The Country Countdown Toolkit contains a comprehensive set of tools, publications, and guides that can be useful to countries considering, planning, or implementing a country-level Countdown process.

Country Countdown materials:

• Country Countdown: Accelerating progress to 2015 and beyond — A guide for countries and partners including appendices (Il est également disponible en français.)
  • This Guide offers detailed guidance for planning and implementation of a Country Countdown. It includes the following appendices, which are also available for download separately below:
    • Guidance Notes for Equity analysis
    • Guidance Notes for analysis of Health Systems and Policies
    • Guidance Notes for analysis of Health Financing
      • Detailed descriptions of approaches and methodologies used in Countdown’s analysis
    • Suggestions for forming Organizing Committee and working groups
      • Detailed suggestions for composition and responsibilities of the organizing committee and working groups
    • Definitions of Countdown indicators
      • Definitions of all indicators included in the Countdown country profiles (more information available in annexes to the 2012 Countdown Report)
    • Sample sub-national profiles produced in Nigeria and Tanzania
      • While each country’s Countdown will develop its own sub-national profiles, these samples provide a useful starting point for Scientific Working Group discussions.
• Countdown Country Implementation Checklist: Excel   PDF
  • This checklist, built on the step-by-step process outlined in the Guide, can help ensure accountability and maintain momentum. The Excel version can be adapted and expanded as needed.
• Countdown to Success: Building momentum with a Country Countdown — 2-page pamphlet that briefly describes the benefits, principles, and process of conducting a Country Countdown. (Il est également disponible en français.)
  • This pamphlet offers a useful introduction to Country Countdown for potential partners who are considering participation in Organizing Committee or Country Countdown event.
• Slide presentations at Country Countdown capacity-building workshop: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 31 May 2013
  Countdown and opportunities for countries — an introduction to the Country Countdown process
  Country Countdown: The Zambian Story — lessons learned from Zambia’s pioneering Country Countdown experience
  The Countdown Country Profile — understanding data sources and information on the profile
  The Countdown Equity Profile — understanding the detailed equity profile
  Country Countdown: Health financing component — including analysis of financial resources in a Country Countdown
  “Communicating” Country Countdowns: Getting the Messages Out — making sure Country Countdown findings and messages reach key audiences
  Events and Media Engagement — tips on organizing a Country Countdown event and attracting media attention, from Zambia’s experience
  Countdown In-Depth Country Case Studies — a description of Countdown’s country case studies, and how they can link with a Country Countdown process
  • These slide presentations, presented at a full-day Country Countdown workshop held at the Women Deliver 2013 conference, offer a wealth of information and tips for conducting a successful Country Countdown process
• Presentations and tools developed for a capacity-building workshop on in-depth case studies, held in Pelotas, Brazil, in July 2013, can be downloaded here.
• Country Case Studies detailing Country Countdown experiences in Nigeria, Senegal, and Zambia, and electronic copies of reports, PowerPoint presentations and other documents relevant to past Country Countdown experiences. 
  • Country Countdown Organizing Committees and working groups can benefit from the experiences of countries that have already implemented national Countdown initiatives, and the tools that they have developed.

Countdown country data:

• Countdown country profiles for all 75 Countdown countries, and How to use the Countdown country profile (also see this slide presentation)
  • The country profile is a crucial starting point for the scientific work of the Country Countdown, and profiles for neighboring countries may offer interesting points of comparison; the ‘How to use’ document and slide presentation offer guides to understanding the profile.
• Countdown equity profiles for 58 Countdown countries (for which equity data was available as of 2012), and How to read the 2012 equity profile (also see this slide presentation)
  • In countries where it is available, the equity profile provides invaluable data disaggregating national coverage on socioeconomic, gender, and geographic dimensions, and provides an excellent starting point for the Country Countdown’s equity and sub-national analysis; the ‘How to read’ document and slide presentation offer detailed guides to understanding the equity profile.
• Customized (and customizable) PowerPoint presentations for each of the 75 Countdown countries, with introductory information on Countdown, an introduction to the Country Countdown process, and detailed presentation of all data on the Countdown country profile
  • This presentation, with custom content based on your country’s 2012 Countdown profile, can be useful both as an introduction to the Country Countdown process and as a way of introducing policy makers, media, advocates, and other stakeholders to a set of essential data on the country’s current situation with regard to reproductive, maternal, newborn, and child health.
• Monitoring maternal, newborn and child health: understanding key progress indicators (Countdown to 2015, Health Metrics Network, UNICEF and WHO, 2011) — a report summarising opportunities and challenges to effective monitoring of 11 select, core RMNCH indicators selected by the Commission on Information and Accountability for Women’s and Children’s Health
  • This publication provides detailed explanations of 11 core RMNCH indicators (all of which appear on the Countdown country profile), and can provide guidance to countries seeking to improve the quality and availability of key data on outcomes and coverage.

 Global Countdown materials:

• Countdown to 2015: History and Structure — 4-page pamphlet that describes the history, objectives, governance, and working group structure of Countdown to 2015
  • This pamphlet may be a useful tool to give to potential partners who are considering participation in Organizing Committee or Country Countdown event, but are not familiar with Countdown.
• PowerPoint presentations: Introduction to Countdown to 2015, The Countdown Report: Data, Methods & Country Profiles, Highlights of Countdown Findings in 2013, and The 2012 Countdown Report: Major Findings
  • These slide presentations may be useful for introducing Countdown, its methodology, and its global findings at conferences or at introductory Organizing Committee meetings.

In addition, a wide variety of relevant materials — including all Countdown reports, country profiles, research papers, and briefing notes — is available on this website.