Project profile — Improving Maternal, Newborn and Child Health

• Kenya (60.00%)
• Liberia (40.00%)

• Health, General: Health policy and administrative management (12110) (10.00%)
• Basic health care:
Basic health care (12220) (20.00%)
Basic nutrition (12240) (20.00%)
Infectious disease control (12250) (10.00%)
Health education (12261) (20.00%)
Malaria control (12262) (10.00%)
Health personnel development (12281) (10.00%)

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

This project seeks to save the lives of women, newborns and children in Kenya and Liberia. The Canadian Red Cross Society and its partners in Kenya and Liberia work with the Ministries of Health in those countries to deliver a program in Integrated Community Case Management (iCCM), an approach to improve the health of pregnant women, newborns and children in 44 hard-to access rural communities. The project expects to reach 66,000 beneficiaries, including 12,000 children under five years old and 26,000 women of childbearing age in West Pokot District in Kenya and Bomi, Gbarpolu and Grand Gedeh Counties in Liberia. Ministry of Health-supervised community health workers and volunteers are selected by Community Health Committees and trained in community based health and first aid, in order to treat and refer sick children, and ensure community-level access to life-saving medications and basic health services.

The expected intermediate outcomes for this project include: improved ability of Minister of Health to implement a gender sensitive Integrated Community Case Management (ICCM) approach to addressing diarrhoea, malaria and pneumonia; increased ability of community health workers (CHWs) to deliver gender sensitive and environmentally sustainable maternal, newborn and child health (MNCH) services, including integrated Community Case Management; increased access to a range of gender sensitive MNCH services, including treatment for diarrhoea, malaria and pneumonia; improved ability of male and female to prevent illness and seek health services for themselves, mothers and children; Increased ability of communities, women and men, to mitigate risk; increased livelihood diversification for women and men; improved ability of the KRCS and LNRCS to coordinate and collaborate with the MoH in the delivery of MNCH services; improved ability of KRCS to contribute field-based evidence to advance MoH policy and practice related to MNCH, especially ICCM.

Results achieved as of June 2013 include: In Kenya: (i) selecting and training 300 community health workers (CHW) and 19 community health extension workers (CHEW) on community health strategy; (ii) training 65 CHW in Community-based Health and First Aid; (iii) training 121 members of 11 community health committees (CHC) set up by the Ministry of Health on the management of community-based health activities to increase the use of maternal, newborn and child health services and preventative practices in West Pokot; (iv) by creating 2 additional units in the communities health centers, and by training 121 CHC members on management of community-based health activities (v) establishing, in collaboration with the Agency For Technical Cooperation and Development (ACTED), 11 village planning committees and providing training in participatory rural appraisal as well as disaster-conscious development planning to improve resilience to hazards within communities; and (vi) facilitating the establishment of 16 agro-pastoral field schools out of 22 planned in eleven communities to ensure the diversification of livelihoods. In Liberia: (i) Establishing a solid foundation by establishing a network of various actors include the organizing, planning and establishment of Project Advisory Committee (PAC (ii) setting up one outreach clinic to serve five hard-to-reach communities with a total population of about 25,000 (iii) Training 468 CHC in organisational management; conducting 43 community sessions in environmental hazards (standing water, sanitation-vector control) and prevention strategies ; and iv) supporting the National Polio Campaign by mobilizing 97 volunteers and contributing to vaccinating 81,190 children. These are contributing to improving the health of vulnerable women, children and newborns by improving people’s access to quality health care in hard-to-reach communities.

• Proactive disclosure