Project profile — Deploying Midwives to South Sudan

• South Sudan (100.00%)

• Reproductive health care:
Reproductive health care (13020) (90.00%)
Family planning (13030) (10.00%)

• Gender equality (significant objective)
• Environmental sustainability (cross-cutting) (significant objective)
• Participatory development and good governance (not targeted)
• Trade development (not targeted)
• Biodiversity (not targeted)
• Climate change mitigation (not targeted)
• Climate Change Adaptation (not targeted)
• Urban issues (not targeted)
• Desertification (not targeted)
• Children's issues (significant objective)
• Youth Issues (not targeted)
• Indigenous Issues (not targeted)
• Disability (not targeted)
• ICT as a tool for development (not targeted)

This project aims to reduce maternal and newborn deaths by increasing women’s access to qualified midwives in South Sudan. It places 45 United Nations (UN) volunteer midwives in health facilities in all 10 states of South Sudan (30 international and 15 national midwives). The UN midwives facilitate about 150,000 safe deliveries, provide at least 300,000 women with prenatal care, and mentor more than 1,000 midwifery and nursing students studying at Canada-supported and other health sciences training institutes in South Sudan. This project is part of Canada’s maternal newborn and child health commitment.

The expected intermediate outcomes for this project are: increased use of quality midwifery services and care by pregnant women in South Sudan; and increased delivery of maternal and newborn health services by mentored graduate midwives, midwifery students, health workers and health care providers in South Sudan.

Results achieved as of the end of the project (March 2017) include: (1) 30 international UN volunteer midwives and 15 national UN volunteer midwives were recruited and placed in hospitals and primary health care centres where they provided urgently needed maternal and newborn health services; (2) 387,195 pregnant women received prenatal care and more than 60,985 safe deliveries were conducted under the supervision of qualified midwives in targeted hospitals and facilities; (3) 7,093 health workers, including midwifery and nursing students, were trained on sexual and reproductive health, emergency obstetric care and midwifery skills; and (4) over 4,568 midwifery and nursing students received clinical instruction and guidance from the UN midwives. These results have contributed to an increased availability of midwifery and reproductive health services for women and adolescent girls across South Sudan, including those displaced by conflict; and increased capacity of graduate midwives, midwifery students and health workers to deliver emergency obstetric care and gender-responsive reproductive health and midwifery services.

• Proactive disclosure