Canada-Africa Initiative to Address Maternal, Newborn and Child Mortality (CAIA-MNCM) Project in Tanzania

WaterAid Tanzania, together with Amref Health Africa Tanzania, has launched a four-year project (March 2016-March 2020)  titled Canada-Africa Initiative to Address Maternal, Newborn and Child Mortality (CAIA-MNCM), in Geita and Nyang’hwale districts of Geita region in Tanzania.

Funded by the Government of Canada through Global Affairs Canada at 8.3 million, this is part of a comprehensive project being implemented in three additional African countries: Ethiopia, Kenya and Malawi.

The Tanzania project aims to improve the health and wellbeing of mothers and children. It will contribute towards reduced maternal, newborn and child mortality through an integrated approach focused on strengthening health systems, reducing the burden of diseases, and improving nutrition.

According to Tanzania’s National Health Data Warehouse (DHIS), Geita region has a high maternal mortality rate and high neonatal deaths. The CAIA-MNCM project will address these challenges by improving the delivery and use of quality reproductive, maternal, newborn and child health services (RMNCH) by integrating water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH), nutrition services  and enhancing good governance and accountability of the local and government structures to be responsive to RMNCH, nutrition and WASH services.

The project is expected to reach a total of 878,294 direct and indirect beneficiaries in the two districts in Tanzania. The beneficiaries include 211,299 women of reproductive age, 220,861 children under five, 445,342 adults, 260 health care workers and 532 community health workers.

“By training health workers to provide quality reproductive, maternal, newborn and child health and nutrition services, this project will save lives and improve the health of mothers, pregnant women and children in Geita and Nyang’hwale districts. It is our belief that through a strengthened health system and partnerships that empower women, our efforts will make a lasting and meaningful difference in communities,” says Dr. Florence Temu, Amref Health Africa Tanzania Country Director. ‘‘On behalf of Amref Health Africa I wish to extend my sincere gratitude to the Canadian government for the financial support and the Ministry of Health, Community Development, Gender, Elderly and Children for their cooperation and technical support.’’

“WaterAid believes that WASH is a critical determinant of health and education,” said Jane Sembuche, Director of Planning and Quality Assurance, WaterAid Tanzania. “By ensuring our healthcare facilities and our schools have access to clean water, sanitation and hygiene, we can reduce water-related diseases, such as cholera and diarrhea, we can give our mothers a safe and clean place to give birth and we can ensure that girls are able to manage their hygiene with dignity. We want to see this type of intervention scaled up across the region and the country so that we can continue to improve the lives of mothers and children in Tanzania.”

About the Canada-Africa Initiative to Address Maternal, Newborn and Child Mortality: The Canada-Africa Initiative to Address Maternal, Newborn and Child Mortality (CAIA-MNCM) is a partnership among four Canadian organizations – Amref Health Africa, Christian Children’s Fund of Canada, Centre for Global Child Health at The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) and WaterAid Canada. With support of $24.9 million from the Government of Canada this four-year project (2016 to 2020) aims to directly reach 1.7 million women, children and men across 20 districts in Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi and Tanzania.

About Amref Health Africa: Amref Health Africa is Africa’s largest health development organization. Our vision is “Lasting Health Change in Africa.” We are committed to improving the health of people in Africa by partnering with and empowering communities and strengthening health systems.  Much of our credibility with local communities and African governments stems from the relationship and trust that we have built over the past 59 years.

Amref Health Africa Tanzania has extensive experience in supporting the delivery of high quality health services to the poorest communities by strengthening community health systems. Through its various projects, Amref Health Africa has been supporting  the Local Government Authorities in  planning and implementing MNCH, SRH, and HIV prevention and WASH interventions.  Learn more about us through www.amref.org.

About WaterAid Tanzania WaterAid Tanzania is the country’s leading development organization in the water, sanitation and hygiene sector. Over the past 33 years, we have worked closely with partners and the government to ensure Tanzania’s poorest communities gain access to WASH, contributing towards the achievements of national targets. Shifting our focus from direct service delivery, we work to influence policy and practice in order to bring about large scale and lasting change in the sector.

Since 1983, WaterAid Tanzania has enabled over 2.5 million people to gain access to improved drinking water, basic sanitation and hygiene. Our vision is a Tanzania where everyone, everywhere has access to WASH by 2030.