MamaYe Advocacy Coalition intensifies programmes : For maternal, newborn survival
The MamaYe Advocacy Coalition on Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (MNCH) is a platform of civil society groups engaged in advocacy activities intended to catalyse major improvements in the quality, efficiency and range of resources available for the care of mothers and their newborns.
Advertisement
The coalition provides the framework and common ground for various civil society organisations to support the local implementation of commitments such as the Global Strategy for Women and Children's Health, as well as the recommendations of the Commission on Information and Accountability for Women and Children's Health.
Millenium Development Goals
The goal of the coalition is to contribute to the achievement of Millenium Development Goals (MDGs) 4 and 5, leading to reduction in under-five mortality rate by two-thirds and increasing maternal survival by three-quarters.
A significant way to achieve this is through greater alignment and collaboration of civil society organisations in strategy formulation for advocacy activities that lead to greater capacity for mobilisation and accountability at national, regional and district levels.
By this, the coalition is creating strong, capable, informed and persistent local voices for better services in maternal and newborn health, and supporting the dawn of an accountable and efficient health system that provides quality and evidence-based MNH services.
Currently, the coalition is made up of 50 organisations working in the areas of reproductive, maternal, newborn and child health advocacy and service delivery and HIV and AIDS awareness-creation programmes.
Annual report
In its annual report made available to the Daily Graphic, the coalition described 2014 as a critical year for the countdown towards the end of the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals, pointing out that it was a year when the MamaYe project intensified its activities to increase newborn and maternal survival.
Consequently, the coalition stepped up its activities on strengthening capacity for maternal and newborn health advocacy in 2014.
Other Trending Stories
Among its programmes, it implemented scorecards assessment programme on emergency obstetric and newborn care readiness of health facilities in eight districts of the Volta and Ashanti regions, which led to the assessment of 36 health facilities in the selected districts by a team of data collectors, who compiled results that would be used to improve the quality of care for pregnant women and newborn.
According to the report, the coalition also organised training for MNH data users at capacity-building workshops for health facility managers and health information officers in 12 districts in the Ashanti, Volta and Upper West regions, and provided capacity-building training for senior skilled birth attendants on how to provide supportive supervision for junior officers in the facilities.
Logistical support
Other activities included the provision of logistical support to national initiatives on safe blood for safe motherhood during public voluntary blood donation exercises, through a stronger partnership with the National Blood Service and other organisations to support voluntary blood donation, training of selected media personnel in maternal and newborn health policy analysis and the value of strategic communication in social activism, and the inauguration of five additional senior high school clubs individually known as the MamaYe Ambassadors Parliament, to bring the total number to 14. The club is made up of a group of young activists whose activities help to reduce unintended pregnancies and unsafe abortions among adolescents.
The coalition also participated in the MDG global countdown by presenting a 10-point-action document to the health minister.
Government’s responsibility
The coalition contends that, the government has a responsibility to ensure that the next 500 days to the end of the period for the attainment of the MDGs yield immense results.
It said to successfully make a positive impact on the MDGs related to health, it was essential that critical steps were taken to strengthen the health system and guarantee the survival of all pregnant women and their babies.
“We will continue to call on the government to increase financial commitment to the healthcare sector with sufficient legislative focus on MDGs 4 and 5. The government must make the effort to deliver adequate structures, processes and Emergency Obstetric Care across districts to promote functionality of maternal and newborn survival initiatives,” it said.