations with GiveWell in Zurich, April/May 2014.

  • 7

    IGN performs several functions at the global level that may contribute to the existence or quality of salt iodization programs broadly.

    • Helping set ideal iodine per salt standards ("Since 1993, ICCIDD partners with WHO to write and disseminate global and regional program guidelines and indicators." ICCIDD slides on partnership with WHO 2014, Pg 2.)
    • Helping WHO maintain a database of salt and Urinary Iodine Concentration (UIC) status globally ("Part of WHO's mandate is to assess the iodine status of populations, monitor and evaluate the impact of strategies and to track related trends over time. To do this, WHO works in close collaboration with the ICCIDD GN Secretariat." ICCIDD slides on partnership with WHO 2014, Pg 5.)
    • Research to improve understanding/quality of salt iodization for health (For example, Zimmerman et al 2013 or anticipated research on the ideal iodine levels for pregnant women. ICCIDD conversations with GiveWell in Zurich, April/May 2014.)
    • Facilitating communication about iodine in the global health community, particularly IGN's newsletter and formal facilitation roles. Two examples of the latter:
      1. IGN helped develop a consensus among implementing agencies that countries should pay for their own potassium iodate (KIO3) within 5 years of starting their programs. (ICCIDD conversations with GiveWell in Zurich, April/May 2014.)
      2. IGN’s role in connecting UNICEF and GAIN in Mozambique ("In 2012, UNICEF was the only organization working on iodine issues in Mozambique. It struggled to motivate medium-sized salt producers to iodize their salt. UNICEF discussed the issue with IGN, and IGN made the link with GAIN to offer assistance on the issue. GAIN now collaborates with UNICEF on salt iodization programs in Mozambique especially to align salt iodization with other food fortification efforts that GAIN is supporting." GiveWell's non-verbatim summary of a conversation with Arnold Timmer on May 1st, 2014, Pg 4.)
    • Raising awareness of salt iodization as a problem and priority. For example:
      1. IGN reports successfully advocating for several World Health Assembly resolutions mandating countries to report on their iodine status periodically ("IDDs are an important cause of preventable cognitive impairment. In 1990, the World Health Assembly aimed at eliminating them as a public health problem and has reaffirmed that goal in resolutions since then, most recently at the 66th WHA in 2013. Advocacy by IGN national coalitions within Member States has played a key role in these resolutions. WHA60.21 Sustaining the elimination of IDD
        Geneva, 14-23 May 2007; WHA58.24 Sustaining the elimination of IDD
        Geneva, 16-25 May 2005; WHA49.13 Prevention and control of IDD
        Geneva, 20-25 MAY 1996; WHA52.24 Prevention and control of IDD
        Geneva, 17-25 May 1999; WHA43.2 Prevention and control of IDD
        Geneva, 7-17 May 1990; WHA39.31 Prevention and control of IDD
        Geneva, 5-16 May 1986." ICCIDD slides on partnership with WHO 2014, Slide 4.)
      2. IGN reports having worked with the Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) program to advocate for more consistent inclusion of salt iodization as a high priority in the countries in which SUN operates. (ICCIDD conversations with GiveWell in Zurich, April/May 2014.)

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    "Part of WHO's mandate is to assess the iodine status of populations, monitor and evaluate the impact of strategies and to track related trends over time. To do this, WHO works in close collaboration with the ICCIDD GN Secretariat." ICCIDD slides on partnership with WHO 2014, Pg 5.

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    For example, IGN conducted a study on the upper limits of safe iodine consumption, which was funded by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). ICCIDD conversations with GiveWell in Zurich, April/May 2014
    The study can be found here: Zimmerman et al 2013.

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    ICCIDD organizational structure 2014, pg 11.

  • 11

    RCs and their projects make up 72%, 54%, and 53% of total planned cash expenses ($458k of $638.8k, $250k of $458.8k, and $227.7 of $433.5) in 2013, 2014, and 2015, respectively. ICCIDD estimated cashflow 2013 - 2015.

    As of May 2014, IGN also has a deputy RC in each of 2 regions for a total of 12 RCs. With sufficient funding IGN would like to break up the largest regions to make a total of 12 regions. ICCIDD conversations with GiveWell in Zurich, April/May 2014.

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    ICCIDD conversations with GiveWell in Zurich, April/May 2014

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    ICCIDD conversations with GiveWell in Zurich, April/May 2014.

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    "All are VOTING MEMBERS of ICCIDD Global Network, at the Annual General Meeting in June" ICCIDD organizational structure 2014, Pg 13.

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    • ICCIDD conversations with GiveWell in Zurich, April/May 2014
    • "Important implementation opportunities include:
      • Working with salt producers, particularly small-scale producers, to mechanize iodization and maintain quality control through testing.
      • Establishing revolving funds for potassium iodate (KIO3) in countries such as Afghanistan and Pakistan. A revolving fund has been successfully established in Ethiopia and is a good model for transitioning away from free or subsidized KIO3 and sustaining the supply of iodization ‘premix,’ or KIO3. A number of countries without systems for procuring premix currently receive premix donations from grants from USAID and other donors, but this meets only a small portion of the total demand."

      GiveWell's non-verbatim summary of a conversation with Greg Garrett on March 11th, 2014, Pg 2.

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    ICCIDD conversations with GiveWell in Zurich, April/May 2014

    "GAIN is the largest organization focusing solely on nutrition, followed by MI and HKI. Other organizations in this space include: Project Healthy Children… WHO… UNICEF" GiveWell's non-verbatim summary of a conversation with Greg Garrett on March 11th, 2014, pg 3.

  • 17

    "Key players in implementation and programming include the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) and the Micronutrient Initiative (MI)." GiveWell's non-verbatim summary of a conversation with Greg Garrett on March 11th, 2014, pg 2.

  • 18

    "UNICEF, which focuses on policy and could potentially do more work in implementation and programming." GiveWell's non-verbatim summary of a conversation with Greg Garrett on March 11th, 2014

  • 19
    • ICCIDD conversations with GiveWell in Zurich, April/May 2014
    • "In 2005, GAIN became interested in promoting salt iodization for the majority of the remaining fraction of households worldwide that lacked iodine coverage. Work in 14 countries is funded through the GAIN-UNICEF USI Partnership Project, which was GAIN’s first foray into salt iodization. GAIN was the initiator of the USI Partnership Project, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation ultimately funded UNICEF to work alongside GAIN, bringing with it its USI experience, particularly in policy and advocacy in salt iodization." GiveWell's non-verbatim summary of a conversation with Greg Garrett on May 19th, 2014, Pg 1.

  • 20

    UNICEF $100k, GAIN $50k, MI $50k ICCIDD estimated cashflow 2013 - 2015.

    For board makeup see ICCIDD organizational structure 2014.

  • 21

    Revenue and expenses for 2013 are listed in both documents and don’t agree. We assumed the numbers from the more recent document were more accurate and ignored the 2013 numbers from the other document.

  • 22This category includes the $10,000 stipend each Regional Coordinator (RC) receives each year. The remaining amount represents the regional operational budgets, of which the largest category is travel expenses. ICCIDD conversations with GiveWell in Zurich, April/May 2014
  • 23 Responsible for audits and finances.
  • 24

    IGN has been receiving relatively large budgetary value from in-kind contributions of staff time and office expenses. While it is more difficult to place a precise value on these in-kind contributions, we have made an attempt to assign a value to them here in order to be able to understand how IGN allocates its total resources including these contributions. We have grouped the major in-kind contributions into three categories:

    1. Donated Secretariat staff time: All IGN staff only work part time for the organization, and most Secretariat staff work full time for organizations that allow them to spend part of their time on IGN. Thus IGN doesn't currently pay most of its Secretariat staff members any salary, including the Executive Director, Secretary (Executive Committee member), one of two Senior Advisors, and Administrative Assistant. Those staff officially work 20% time for IGN but receive a full salary from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (ETH) or the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (in the Senior Advisor's case). ICCIDD conversations with GiveWell in Zurich, April/May 2014
    2. Donated RC stipends: Several of the RCs, which receive a $10,000 stipend (to represent about 10% of a full time salary with the idea that they work 10% as many hours as a full time position) include that stipend in their operational budget, effectively donating their own time as well.
    3. While actual donated time in each of the above categories may be much larger, the total value of IGN's officially donated staff time (based on budgeted percentage of full time work multiplied by IGN's suggested full-time salary equivalent for that position) is about $190,000 annually. (ICCIDD core-plus funding scenario 2014)

      We believe this is a conservative estimate of the value of donated staff time to IGN, since it appears that staff are likely to spend more than the officially allocated portion of their time on IGN work, especially RCs who in some cases are retired or otherwise not employed full-time elsewhere.

    4. Donated office space and resources: The Secretariat office space and associated amenities in Zurich are donated in kind by ETH, as are the packaging and mailing costs of the newsletter. Similarly, the Treasurer office space and associated costs in Ottawa are donated by the University of Ottawa. IGN reports that the combined value of these donations are about $90,000. ICCIDD conversations with GiveWell in Zurich, April/May 2014

    Thus we estimate that officially donated staff time and office resources sum to about $280,000.

  • 25This category includes the $10,000 stipend each Regional Coordinator (RC) receives each year. The remaining amount represents the regional operational budgets, of which the largest category is travel expenses. ICCIDD conversations with GiveWell in Zurich, April/May 2014
  • 26 Responsible for audits and finances.
  • 27
    • "...while in 2005, 10.0% of households in Sudan were using adequately iodized salt ( >15 parts per million-ppm) with wide variation between states (Gaffar & Mahfouz, 2011; 'Sudan Household Health Survey (SHHS),' 2006)." Gaffar 2012.
    • A UNICEF website reports consumption of iodized salt measured at 11% in the same survey: "Consumption of iodised salt – a vital protection against goiter, child stunting and mental retardation – is just 11%." UNICEF webpage on 2006 Sudan Household Health Survey, accessed June 23rd, 2014 (the survey was conducted in 2005 and published in 2006).
    • While Sudan appears to have endorsed iodization as a strategy more than once, it seems that no iodization legislation was actually passed or enforced before 2010 (Because the following two quotes from IGN materials appear to contradict each other, we are unsure of whether a decree was made; we think it is reasonable to interpret that no decree was enforced).
      • "Sudan adopted USI as a National IDD prevention strategy in 1994 and Ministerial Decrees issued at the time require all edible salt to be iodized to a level of 50 ppm using potassium iodate. Several amendments to these decrees have been issued since but these have not been enforced." ICCIDD Newsletter Sudan progress November 2007, pg 1.
      • "Sudan adopted salt iodization as the long-term strategy to control IDD, but there was no order or decree prohibiting the sale of non-iodized salt." ICCIDD Newsletter Sudan USI launch August 2012, pg 1.

  • 28

    Two sources report slightly different figures:

    • "...while in 2005, 10.0% of households in Sudan were using adequately iodized salt ( >15 parts per million-ppm) with wide variation between states (Gaffar & Mahfouz, 2011; 'Sudan Household Health Survey (SHHS),' 2006)." Gaffar 2012.
    • A UNICEF website reports consumption of iodized salt measured at 11% in the same survey: "Consumption of iodised salt – a vital protection against goiter, child stunting and mental retardation – is just 11%." UNICEF webpage on 2006 Sudan Household Health Survey, accessed June 23rd, 2014 (the survey was conducted in 2005 and published in 2006).

  • 29

    ICCIDD conversations with GiveWell in Zurich, April/May 2014.

  • 30
    • ICCIDD conversations with GiveWell in Zurich, April/May 2014
    • More on the GAIN-UNICEF Universal Salt Iodization Partnership Project below.
    • "...The 2005 peace deal that ended a long and bloody civil war." BBC News South Sudan independence 2011, Pg 1.

  • 31

    ICCIDD conversations with GiveWell in Zurich, April/May 2014

    Dr. Hussein is based at the University of Oman and has a faculty position at the London Metropolitan University, and had served as a consultant to WHO’s Eastern Mediterranean Regional Office (EMRO) and UNICEF before joining IGN as a Deputy Regional Coordinator for the Gulf in 2009.

    He was born in Oman and speaks Arabic fluently, which helps him connect with government officials and other players with whom he meets in Sudan, instead of be seen as an "outsider." ICCIDD conversations with GiveWell in Zurich, April/May 2014

  • 32
    • ICCIDD conversations with GiveWell in Zurich, April/May 2014
    • "The 2005 resolution was insufficient because:
      • It did not include a ban on non-iodized salt, a provision that was impossible given the low quantity of iodized salt available in Sudan at the time.
      • The iodization technology available in Sudan is of poor quality.
      • There were no provisions for monitoring production or creating salt-testing labs.
      • The salt industry lacks people trained to properly iodize salt.
      • Legislation is only effective if it is enforced and the 2005 resolution was not."

      GiveWell non-verbatim summary of a conversation with Izzeldin Hussein on September 5th, 2014, Pg 5.

  • 33

    ICCIDD conversations with GiveWell in Zurich, April/May 2014.

  • 34

    ICCIDD conversations with GiveWell in Zurich, April/May 2014

  • 35

    ICCIDD CIDA grant financial report 2013.

    According to IGN, CIDA chose to include Sudan as one of the target countries based in part on IGN's belief that an external push in Sudan might enable universal salt iodization to finally take hold. ICCIDD conversations with GiveWell in Zurich, April/May 2014.

  • 36
    • "Working with national and international partners, such as WHO, UNICEF, the World Food Programme, and the Micronutrient Initiative (MI), ICCIDD led the launching of the long awaited USI programme in Sudan, trained laboratory personnel, and participated in drafting and enacting legislation to ban the production and sale of non iodized salt. We met with more than 15 state ministers from all governorates in Sudan, senior officials from central government agencies, UN agencies, NGOs, academic institutions, development partners, and salt manufacturers, to sensitize them about the burden and impact of IDD in the country and to create synergies between different agencies involved in USI and IDD control. We also carried out training high-level workshops to ensure government interest in enforcing and sustaining salt iodization." ICCIDD CIDA grant final report 2013, Pg 32.
    • "Through a series of advocacy meetings with government authorities, we initiated the process, wrote the terms of reference, and helped set up this national multi-sectoral body that now oversees the implementation of USI programme. At the time of this report, ICCIDD and the national coalition were developing a nation-wide USI/IDD advocacy and education effort. In addition, the Sudan government appointed an officer responsible for the IDD/USI programme. This new coordination, overseeing, and policy steering framework is a positive indicator of IDD control sustainability. However, lack of adequate national budget may undermine these efforts in the medium to long term. The role and participation of the private sector should be strengthened to increase and sustain household access to iodized salt." ICCIDD CIDA grant final report 2013, Pg 33.
    • Dr. Hussein created a salt situation analysis "to determine current IDD/USI status, identify needs and challenges, and launch the USI programme. It also provided the foundation to review existing legislation and draft a new national law banning the production of non-iodized salt." ICCIDD CIDA grant final report 2013, Pg 33.
    • Dr. Hussein used part of the funds for travel costs to visit Sudan more often, in part to complete the above activities. ICCIDD conversations with GiveWell in Zurich, April/May 2014

  • 37
    • ICCIDD conversations with GiveWell in Zurich, April/May 2014
    • $26,666 for "Senior consultant - training" and $3,000 for "Second IDD consultant - training" ICCIDD CIDA grant financial report 2013.

  • 38

    "We supplied reagents, glassware and pipettes to salt industry, and we trained industry personnel for titration at factory level." ICCIDD CIDA grant final report 2013, pg 33.
    Titration is the name of the laboratory process that quantifies the amount of iodine in a sample of salt. ICCIDD conversations with GiveWell in Zurich, April/May 2014

  • 39

    "Additionally, working with UNICEF and the WFP, ICCIDD was able to re-launch the salt iodization program in Sudan in 2012 using the machines donated by UNICEF. This effort has already led to an increase in the production of iodized salt in Sudan. The combination of new legislation and renewed training, along with new machinery and supplies of KIO3, has led to an increase in the percentage of households consuming iodized salt from 1% to 11% in 2012-2013. ICCIDD and Dr. Hussein brought together the stakeholders and provided technical assistance to the government’s and salt industry’s efforts to provide iodized salt to the people of Sudan." GiveWell non-verbatim summary of a conversation with Izzeldin Hussein on September 5th, 2014, Pg 6.

  • 40

    "Unfortunately, since that time, the funding for KIO3 and machinery repairs has stopped, and monitoring of the salt producers has not happened. As a result, salt iodization rates may have dropped back to 2010 levels by the end of 2014." GiveWell non-verbatim summary of a conversation with Izzeldin Hussein on September 5th, 2014, Pg 7.

  • 41

    ICCIDD conversations with GiveWell in Zurich, April/May 2014.

  • 42

    ICCIDD conversations with GiveWell in Zurich, April/May 2014.

  • 43

    ICCIDD conversations with GiveWell in Zurich, April/May 2014.

  • 44

    ICCIDD conversations with GiveWell in Zurich, April/May 2014.

  • 45

    ICCIDD conversations with GiveWell in Zurich, April/May 2014.

  • 46

    ICCIDD conversations with GiveWell in Zurich, April/May 2014.

  • 47

    ICCIDD conversations with GiveWell in Zurich, April/May 2014.

  • 48

    ICCIDD conversations with GiveWell in Zurich, April/May 2014.

  • 49

    ICCIDD conversations with GiveWell in Zurich, April/May 2014.

  • 50

    ICCIDD conversations with GiveWell in Zurich, April/May 2014.

  • 51

    ICCIDD conversations with GiveWell in Zurich, April/May 2014.

  • 52

    ICCIDD conversations with GiveWell in Zurich, April/May 2014.

  • 53

    ICCIDD conversations with GiveWell in Zurich, April/May 2014.

  • 54

    "Progress was very slow due to factors including: lack of commitment by salt producers to iodize, the harsh weather in Afdera, low productivity of the iodization machines, lack of infrastructure (water, electricity), lack of skilled human resources and lack of a clear strategy to enforce the salt legislation. But the Council of Ministers passed new salt legislation in February 2011. In January 2012, the government started enforcing the legislation and the rate of salt iodization progressively increased, from a low of 10% to over 90%, but the quality of salt iodization still remained a challenge." ICCIDD Newsletter Ethiopia November 2013, pg 1.

  • 55

    ICCIDD conversations with GiveWell in Zurich, April/May 2014.

  • 56

    ICCIDD conversations with GiveWell in Zurich, April/May 2014.

  • 57

    ICCIDD conversations with GiveWell in Zurich, April/May 2014.

  • 58

    ICCIDD conversations with GiveWell in Zurich, April/May 2014.

  • 59

    ICCIDD conversations with GiveWell in Zurich, April/May 2014.

  • 60

    ICCIDD conversations with GiveWell in Zurich, April/May 2014.

  • 61

    ICCIDD conversations with GiveWell in Zurich, April/May 2014.

  • 62

    “National coordinators require a stipend, funding for running their offices, and a travel
    budget. Additional funding would allow current national coordinators to spend more time
    on monitoring activities, and could also be used for recruiting new national coordinators.” GiveWell non-verbatim summary of a conversation with Chandra Pandav on September 2nd, 2014

  • 63

    “Monitoring at the salt production level has not occurred as often since the end of the 2013 GAIN grant funding, but is essential for ensuring that progress in iodine nutrition continues. ICCIDD can provide a standard operation procedure for salt producers in addition to checking for intentionally inadequately iodized salt.” GiveWell non-verbatim summary of a conversation with Chandra Pandav on September 2nd, 2014

  • 64

    “An increased travel budget for the Regional Coordinator would allow Professor
    Pandav to conduct more monitoring visits outside of India and to attend more conferences. AIIMS provides some funding for Professor Pandav’s travel budget, but
    around 80-90% of travel funding usually comes from ICCIDD.

    • When Professor Pandav travels to another South Asian country, he organizes a
      national workshop which brings stakeholders together to discuss iodine issues.
      The presence of an external consultant catalyzes progress in iodine nutrition
      programs. In addition, Professor Pandav tries to provide funds for students to
      travel with him, since it is important to train the next generation of experts in
      iodine nutrition.”

    GiveWell non-verbatim summary of a conversation with Chandra Pandav on September 2nd, 2014

  • 65

    “Annual regional and state conferences could provide sustained dialogue on shifting
    iodine issues in South Asia. For example, iodine levels in salt may need to be adjusted in
    reaction to salt consumption reduction. State-level conferences would provide a venue for
    sharing measures of progress in iodine nutrition on a regular basis. An increased budget
    could also be used for printed materials at these conferences.” GiveWell non-verbatim summary of a conversation with Chandra Pandav on September 2nd, 2014

  • 66

    “Laboratories are necessary for quality assurance for iodine programs, both for testing
    urinary iodine concentrations and for testing iodization levels in salt. More funding is
    necessary for training technicians. Recently developed techniques, like screening for
    iodine deficiency disorders in specific areas, should also be funded and continued.
    Funding for Professor Pandav’s two labs comes from both AIIMS and IGN.” GiveWell non-verbatim summary of a conversation with Chandra Pandav on September 2nd, 2014

  • 67

  • 68
    • "ICCIDD takes on several roles in reducing iodine deficiency, including coordinating the
      iodine health community, establishing key indicators for USI, designing iodine health
      surveys, being a "watchdog" for iodine health problems in countries with iodization
      programs, and advocating for improved policy in some countries." GiveWell's non-verbatim summary of a conversation with Greg Garrett on April 30th, 2014, Pg 2.
    • "ICCIDD’s task forces identify challenges in reducing iodine deficiency. Organizations often
      have different strategies for iodine programs, so ICCIDD uses scientific evidence to help
      organizations find the most effective methods. For example, organizations disagreed over
      the most effective strategy to promote iodization among small salt producers. One strategy
      is to provide subsidies and extensive support to the producers to help them iodize their salt. The other strategy is to let the free market find a solution to iodization regulations, so that salt producers who did not find a way to iodize would shut down. ICCIDD initiated a discussion of this issue and examined the evidence. ICCIDD is more suited to facilitating this type of discussion than other organizations or individual agencies. ICCIDD also facilitates the sharing of information among organizations that administer salt iodization programs. If organizations have problems implementing iodine programs, they first discuss the issues with one another and then ask ICCIDD for assistance. ICCIDD has recently been organizing workshops on iodine deficiency with a focus on sustainability, but it has sometimes been challenging to have national participation, like in Latin America where the ICCIDD does not have the clout in all the countries." GiveWell's non-verbatim summary of a conversation with Arnold Timmer on May 1st, 2014, Pg 2.
    • "INFLUENCING WHO: ICCIDD works to influence the World Health Assembly, an annual meeting organized by the World Health Organization (WHO) that includes health ministers from around the world. It tries to put iodine on the agenda at the assembly and encourages WHO to recommend universal salt iodization and monitoring and reporting of iodine status.
      PARTNERSHIPS WITH UNICEF: ICCIDD assists UNICEF with iodine programs. It would be difficult for UNICEF to do significant work on iodine independently because it works on many other issues. A UNICEF national office may only have one or two people working on all nutrition issues, of which micronutrients are a small subset. UNICEF sometimes requests the assistance of ICCIDD in administering surveys on urinary iodine concentrations. UNICEF also uses the global database on iodine issues that is managed by ICCIDD and WHO." GiveWell's non-verbatim summary of a conversation with Venkatesh Mannar on April 30th, 2014, Pg 3.

  • 69

    The historical level is based on ICCIDD conversations with GiveWell in Zurich, April/May 2014.
    Ideal budget is from ICCIDD core-plus funding scenario 2014.
    Neither of these figures include in-kind contributions. In a fully funded scenario, IGN expects that most salary in-kind contributions would cease, but that some office space, overhead, and newsletter postage would continue to be donated. ICCIDD conversations with GiveWell in Zurich, April/May 2014.

  • 70

  • 71

    ICCIDD started 2013 with $967,516 in assets. It drew down its reserves by $512,618 in 2013, leaving $454,898 in reserve at the end of the year. It projected drawing down its reserves by an additional $142,773 in 2014, and scaling down expenses to match projected funding by 2015 at $433,500. ICCIDD estimated cashflow 2013 - 2015

  • 72

    IGN would continue its in-kind staff time donations (estimated above at $280,000) with reserve funding holding steady at $312,125. ICCIDD estimated cashflow 2013 - 2015

  • 73

    The rough prioritization of these categories are based on ICCIDD conversations with GiveWell in Zurich, April/May 2014.
    The estimates are based on IGN’s description of its ideal budget (ICCIDD core-plus funding scenario 2014) minus its projections of spending in 2015 barring additional funding (ICCIDD estimated cashflow 2013 - 2015). Some of the numbers suggested by those documents have been adjusted according to our understanding based on conversations with IGN (ICCIDD conversations with GiveWell in Zurich, April/May 2014) as described in this spreadsheet: GiveWell's summary of ICCIDD's 2015 funding gap 2014.

  • 74

    Current Executive Director Michael Zimmerman is paid full time by ETH and is allowed to spend 20% of his time on other projects, which he spends on IGN. ICCIDD conversations with GiveWell in Zurich, April/May 2014

  • 75

    This position would oversee the RCs.

  • 76

    The current Administrative Assistant is paid full time by ETH and is allowed to spend 20% of her time on other projects, which she spends on IGN. ICCIDD conversations with GiveWell in Zurich, April/May 2014

  • 77

    One of the two current Senior Advisors is paid for 20% time by IGN, while the other is paid for 20% time to work with IGN by the Gates Foundation. ICCIDD conversations with GiveWell in Zurich, April/May 2014

  • 78

    Management Council Meeting and Board Meeting. ICCIDD core-plus funding scenario 2014 $50k is already allocated from current budget. ICCIDD estimated cashflow 2013 - 2015

  • 79

    The $14k estimate represents the ideal budget of $70k minus office costs already allocated in current budget from current funding sources for: the Secretariat ($15k: $35k for "ED Secretariat" minus $20k of that for Senior Advisor salary), the Treasurer ($20k: $50k for "Ottowa Office" minus $30k of that for Treasurer salary), "Audit" ($10k), "Legal/insurance" ($5k), "Restructuring" ($5k), and "Bank Charges" ($800).

  • 80

    Each region would have one workshop about every other year, but it would rotate among the 3-4 sub-regions in that region. Each would cost about $50k. ICCIDD conversations with GiveWell in Zurich, April/May 2014.

  • 81

    IGN would hold auxiliary meetings adjacent to relevant global health conferences such as those hosted by the American Thyroid Association (ATA), the Latin American Thyroid Society (LATS), the Asia Oceania Thyroid Association (AOTA), the European Thyroid Association (ETA), and regional WHO meetings. Each would cost about $5k. ICCIDD core-plus funding scenario 2014

  • 82

    "Support an active science council to supervise an applied research fund" ICCIDD core-plus funding scenario 2014.
    IGN mentioned this study is an example of the type of research it would like to fund: Zimmerman et al 2013. IGN would like to have an ongoing fund to be ready to do a study quickly when a need arises. ICCIDD conversations with GiveWell in Zurich, April/May 2014

  • 83

    IGN told us that the ideal budget for the newsletter would require $80k, and that "The Kiwanis grant for the IDD Newsletter is at 56K USD per year in 2013 and 2014. Actual expenses (Swiss francs) per quarterly issue are 7.8 K for editing and setting, 4.2K for printing and 0.5K for mailing (the Swiss government pays in-kind for the remaining postage). So each issue costs 13.5K, 4 issues cost 54K Swiss francs and with the current exchange, this comes to 58-60K USD." ICCIDD conversations with GiveWell in Zurich, April/May 2014