Monthly CMAM report, data quality and RUTF supply plan

International NGO · Written recruitment test

Practical exercise

Nutrition Programme Officer

Duty station: Madarounfa health district, Maradi region (Niger)
Time allowed: 90 min
Marks: 100 marks
Pass mark: 60 %
Profile: Officer, 2 to 4 years of experience

Instructions

The test lasts 90 minutes. It is marked out of 100; the pass mark for the interview is 60.
Answer in English, in a structured way. Show your workings: a correct result without workings receives only half the marks.
Calculator and spreadsheet allowed. Any outside help (another person, artificial intelligence) is forbidden.
The documents are fictional but built on realistic data. State any assumption you make.

Original practice test, built on the format of written tests used by United Nations agencies and international NGOs. The context and figures are fictitious.

Documents provided

Document 1. Monthly report of the OTP sites (severe acute malnutrition without complications, 6 to 59 months), August

OTP site	Present at start	Admissions	Cured	Deaths	Defaulters	Non-responders	Transfers to SC	Present at end (reported)
Safo	112	48	61	1	9	0	2	87
Gabi	95	40	52	0	4	1	1	77
Dan Issa	140	55	70	2	18	3	4	98
Djiratawa	60	22	30	0	0	0	0	52
Serkin Yamma	88	35	30	3	12	2	5	71
Tassaou	130	50	62	1	8	2	3	104
Soumarana	75	30	41	0	3	1	1	59
Garin Dodo	102	41	40	1	21	4	2	85
Kankaré	66	25	34	0	2	1	0	54
Maraka	120	47	58	2	7	1	3	96
Gidan Kaka	54	20	26	0	1	1	1	45
Dourgou	98	38	44	1	11	2	2	76
Total	1,140	451	548	11	96	18	24	904

Programme rule: rates are calculated on exits = cured + deaths + defaulters + non-responders (transfers excluded).

Document 2. RUTF (ready-to-use therapeutic food) supply data

Planned admissions: September 520, October 560, November 480 (lean season peak).
Programme planning assumption: 1 carton of 150 sachets per child admitted.
Safety stock required at the district warehouse at the end of November: one month of average admissions for the period.
Stock at the district warehouse at 31 August: 610 cartons. In transit (expected arrival 15 September): 300 cartons.
Gross weight of a carton: 15 kg. Truck available: 10 tonnes.

Question 130 marks

Calculate for each OTP site and for the district the cure, death and default rates. Compare them with the Sphere standards and classify the OTP sites into three groups: compliant, to be monitored, priority.

Your answer

0 words

Model answer

Sphere standards: cured > 75%, deaths < 10%, defaulters < 15%.

OTP site	Exits	Cured	Deaths	Defaulters
Safo	71	85.9%	1.4%	12.7%
Gabi	57	91.2%	0%	7.0%
Dan Issa	93	75.3%	2.2%	19.4%
Djiratawa	30	100%	0%	0%
Serkin Yamma	47	63.8%	6.4%	25.5%
Tassaou	73	84.9%	1.4%	11.0%
Soumarana	45	91.1%	0%	6.7%
Garin Dodo	66	60.6%	1.5%	31.8%
Kankaré	37	91.9%	0%	5.4%
Maraka	68	85.3%	2.9%	10.3%
Gidan Kaka	28	92.9%	0%	3.6%
Dourgou	58	75.9%	1.7%	19.0%
District	673	81.4%	1.6%	14.3%

Priority: Garin Dodo and Serkin Yamma (cure rate below 75%, default above 25%). To be monitored: Dan Issa and Dourgou (cure rate just above 75% but default above 15%), and Djiratawa for data quality (question 3). Compliant: the other seven. The district meets the standards, but default (14.3%) is borderline: the average hides the problems of four centres.

Marking grid

Correct denominator, transfers excluded (6 marks)
Correct rates for the 12 centres and the district (14 marks)
Classification consistent with the Sphere standards (6 marks)
Critical reading of the district average (4 marks)

Your mark for this question / 30

Question 220 marks

Propose hypotheses to explain the high default rates in the priority OTP sites and a 4-week action plan (actions, responsible persons, monitoring indicators).

Your answer

0 words

Question 325 marks

Check the consistency of the report (document 1). What anomalies do you find and what do you do before sending the report to the district?

Your answer

0 words

Question 425 marks

Calculate the quantity of RUTF to be ordered to cover September to November with the required safety stock, then the weight and the number of trucks.

Your answer

0 words

Other tests for this profession

Panel interview question for this profession

Describe a situation where the performance indicators of a malnutrition treatment programme were insufficient. What did you do?

Competency assessed : Improving programme quality and coverage

What the panel expects : Precise indicators compared with Sphere standards, an analysis of causes (supply, distance, quality of care), concrete measures, and a measured change in cure, default and coverage rates.

Possible follow-up questions

How did you identify the causes of defaulting?
What did you do for children who were not responding to treatment?
How did you involve the ministry of health?

Strong answer

In Chad, our 14 outpatient centres had a 64% cure rate and 27% defaulting, far from Sphere standards. I analysed three months of registers and conducted a SQUEAC-type coverage assessment: 58% of defaulters lived more than two hours' walk away, and two RUTF stock-outs had lengthened stays. With the health district, we opened 9 outreach sites run by mobile teams, trained 120 community volunteers in MUAC screening and tracing absentees, and set up a six-week stock alert threshold. I also organised a monthly death audit with the nurses. In six months, the cure rate rose to 79%, defaulting fell to 11%, and estimated coverage rose from 31% to 54%. The district adopted the outreach site model in its annual plan.

Weak answer

"We did awareness-raising in the villages and the results improved." No indicators, no analysis of causes, no measures related to supply or distance, and no quantified result.

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Instructions

Documents provided

Question 130 marks

Model answer

Marking grid

Question 220 marks

Model answer

Marking grid

Question 325 marks

Model answer

Marking grid

Question 425 marks

Model answer

Marking grid

Result

Common mistakes that cost marks

Useful references